Graphical user interfaces were invented to make it EASY for the user to
use a software. Over the years, lots of techniques have been invented
that are a real help in understanding what button/item/etc. does what.
One of these techniques are 'status bar hints', which display a
(hopefully information rich) text in the status bar if the user moves
the mouse across a button/item/etc.: The status bar explains its
function, so that the user knows BEFORE clicking on it. Another
technique are 'tool tips', which essentially do the same, only a bit
shorter, and in a small (usually yellow) pop-up next to the mouse cursor.
As for ease of use, BOTH have their merits:
1. Tool tips have the advantage that they appear next to the mouse
cursor, where the user has focused his eyes, anyway, so they are
QUICKLY readable. This unfortunately means that the descriptive
texts in these should not be overly long.
2. Status bar texts can be a little bit longer and more
sophisticated, but have the BIG disadvantage that the user always
needs to change eye focus from the, say, button of interest to
the status bar and back again, effectively tripling the time
needed to read the information.
Therefore: Use SHORT descriptions in the tool tips, and LONGER
descriptions (containing more information) in the status bar. Both
should be INDEPENDENT from each other and their menaing should be clear
without having to read BOTH.
EAGLE uses both of these techniques. That WOULD be nice, but,
unfortunately, of all software programmed in recent 20 years, EAGLE has
by far the worst informational texts in this universe: Some of them are
good, buts lots of them are just
- too short,
- don't contain ANY useful information,
- don't contain the IMPORTANT information,
- have NOT been translated into German (for the German version),
- are incomprehensible for non-experts or
- are plain WRONG.
Let's take a look at the board editor to show the above (I use the
German version and translate the texts here):
PASTE button:
3. The tooltip for the PASTE command says just 'Paste' (in English).
As mentioned earlier, writing just an internal command name as
explanation is just not enough.
4. The status bar displays the German equivalent of 'Insert clipboard
contents'. The wonderful thing is that this is not gibberish or
a non-informational command name, but an UNDERSTANDABLE text.
This is what should be used as a tool tip. And it also can remain
this way as status bar hint. Fine.
MOVE command:
5. Same thing as above: 'Move' is shown as tooltip, a DECENT text
in the status bar. Same solution as above: Show the useful text
also as tool tip.
6. In the parameter bar, all texts are properly translated into
German. Wonderful.
7. The 'angle' combo displays 'Select rotation angle' as tool tip
(which is OK), but NO status bar hint whatsoever. Why not?
8. The next two buttons are for the SPIN flag, and they display
'Rotation angle' in the status bar, which is just plain WRONG,
and they display 'Normal' and 'Rotated' as tool tips, which is
not helpful, either. NOBODY will EVER understand what these
buttons do from those descriptions. Agreed, the nature of the
spin flag is not so easy to explain in one or two words, but
that just cannot be solved by using plainly WRONG texts as
description.
9. The next two buttons are for mirroring. They display 'Rotation
angle' in the status bar, which is even WRONGER then with the
spin flag: At least the spin flag has SOMETHING to do with
rotation angle, but mirroring just hasn't. The tool tips are
'Normal' (aha - it displays the same tool tip as another
button more to the left. Does it do the same, then?) and
'Mirrored'. In this case, the user needs to read the status
bar text AND the tool tip, and then still be confused, because
they contradict each other. And yes, of course I know what
CadSoft MEANS by these texts, but you have to know what the
command DOES before being able to interpret the hints. That
is the WRONG direction: It should be the other way round.
WINDOW command:
10. The user has LOTS of things to decipher when trying the WINDOW
buttons in the action bar: One of them displays the tool tip
'Out' (in English). What the heck does OUT mean? Out WHAT? This
word does not give ANY information AT ALL.
11. The status bar at least shows the German text for 'Reduce'.
Errrrrm - Reduce WHAT? Now I have TWO unconnected words that
I can choose from: OUT and REDUCE. What utter nonsense!
12. These texts only make sense when ADDITIONALLY looking at the
picture inside the button: There is a magnifiying glass
shown. Think, user, think hard! MIGHT that button be for
zooming? Yes, bravo!
13. BUT WHY THE HECK IS NOTHING LIKE THAT MENTIONED ANYWHERE?
EAGLE uses several megabytes for its executable. Nowadays, PCs
have GIGAbytes of RAM. Twenty years ago, there was a certain
reason to keep texts short, but NOW? Please use DESCRIPTIVE
texts like, say 'Zoom out' (and NOT only 'Out') as tool tip
and 'Zoom out (reduce the display size)' as status bar hint.
ROUTE command:
14. MITER options in the parameter bar: The two buttons display
ENGLISH tool tips called 'Round' and 'Straight'. Why not
use German here that natives can understand? The two buttons
display the status bar hints 'Runde Miter-Linie' and
'Gerade Miter-Linie'. GOSH! This INCREDIBLY bad mixture of
English and German is completely absurd. No typical German
knows what MITER means. And what is a ROUND line? My God!
There are two VERY easy, commonly understood REAL German
words for that: 'Abrunden' (for the round thingy) and
'Fasen' (for the line thingy). Please use CORRECT German
for texts, and NOT some crazy CadSoft-invented gibberish
that nobody understands.
15. VIA options in the parameter bar: The tool tips are
'Square', 'Round' and 'Octagon' (in English). Why
English in the German version? The status bar texts are
'Form: quadratisch', 'Form: rund' and 'Form: octagonal'.
The latter again is English. If you desperately want to
use that word, it's 'oktagonal' in German. By why use that
strange word anyway? Isn't 'achteckig' MUCH clearer? And
that still leaves the question 'WHAT is round or octagonal'?
The word VIA is nowhere mentioned. Why not show the user
ALL necessary information and call BOTH hints and tool tips
'Quadratische Durchkontaktierung', 'Runde Durchkontaktierung'
and 'Achteckige Durchkontaktierung'? Why is it that native
German programmers have such ENORMOUS problems with their
native tongue? I simply cannot understand...
16. 'Wire bend' tool tip is English (only translated in the
status bar), a tool tip invents the new word 'Miter-Radius',
there is a 'radius' mentioned, but the user is not informed
that it's the VIA radius, etc., pp.
17. Plus BILLIONS of other examples MUCH too numerous to
mention here. 'Descriptive' texts like that are not a trivial
offence. They're bad. Really, REALLY bad.
Every user - especially every GERMAN user - really LOOKING at these
texts (e.g., because he doesn't know EAGLE yet and wants to learn what
all the buttons do) will become confused and angry and think what a
maniacal bunch of interpreters not worth their money translated THAT
software from English to German. NOBODY will EVER believe that it was
programmed by native Germans. NEVER. EVER.
PLEASE change that, CadSoft. HELP the user! DON'T confuse him! You want
to get NEW customers, not only keep half-dead jerks like my that know
the software by heart since years and do not NEED those texts.
Andreas Weidner
