Currently a LOT of space is taken up by the headers, controls, and toolbars, limiting the amount of screen space available for displaying views, data, etc. This problem is even worse on the mobile site.
Every Windows program out there allows you to customize toolbar location and content to minimize the screen space eaten up by controls and headers, title bar, etc. Even web apps such as MS Project Web App and MS SharePoint allow users to collapse ribbons and customize views. Fusion LC does not, and there is a LOT of wasted white space.
Currently, in Modern UI, the following rows waste space at the top before you even get to column headers:
1. Top row: Main menu, search, notifications, help, and user menus.
2. Second Row: Navigation path with clickable links to higher hierarchy locations
3. Third Row: Title of the current item being viewed, in giant 24-point font.
4. Fourth Row: Bookmark, print, ellipses, next/previous buttons, split view, close.
5. Fifth row: State, workflow actions, etc.
6. Sixth row: Tabs (if you're viewing an item with tabs)
7. Seventh row: Tab-specific buttons
Finally you get to the column headings of your view. At 100% zoom in Chrome (the only browser our Fusion implementation works in), this means the top 3.5 INCHES are wasted on title bar and controls. When you consider the minimum rows needed by the browser (title bar, tabs, address bar), this comes to a whopping 5 INCHES of "header" space on the screen--even more if your browser has a favorites/bookmarks bar, menu bar, etc.
PROPOSED: Allow users to customize toolbar/button locations and collapse toolbars/ribbons like every Windows program and most web apps.
ALTERNATIVELY: Redesign the UI to reduce or eliminate all the wasted space. Bells and whistles are nice, but ultimately, the older UI was more functionally useful than the Modern UI.
Here's one idea reducing 7 rows to 3 and getting rid of the garishly oversized Item Title text:
1. Top Row: Main Menu, Navigation Path, Item Title in normal-sized font, Search, Notifications, Help, and User menu. The Search entry field can cover the title when you click search.
2. Second row could contain all the toolbars/controls: State, Workflow Actions drop-down, View Actions drop-down (Bookmark, Print, Ellipses menu, Next/Previous Item buttons, Split View, and Close all in a View Actions drop-down similar to Workflow actions), Tab-Specific Actions in a drop-down (Edit, Save, Add, Remove, Upload, Download, Gannt controls, Time Scale, Tab-specific Ellipses menu, items vary based on the tab you're on)
3. Third row could be the tabs (such as Details, Affected Items, Change Tasks, Approval Workflow, Attachments, Relationships, More, etc.)
Maximum of 1.5 inches at 100% zoom before getting to the column headings of the table view.
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