Re: [Usability] bad dialog, need advice

[Matthew Paul Thomas <mpt myrealbox com>]

Hi Michael

On Oct 28, 2007, at 9:25 PM, Dr. Michael J. Chudobiak wrote:
> ...
> http://www.avtechpulse.com/downloads/crop-old.png
> ...
> http://www.avtechpulse.com/downloads/crop-new.png
>
> and I think it's somewhat better, but I'd like suggestions / warnings
> from usability/HIG-gurus before I go too far...
> ...

You've solved a small problem, removing the toolbar. A toolbar visually 
indicates that a window is of normal type, so for a dialog to have one 
is confusing.

However, a bigger problem remains. The dialog repeats many items that 
are already present in the main window: Undo, Redo, Zoom In, Zoom Out, 
1:1, and Zoom to Fit (but, arbitrarily, not Zoom to Width), and biggest 
of all, the image itself.

This repetition is a telltale sign that the dialog shouldn't exist. 
Doing cropping in the main window instead would result in the same 
function having much less interface.

Cheers
--
Matthew Paul Thomas
http://mpt.net.nz/