My take on the FreeCAD GUI

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Kunda1
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Re: My take on the FreeCAD GUI

Post by Kunda1 »

@Aleks, this is normal. There will be resistance. But please keep exploring possibilities.

An aside, this reminds me of the recent story of ʻOumuamua - the first known interstellar object detected passing through our Solar System. There is a lot of controversy around what the heck it is because it is quite an anomaly to our understanding of science (It's not a meteor or comet). Long story short here's the gist:
"As the data came in, more and more peculiarities came about," says Loeb, adding that he attended a conference about 'Oumuamua around this time, and when it ended, he left the room with a colleague who has worked on asteroids for decades. "He said, 'This is so strange, I wish it had never existed' – it took people out of their comfort zone."
The point here is that this object which doesn't fit our current scientific models but potentially has incredible implications to update said models is upsetting people enough to not want it to exits..which is incredible to think of.

So, my take...please continue your examinations of the UI/UX. The beauty of FreeCAD and free libre opensource - we can customize the UI (and any part of the program) to our needs.
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keithsloan52
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Re: My take on the FreeCAD GUI

Post by keithsloan52 »

Aleks wrote: Tue Sep 21, 2021 9:06 am Someone on facebook wrote: "I hope you dont succeed with this project, because I dont want FreeCAD to change" Something along those lines. And I am not even changing anything right now. This is just supposed to be a concrete discussion about how to improve the GUI for beginners.
Fake fact and taken out of context. I said on Facebook that I hope you don't succeed because you were promoting a help icon as prominent top left of screen (and other to me nonsense). The forum turns up a lot of armchair developers, FreeCAD should do this, FreeCAD should do that but FreeCAD development does not work like that. Open software like Blender, KiCAD have plans and roadmap but that is not how it works for FreeCAD.
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Aleks
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Re: My take on the FreeCAD GUI

Post by Aleks »

keithsloan52 wrote: Wed Sep 22, 2021 3:54 pm
How would you improve the FreeCAD UI for beginners?
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traemand
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Re: My take on the FreeCAD GUI

Post by traemand »

I think it’s a great idea. I think having the option to choose a GUI version on first startup, and have the option to choose, say, “beginner” or “expert” mode, will really help those people coming from simpler cad software interfaces like sketch up, Onshape, fusion etc.

Kudos to you for doing the work
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JoeKundlak
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Re: My take on the FreeCAD GUI

Post by JoeKundlak »

Take this from a noob into FreeCAD - for me the main issue with FreeCAD's UI is the icon inconsistency between 3D, 2D, 2.5D, sticking to a color palette or not. This is the first thing that hits you, as you do not yet have extensive knowledge of "how to do stuff" in FreeCAD, to be able to suggest the order of menus-submenus-dialogs-floating windows.

I will only be able to comment in those after a while :)
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Aleks
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Re: My take on the FreeCAD GUI

Post by Aleks »

I am proposing to standardize the steps for using modelling tools inside Sketcher, Part Design and A2Plus.

Standardized usage of modelling tools:
1. Select tool
2. Select geometries
3. Define parameters

This has the following advantages:
  • Increasing the productivity by descreasing the modelling time. The modelling steps are always the same. It also makes it easier to understand the usage of tools unknown to the user.
  • Simplifying the usage. Lowering mental load. Information on the usage of the tool can be displayed in the tool dialog, making it even easier to use new tools. It also reduces the amount of things that need to be memorized.
  • Increased performance of 3D View. Because the Listeners of Geometry selection only need to be active while using a tool, navigating inside the 3D View when not using a tool should use less compute power and be smoother.
standardized-steps-modelling.png
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doia
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Re: My take on the FreeCAD GUI

Post by doia »

Which modelling steps are different/not optimal from your POV? Can you give examples/screenshots? This would help in understanding your intent before/after your proposal.

Edit: You should have the option of different workflows.

As per your proposal:
1. select tool
2. select geometry
3. select parameter

Or alternativetly:
1. select geometry (or already have selected)
2. select tool
3. select parameter
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obelisk79
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Re: My take on the FreeCAD GUI

Post by obelisk79 »

I also generally tend to select geometry before selecting a tool. Not the other way around.

Although creating consistency in flow and presentation between benches is something I agree should be addressed.
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Roy_043
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Re: My take on the FreeCAD GUI

Post by Roy_043 »

Aleks wrote: Fri Feb 25, 2022 5:57 pm Increasing the productivity by decreasing the modelling time
I don't think post-selection (as your suggestion is called in other CAD programs) necessarily increases productivity. But it would help less experienced users.

obelisk79 wrote: Sat Feb 26, 2022 8:50 am Although creating consistency in flow and presentation between benches is something I agree should be addressed.
I agree. It would f.e. help if the selection order of all commands is consistent. See https://forum.freecadweb.org/viewtopic. ... 42#p561911.
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paddle
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Re: My take on the FreeCAD GUI

Post by paddle »

Personally I like some ideas of your mockups. Though I think doing an overall of the UI might be difficult to get merged?
Don't be discouraged some people on the forum are very conservative.
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