Fusion
Autodesk Fusion360 Team,
Every change comes with ups and downs. I always respected you and appreciate the work you do with Fusion 360 to make it "the best CAD/ CAM market." And seriously I admire that.
After the last update of the program, I could not help but feel a strange sense of lack of empathy for the common user (like everyone else) and even after years of asking upgrades to the UI/UX the currently update is, from my point of view, to the detriment of the user.
I will present to you my views on where I think Fusion360 is focusing wrong the UI/UX:
New blue background: After reading the post of "the why" of this blue bar, I still don’t understand what has it with refreshing at all. A basic design principle states that "a strip of dark color over a light-colored strip of the same dimensions, takes visually more space than the light-colored strip". By placing this dark background the only thing that is created is that the window seem even more narrow than before: the visual field is reduced; there is a feel of "heaviness" in the top of the window, etc. I ask you to reconsider the "blue bar" interface, as for users who use Fusion360 on screens 13 ", that bar reduces significantly the work area.
- Line of unnecessary pixels: In order to optimize working space as far as possible in Fusion360, I wonder why you decided to further expand the thickness of the title bar, and leave unnecessary spaces like the thin blue line above the title. Virtually nobody wants to see that the taskbar has a "feeling" of fluid ... what we all want, is that Fusion360 works fluid, not closing spontaneously and in a near future, become the optimal software for professional work. After getting that, you can study how to transmit such fluency UI. Consider guys that this extra line of pixels takes a precious space for users with small screens, that all they want is to work best without distractions.
- Giant title bar: In addition to the already said, the title bar became even larger than it was previously. Why? To force the user to purchase a 42 "screen for graphics work again without interruptions?
- Icons not centered: Both "dedication" to add a giant blue bar and title bar icons that all the Taskbar are offset.
See the blue line below? That is the extra space which makes everything off! And why placing down a bar of another shade of gray, as no other bar has that line?
It may be a "detail" but for someone who works in a fairly small monitor each wasted pixel is a serious mistake.
5. Hide Toolbar: Previously there was the possibility to hide the Toolbar for ... wait for it ... have more space on the screen! to hide icons that are not used all day. Now that's no longer possible. I strongly ask for a reconsideration abour re-positioning the small arrow next to the user name (Number 10) so that each user can decide whether or not to see these icons in the workspace. In addition, all Toolbar’s commands can be "invoked" by Keyboard shortcuts, so ... which is the purpose of that bar anyway? You taught us to use the radial menu on right click, could teach us to use more the Keyboard Shortcuts as well.
6. Giant Environment bar: I had previously commented this in another post, but as it was never taken into account by the developers, I mention it again: The toolbar with the corresponding icons to each Environment (Model, Sculpt, Render, etc) is giant! (Or at least they look giant on a 13” screen). Please guys ... Make them smaller, or at least that fit the resolution and size of then according to the displays where Fusion360 is used.
7. Comments rebel bar: There are many things that Fusion360 UI remembers. Those customizations made by the user as "Visual Style", "Environment", are things one appreciates, as they facilitate the "focus on work rather on graphic details" ... well, there are a couple of things that doesn’t fit on that pattern. Comments bar and navigation bar (No. 9) are those rebels who NEVER disappear from the UI, even if the user hides them again and again everytime he/she opens the app again. For some, these bars are simply visual "obstacles" because they simply are not used: "Bar Comments? It is not necessary, I communicate via Slack / Whatsapp / personally with my team...." “Navigation bar? Why I need that if I am already working with my keyboard and have the visual style I want?”. Please make such bars also" remember "customizations made by the user, who all he/she wants is to work with no distractions!
8. Timeline bar very wide: As I said in point 2, each splurged pixel is a mistake for someone who uses Fusion360 on a small screen. At the top of the Timeline bar there are several lines of pixels that are unnecessarily thickening the bar and reducing the workspace. Please correct this too!
9. Already mentioned in point 7
10. Already mentioned in item 5
11. Too many colors: And finally I emphasize again the effect of the blue bar at the UI: Going from top to down we find first the Apple’s menu bar, which has its own color (white or black); then the “Application top bar”, which has also the characteristic gray color (Mac); After that we find the new blue bar and finally we find the background of the workspace which in my case is white. 4 colors are in a very small space “too much”. They distract and hinders the correct approach to the user in the work itself. Now that the Dark Mode is going to be implemented in Mac, the contrast of these colors will be even greater. I ask you guys to reconsider once again this blue bar, decrease the color transition, and focus more than anything in the user experience; particularly those working on small screens, as they are (we are) those who most suffer such changes.
Thank you so much for everything,
Rafael Mongelos Martens
Industrial Designer
