Simplification of the UI: no need for 'option' in create dialog?

[lure23]

Keeping things simple for the end user has multiple benefits. It lessens the learning curve for a product. It reduces the amount of documentation needed (to be maintained). Here is one corner of Fusion 360 where I think the current approach is sub-optimal, and reduction in the UI actually would make for a better product.

There are more.

No need for creating as 'New Component' 

Currently, all the creation dialogs offer the choice for either 'New Body' (the default) or 'New Component'.

This is unnecessary - the concept of 'component' in Fusion 360 is closer to that of a group, or a folder. It's a matter of organizing your bodies and other elements. The current 'New Component' feature actually means "New Body within a New Component". The current option is misleading (I thought for long that bodies somehow got converted to components, instead that they are placed within components, which is the truth).

Also, this feature is not even needed. In real workflow, one creates empty components (collections, hierarchies) before starting to fill them with bodies. Or creates bodies and then moves them into a component. The option may go.

No need for create as 'Join', 'Cut', 'Intersect' either?

This is a bit more a matter of taste, maybe. Personally, I don't remember ever having used the 'operation' features when creating solid bodies. What I have done is created bodies and then used those bodies in the above mentioned operations, separately.

This has to do with mentality and mindset of a program. Does it offer you "everything you might want" at every stage, or clear, easy to learn workflows that you need to connect in order to get what you want. Personally, I favor the latter. One of the reasons is that however good designers are, it's difficult to guess/know which "shortcuts" are really essential for a wide audience. Placing everything that "seems like a good idea" on our face makes the program harder to learn. 

So… I suggest cutting the whole 'Operation' option from all 'create' dialogs, and always going for a new body in the active component.

This may sound like unimportant, but keeping a software product slender and easily approachable requires constant trimming. For every feature, there must be a justified reason for its existence. Otherwise, software turns into unmaintainable and hard-to-use bloat. 

What do you others think? Ever use the options other than 'New Body'?

Versions:Fusion 360 1.8.604, OS X 10.8.4

[Oceanconcepts]

Yes, I have used it, but I think your point regarding keeping the interface lean is valid.  Having this option probably creates the impression with new users that a Component is a fundamentally different sort of thing, rather than simply an organizational container that can hold bodies and other things as well.  

Ron

[lure23]

Have you ever used the Join/Cut/Intersect operations in the 'create' dialog?

[Oceanconcepts]

Yes, I've used Cut a lot, to extrude into a shape, and also Join when adding to a shape.  For me that's mostly been when extruding from a sketch. 

What I think needs to be fixed about those options is how the interface "jumps" to what it assumes you want- cut, for instance when extruding into a shape.  It doesn't matter if you have previously selected New Body or Join- the interface overrides your choice and requires you to 1) be paying attention and not moving too fast, and 2) go back again and select the option you want.  

I would vote for always defaulting to New Body in the active component unless the user has selected a different option- and it they have, don't have the interface change it on them. 

Ron

[lure23]

I know what you mean. 

At some point, I noticed the intersection turning red, which was really nice visually. But I never figured what happened and why - your text explains what.

These "automatic" features may be beneficial shortcuts for people having used the tool for a long time (but they are risky - they may optimize only a certain work flow). For a newcomer, they make the product feel 'jelly' - one that has a mind of its own instead of letting the user steer it.

I second your vote to avoid automatic state-sensing behaviours in *any* dialogs, based on i.e. mouse movements s.a. here.