User Performance Roundup

I'm going to revisit a topic that was posted a while back here.

User Performance measures the time it takes you to understand and respond to a machine signal. This often means reducing clicks but can also come in the form of the system conveying information in an easier to digest manner so you can more quickly make a decision toward completing a task.

Below are some areas I have gathered and categorized.  I'd like feedback on this and I hope they spark other thoughts.  Take a look and keep these in mind as you perform some tasks over the next few days.  Are there other minor things you see that if addressed could improve your speed?

CONTROLS

1. Allow clicking on any column header to sort by that header
2. Ensure all lists in dialogs have a meaningful default sorting
3. When names include numbers use a smarter sorting algorithm that accounts for units. (e.g. 1'-0”,1”, 12’, 21”, 4”, 5” - bad,  1”, 4”, 5”, 1'-0”, 21”, 12’ - better
4. Make the offset text input field wider to display larger numbers
5. When moving items up or down in the schedule field order automatically scroll when an item reaches the bottom of the list
6. Display the drop down control so one does not have to first activate the field
7. Ensure the selected value of a drop down is placed at the middle of the list so one can see values above and below without scrolling
8. Increase the length of all drop down lists

NAVIGATION

1. Ensure orient to view on the view cube and steering wheel has scroll bars on the view list
2. Constrain the Zoom drag preview box so its proportioned to the active window aspect ratio to better preview the zoom results
3. Double-click on middle mouse wheel button to perform a zoom extents
4. Double-click on a sheet viewport to activate the viewport
5. Double-click to edit a family
6. Enable middle mouse wheel scrolling in all drop down lists

CLICK THROUGH UI

1. Add <New…> and/or <Load…>  to the drop down where one specifies another family (such as a profile) so the one can continue with their workflow rather than exit the dialog
2. Add a button to the right of the selected family/type that takes you to the properties of that type (to alter, duplicate etc) and then return to the original context when that dialog instance is closed
3. When overriding an object if a Fill or line pattern doesn’t exist, you have to exit, create, and start all over again.  Provide a way to access these UI areas to create new styles that can be used in the overrides dialog. (similar to material parameter)

MATERIAL UI

Ability to delete material

GROUP EDIT MODE

Unable to duplicate a wall type or something else when in group edit mode, except from the project browser.  Allow type duplication in this context.

WORKSHARING

To change the workset of an existing object you have to deselect the object and then reselect it before the workset field on the properties dialog is enabled.  Simplify the steps here.

MASS PLACEMENT

Difficult to place a mass because the mass is work plane based and the placement option is not set to default to the workplane placement option.

More examples?

_Erik

Comments

[Col.]

Great list, the controls items in particular will save a lot of time.

A suggestion for schedules would be to allow column order to be changed by dragging the headers.

Extend your sorting by list header to include schedule column headers.

[Chris Hubbard]

Following your logic with the and load...

Add load baluster and post to the railing dialog

Add load profile to the sweep dialog box in the family editor and other locations where necessary

[Col.]

Project browser is organised by parameters, and only way to change position of an item is to modify that parameters value for the item in question.

Would be great to be able to drag items around the browser and have Revit update the parameter value based on where it's dragged to.

Could probably do with being able to lock this functionality down though to avoid accidental changes..!

[Theo Dore]

NAVIGATION

- Ensure orient to view on the view cube and steering wheel has scroll bars on the view list

I'd rather have the view list respond to the same sorting that one can setup for the PB, so that Plans, Sections, etc can be grouped in a hierarchy. On large projects the view list gets veeeeery long.

- Enable middle mouse wheel scrolling in all drop down lists

Yes, please - or auto-scrolling when moving the mouse pointer towards start / end of list.

- Double-click on middle mouse wheel button to perform a zoom extents

That would be nice - but I'd rather that views would have zoom persistency whilst tabbing through them. If I zoom to extents to a view, and then switch to another view and then back to the first again, the view extents are reset. This is a major annoyance.

Cheers!

[Col.]

All dialog boxes that include lists should be re-sizable, e.g. revisions on sheet list.

