Bug 52335

Summary:	Usability issue: The GUI for assigning keyboard shortcuts to functions is not intuitive.
Product:	LibreOffice	Reporter:	narayanaras
Component:	UI	Assignee:	Not Assigned <libreoffice-bugs>
Status:	RESOLVED DUPLICATE
Severity:	enhancement	CC:	79045_79045, bfo.bugmail, heiko.tietze, jnareb, libreajans, philipz85, stanislav.horacek, thomas.mitterfellner
Priority:	medium
Version:	3.6.0.1 rc
Hardware:	All
OS:	All
See Also:	https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=34564
Whiteboard:
Crash report or crash signature:		Regression By:
Bug Depends on:
Bug Blocks:	41560
Attachments:	Shows re-designed GUI for assigning shortcuts Presentation on the problem and solution

Description narayanaras 2012-07-21 09:08:02 UTC

There is a usability issue with the Keyboard tab of Writer's "Tools>Customize..." dialog.

This GUI lists the Shortcut keys at the top, meaning you can browse through the list and select a shortcut that may or may not be assigned already. (Inference: If a shortcut is already assigned, you want to re-assign it to something else.)

So the workflow is like this:

Step-1: Select a shortcut.

step-2:Select a function.
* Step 2a: Select a category (this changes the list of functions)
* Step 2b: Select a function from this list.

Step-3: Assign by clicking "Modify" button.
* Alternative step: Press "Delete" to remove the assigned shortcut.

-------------------------------------------
There are two different usability issues with this workflow:

problem-1: The Modify/Delete buttons are at the top, instead of at bottom. So the window is not designed according to the workflow. For step-3, you have to go to the top of the window again.

problem-2: If you select a Category+function that already has another shortcut assigned to it, your selection in step-1 is abandoned! What is the point of selecting it if the subsequent step nullifies the selection?

-------------------------------------------

A new design is proposed (see the attached document). This design avoids the two problems listed above, and also forces the user to follow the intended workflow.

Comment 1 narayanaras 2012-07-21 09:09:38 UTC

Created attachment 64483 [details]
Shows re-designed GUI for assigning shortcuts

Note that this design automatically forces the user to follow a linear workflow.

Comment 2 bfoman (inactive) 2013-01-29 18:49:34 UTC

Enhancement request.

If you think that the way it works should be changed, consider contacting UI 
experts available at libreoffice-ux-advise@lists.freedesktop.org.

Comment 3 Jorendc 2013-02-01 00:34:18 UTC

I do agree this could be improved. Therefore mark it as new. I also tried to find any duplicates, but can't find any (so far).

Thanks for reporting!
Joren

Comment 4 narayanaras 2014-04-07 11:04:37 UTC

Created attachment 97033 [details]
Presentation on the problem and solution

Please view the presentation is Slideshow mode only.

Comment 5 thomas.mitterfellner 2014-08-01 16:34:59 UTC

If there should ever be an initiative of improving usability in LO, this should be one of the first to be worked on because the way it is now is close to ununsable (I tried to assign CTRL+# to subscript – it's not even possible).


Let me add one feature request to the proposed solution to boost usability: the functions should be searchable, i.e. a filter should be applicable so that only functions matching the filter are shown. Thus, add a Category 'All' containing all of the available functions and add a search field above the Function container. As you type characters into the filter, the Function list's items thin out to match only the filter criterion.
This way the user can find the functions he want to assign shortcuts to much more quickly.

Actually the best solution for shortcut assignment I have ever come across is in the Eclipse IDE: http://www.eclipseonetips.com/2010/02/03/how-to-manage-keyboard-shortcuts-in-eclipse/
Please take the time to watch the video there to see the optimum solution in keyboard shortcuts handling or even better: try it in Eclipse for yourself.

Comment 6 Yousuf Philips (jay) (retired) 2017-05-24 18:36:25 UTC

This will be tackled during this year's GSoC when the customization dialog is being redesigned.

Comment 7 Heiko Tietze 2018-01-11 09:40:53 UTC

*** Bug 92686 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***

Comment 8 Heiko Tietze 2020-12-09 08:14:25 UTC

*** Bug 121939 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***

Comment 9 Heiko Tietze 2020-12-09 08:14:37 UTC

(In reply to Sabri Unal from bug 121939 comment #0)
> A) Category order of the dialog:
> B) Search on Keyboard option is less effective than other tabs.
> C) Commands don't have icons and Descriptions.
> D) There is no way to search a shortcut on the Keyboard tab.

(In reply to Hai Lang from bug 121939 comment #4)
> Created attachment 155895 [details]
> This is a proposal to update customize keyboard dialog.

(In reply to Hai Lang from bug 121939 comment #5)
> Created attachment 155896 [details]
> This is the patch for the proposal.

Comment 10 Roman Kuznetsov 2021-08-26 10:23:00 UTC

Heiko, can we close this one as duplicate of bug 115527?

Comment 11 Heiko Tietze 2021-08-26 10:50:18 UTC

Usually we keep the older tickets but in this case the other one has a mockup attached.

*** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of bug 115527 ***