Comments on: Soporific Manifesto 2008 http://brainsnorkel.com/2008/02/26/soporific-manifesto-2008/ Manifesto-driven development. Eclectic thoughts. Fri, 23 Dec 2011 10:39:30 +0000 hourly 1 By: Chris http://brainsnorkel.com/2008/02/26/soporific-manifesto-2008/comment-page-1/#comment-39939 Chris Fri, 16 May 2008 08:57:17 +0000 http://brainsnorkel.com/2008/02/26/soporific-manifesto-2008/#comment-39939 I agree. The Mac Finder file system view is an appropriate use of a tree view, as is Windows Explorer's, though Vista is really the first Windows OS that kind-of made a finder-like window easily available outside of application file dialogs (from the Start menu search capability, of all places). As I said, I think it was the age of needless hierarchy. So many user interfaces were coming out where the left side of the application window was dedicated to a tree nobody used with verbs and nouns nobody understood in a hierarchy that made no sense as a hierarchy. If anything PC applications seem to have calmed down in widget use, though even "serious" companies like Nokia insist on reinventing user interface conventions every 12 months. Maybe the default palette of application widgets has improved and it's no longer easier to add a tree than a list or a bunch of appropriately labelled buttons. I agree. The Mac Finder file system view is an appropriate use of a tree view, as is Windows Explorer’s, though Vista is really the first Windows OS that kind-of made a finder-like window easily available outside of application file dialogs (from the Start menu search capability, of all places).

As I said, I think it was the age of needless hierarchy. So many user interfaces were coming out where the left side of the application window was dedicated to a tree nobody used with verbs and nouns nobody understood in a hierarchy that made no sense as a hierarchy.

If anything PC applications seem to have calmed down in widget use, though even “serious” companies like Nokia insist on reinventing user interface conventions every 12 months. Maybe the default palette of application widgets has improved and it’s no longer easier to add a tree than a list or a bunch of appropriately labelled buttons.

]]> By: Tonio http://brainsnorkel.com/2008/02/26/soporific-manifesto-2008/comment-page-1/#comment-39937 Tonio Fri, 16 May 2008 06:30:12 +0000 http://brainsnorkel.com/2008/02/26/soporific-manifesto-2008/#comment-39937 I think tree views can work quite well if not quite presented as trees, but as ordinary hierarchies. Mac OS X's Finder "list view" (which survives in tact from the classic OS) is an example. Even so, it's more of a power user thing than the average user's. I think tree views can work quite well if not quite presented as trees, but as ordinary hierarchies. Mac OS X’s Finder “list view” (which survives in tact from the classic OS) is an example. Even so, it’s more of a power user thing than the average user’s.

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