[Balazs]

1) A way to store defaults. For instance tick boxes: Copy - multiple elements, Align - multiple alignment, Place beam - tag on placement. Also section depth defaults.

2) A way to control the default extents of datum elements beyond the crop boundary. We spend a lot of time adjusting these.

3) Matching visibility / view overrides between views.

4) Enable "disallow join" for beams. These are an absolute timewasters to try and get right.

5) Enable to split columns, extend columns with grip edits as we do with beams. They take along time with the current tools.

6) Enable "alignment" of sections after placement.

7) At multiple selection, the ability to see "varies" when some parameters vary. Also the ability to set parameters of multiple selections back to the default value or "empty".

8) Ability to select by filter and a better selection filter dialog box as well. One that is more intelligent and structured. A lot of time is spent "selecting".

Sorry i got carried away a bit, but we spend a very long time fighting with these issues when other aspects of Revit are such a dream to work with.

[Col.]

To be able to multi-select on a schedule in order to change a parameter for multiple items to the same value.

[Col.]

Window management / tiling. There's only one tiling option at the moment, and often I want the windows tiled so that they're above/below, rather than left/right.

For more than 2 open windows, maybe think about the way Win 7 handles window tiling (drag to the edge of the screen to half-fill etc), or some of the window management apps for OS X that divide your screen into virtual zones which you can snap windows to.

[Col.]

Schedule headers / positioning.

Currently the schedule headers remain visible as you scroll up and down, but there doesn't seem to be a way to set a column to remain visible on the left. On schedules with a lot of columns you can find yourself scrolling back quite a lot to get your bearings.

It would also be useful to be able to highlight a row / multiple rows so that tracking across reading values is easier.

[pcunningham]

Assign visibility graphics to a keyboard shortcut or quick access toolbar to quickly toggle the visibility of a particular category. (eg. Sections On/Off)

[Dick Barath]

When entering offset command - program should recognize the dialogue box and place the cursor into the dialogue box without prompting. Please no more placing cursor into dialogues boxes.

[Dick Barath]

Similar to my previous post Revit needs to recognize one is entering a formula once you go beyond a single entry and automatically place the equal sign for the user.

[Dick Barath]

Revit users should not IMHO have to wait a full year cycle to see these improvements they should be passed on to the users upon completion similar to Windows update. Please lets not TALK this to death - we having been asking for these preformace improvements for ages.

[Scottddavis]

Navigation

7. Double-click to edit a sketch based object.
8. Ability to turn off scroll bars.

I really like Controls number 6: whether its a drop down list or a browse button, it should be shown without first activating the box. So many users miss this at first because they are not displayed.

[Tom]

Project browser is great for choosing views. A huge alphabetical list is not so great, but this is what is presented in the Export and Print dialogs - with two completely different interfaces!

A unified "sheet/view set" tool is needed, that can be got at without having to Print or Export first.

[Col.]

An extension of Tom's point above, it would be great to be able to right-click on a node in the project browser and choose print, export etc, similar to the way you would do this in AutoCAD's sheet set manager.

[Erik]

All great suggestions.

[Dick Barath]

Modelling - in Revit is a breeze. Finishing up working drawings is a PIG.

I for one request the detailing and drafting end of things to be cleaned up. It's these small NEGLECTED items mentioned here that are causing the pain,anguish and frustration.

[Col.]

Text box input focus - can text boxes be set to have focus as soon as the mouse moves over them?

e.g. drawing ductwork; draw a piece of ductwork, then press escape to draw a separate piece of ductwork of a different size. Once you press escape the duct sizes highlight as if they're focussed, but they're not, you have to click in the text boxes to activate them. Would be quicker to move mouse over text box and type without having to select first.

[Col.]

Kind of clicking through the UI... can we please have more customisation of the quick access toolbar, so that we can add things like print, rather than having to click on the application button then click on print.

[Col.]

Sorry for the number of posts, but things keep coming up, and as you asked..!

