Fortis Dialogues and User Interface
From Fortis
New Standards
7px spacing top and bottom
10px spacing left and right margins
Currently left indent is determined on a dialog by dialog basis, an exact standard has not been set.
Buttons are 50px by 14px. For right margin buttons there is an exception, in this cases we use 65px by 14px (this helps usability).
Horizontal Rules are used to separate similar groupings of options. For sub-options within a group a "group box" may be used. Indentation within a group can also be used to denote related functionality.
All of the Dialogue boxes are being checked for consistent button size, and conventional placement. Aside from this, we are reviewing the following:
Dialogue Boxes That Don’t Need Much, If Any, Work:
Tag Settings
Find and Replace
Go To
Autotext
Insert Bookmark
View/Hide Segments
Dialogues Being Remodeled:
Import/Export
Project Settings - In the process of being narrowed and lengthened. By doing this, we are creating room to combine several tabs in an effort to eliminate blank space, while maintaining logical groupings.
About
Profile Settings
Open Project
Other Functions Being Reworked:
Toolbar –
Task: Redesigning and resizing toolbar buttons.
Aim: Update the look and feel of Fortis; include needed functions (Undo/Redo); Create more descriptive and more easily visible toolbar buttons.
Remove 1-5 Window settings options from toolbar. Most people have a setting they like, and never use them. The setting will still be accessible from the Window menu.
Draft 2
Menu Bar
Task: Considering moving existing menu options to a newly created Tools menu and Terminology Menu.
Aim: Unclutter current drop-down menus and make function locations more intuitive.
Dialog box examples
These dialog boxes have been modified to follow the new design specification that Vince has been working on. Feedback would be appreciated. For more information regarding the specification please contact vjames@multiling.com.
The "check for" caption seems to apply to several subdivisions.
"Check for numbers" evidently is isolated by a horizontal rule because it controls sub-options.
If the horizontal rules are standardized to mean an independent section of the dialog then we have to find a different graphic standard to represent clusters of controls that interact closely with each other.
What is the logical relationship of the other groups that are separated by horizontal rules?
What type of messages get displayed in that box? Have we considered how much horizontal scrolling will need to be done to view those messages? Looking way forward, is a scrolling log of messages the most appropriate display interface here?
Should the box be set to word wrap instead of horizontal scroll?
As this dialog stands, it would seem more appropriate as a menu option. The dialog doesn't really offer any widgets that are not easy to use from a select-a-choice menu. On the other hand, perhaps we could add tag color selection to this dialog?
Some of these subheadings are confusing, particularly the "action" heading. This dialog in contrast with some of the ones above it show me that we do not have a consistent left margin space. This space is in the examples so far is set according to the length of the heading text. Perhaps the heading text should occupy its own line so we can standardize on a fixed small indent for the controls?
This is revision 1 of the import dialog. It has been reviewed by the Pre-process team leader.
This is revision 1 of the export dialog. It has also been reviewed by the Pre-process team leader.