In file dialogs, if I click the 'new folder' button, it creates a new folder, called 'new folder' and leaves it at that. If I do the same in a Microsoft application such as Excel, the file list scrolls to the newly created folder, which is selected and activated for renaming.

[Gabe Cottam]

ALL dialogs need to be resizable.
Schedule views should have a zoom function - font size adjustments.
Schedules should allow spell checking.
Schedules should allow row height adjustments.
We should be able to "align" or "snap" to datum elements through the viewport. Eyeballing our sheets to the guide grid is silly.

[Rick Moore]

I agree with these suggestions. Also comply with typical Windows rename behavior esp. in the Project Browser - click once on a name to highlight then click again to rename

[Lir]

commands like "shadows on", "shadows off" -- one single shortcut (toggle)

[Lir]

Navigation:
a pretty standard zoom functionality "zoom to object". select object - zoom to it.

[Tim Waldock]

All of the suggestions in "Controls" and "Click through UI" would make our lives so much easier, and make Revit easier to learn.
Of course, CONSISTENCY is the key - they have to be followed through every instance in the UI. Here is another example:

Using the Duplicate command (for anything), should automatically highlight the new name, ready for a rename, and possibly add the word "Copy" at the end of the name, never at the beginning.

How many different ways does Revit handle renaming when items are duplicated? I know of at least 9:

1. Duplicate a type done by clicking on a Duplicate button on the Type Properties dialog - opens a dialog box with the new name highlighted for an immediate rename, with a "2" added at the end of the name (or 3 if 2 exists etc);

2. Duplicate a type by right-clicking in the project browser: It creates the duplicate immediately below the original, with a 2 added at the end of the name ; the name is highlighted for an immediate rename.

3. Duplicate a View Filter, by clicking on the duplicate icon - It creates the duplicate immediately below the original, with a 2 added at the end of the name ; the name is NOT highlighted for an immediate rename.

4. Duplicate a view by right-clicking in the project browser: It creates the duplicate with the words "Copy of" prefixed to the original name immediately moving the duplicate in project browser to its sort position (often making it really hard to find); it also opens that view. BAD, BAD, BAD naming - it should be a suffix "Copy"

5. Duplicate a duplicated view by right-clicking in the project browser - ie. the view name already has a prefix "Copy of" : It creates the duplicate with "(2)" inserted after the "Copy of" prefix immediately moving the duplicate above the original in project browser;

6. Duplicate as Dependant a view by right-clicking in the project browser: It creates the duplicate with the words "Dependant on" prefixed to the original name immediately moving the duplicate in project browser to its subset position (easy to find);

7. Duplicate Rails (in a railing structure). By clicking on a text duplicate icon, it creates the copy above the original, with "(1)" after the name, even though the original is called "Rail 1", the copy is called "Rail 1 (1)". It is NOT highlighted for ain immediate rename.

8. Duplicate Balusters (in a railing structure). By clicking on a text duplicate icon, it creates the copy above the original, with the same name as the original. inconsistent with rails.

9. I forget where, but there is one situation somewhere in Revit where the duplicate is renamed as just the character "1" - the whole original name is not included in the duplicate.

10. Duplicate a line pattern. What ? - you can’t do it, even if you have a really complex line pattern definition, you have to create a new one.

[DaveP]

Here's a biggie:
When you're placing fixtures in a Ceiling Plan, they don't rotate with the Space Bar like Furniture does. Nor do they Snap to the Ceiling Grid.
That forces you to:
- Place a Light
- Align one side
- Align the other side (90 degrees)
That's 6 clicks total instead of click/Space Bar for dozens (or hundreds) of lights.
Had a conversation with Support once upon a time, and they told me that happens to anything created from the Linear Lighting Fixture.rft template. But they said the reason why was lost to history.
Also happens with Diffusers.

[Peter Egan]

Controls

Remember the last leader length used when placing tags, instead of defaulting to 1/2".

Add preview window of sweeps when in wall > structure > edit > sweeps > profiles. Then be able to modify profile from here instead of exiting out and going to "profiles" in project browser.

When you select a (new) view template in the properties window, it should automatically apply that view template rather than having to go out to the browser and apply separately.

In properties window, when input is accepted should be clear and consistent. Sometimes it accepts when you leave the cell, sometimes when your cursor leaves the window and sometimes not until you click "Apply."

Have a "Recently Used" in the "Reference Other Views" drop-down.

Materials UI

Ability to delete AND RENAME materials.

Show more than one line for custom parameters on the Identity tab. We use 5 parameters for materials and the users can't find them, since the first line shows the grouping.

Schedules

Provide a "Title on Sheet" for schedules, not just views and legends.

Apply the same text justification to the heading as the data in a column, or maybe provide control over the heading text justification also.

Provide Browser Organization for schedules; why limit to views and sheets?

Show which schedules are placed on a sheet in the Browser, not just views and legends.

Sheets

Should be able to create multiple sheets at the same time.

Should be able to select multiple sheets in the browser and change properties for all. Work in views but not in sheets.

[Revit-nightmares.blogspot.com]

Ability to sort parameters in families/propertis dialoge - Will save lots of time looking thru all the paramters in the current "random" order ;)

[Col.]

Project Browser - often when I create a new view I'm not quite certain where it's ended up in the browser; would help if browser expanded to show new view selected.

Would also help if the browser offered a breadcrumb type highlighting of the nodes leading to the active view.

[Col.]

Properties panel - when entering a value and pressing enter it would save time if focus automatically moved to the next editable parameter. (I think AutoCAD's properties palette does this)

[Col.]

I've been making MEP families, and setting the Omniclass value takes way longer than it should. A free text search on lists like this would save a lot of time.

[Peter Egan]

Spell check whole project, including values in schedules, tags, properties.

Better control of draw order of views on sheets, not just the reverse order they were placed or whatever it is now.

Add to this one: "Should be able to create multiple sheets at the same time." If we can't make multiple sheets at a time, how about right-click on a sheet and duplicate to make a new sheet that copies the titleblock and increments the copied sheet number by one.

Component type selector: add some organization, like browser organization, to address the "endless list" format.

Add to this one: "Ability to sort parameters in families/propertis dialoge....current 'random' order" It would be nice to be able to set the order of the groups also.

When editing a tag, you can zoom the view. When editing text you cannot zoom. Should be consistent.

Fix "Element is too small to display on screen."

Don't reset the Project Browser when switching between projects.

[David Baldacchino]

When making a workset editable, there should be no need to get out of the dialog and back in to delete or rename it.

Modeless review warnings dialog. If a certain tool is required to correct the issue, make it available rather then simply "delete". There should be no need to exit, fix the error and get back into the dialog.

View and sheet schedules: it should be easy to create a schedule of unplaced views. Need control to open selected views and sheets directly from the schedules

View titles should offer snaps when moved so they can be accurately snapped to lines or to other titleblock linework.

Ability to select all instances of a line. Discern between model and detail lines.

[David Baldacchino]

When making a workset editable, there should be no need to get out of the dialog and back in to delete or rename it.

Modeless review warnings dialog. If a certain tool is required to correct the issue, make it available rather then simply "delete". There should be no need to exit, fix the error and get back into the dialog.

View and sheet schedules: it should be easy to create a schedule of unplaced views. Need control to open selected views and sheets directly from the schedules

View titles should offer snaps when moved so they can be accurately snapped to lines or to other titleblock linework.

Ability to select all instances of a line. Discern between model and detail lines.

[David Baldacchino]

When selecting an element in the canvas (loadable family), on the Modify tab (or the Options bar?) we should get a "Load Family" button so we can swop it with another family that is not already in the project. Currently we have to go to Insert, load a family, re-pick the family we want to change and find the type we want in the palette drop-down. Since we use placeholder families in early project phases, this would save a lot of clicking in future phases when we want to re-define with more accurate families.

[Mark Cronin]

Some great suggestions. A big time saver for me would be if the 'wall joins' tool displayed a progess bar, or number of options available, for a selected joint so you could shuffle through them more quickly ensuring you're not missing any.