Bug 97627

Summary:	UI: Don't show submenus for inserting page headers and footers when there is only one style
Product:	LibreOffice	Reporter:	Jeff Fortin Tam <nekohayo>
Component:	Writer	Assignee:	Not Assigned <libreoffice-bugs>
Status:	NEW ---
Severity:	enhancement	CC:	buzea.bogdan, cno
Priority:	medium
Version:	Inherited From OOo
Hardware:	All
OS:	All
Whiteboard:
Crash report or crash signature:		Regression By:
Bug Depends on:
Bug Blocks:	48741

Description Jeff Fortin Tam 2016-02-07 20:46:02 UTC

Some usability observations with users I have at hand made me realize that the current structure is confusing to them:

"Insert > Page header >   Default style"
"Insert > Page footer >   Default style"

The "Default style" single item is a bit confusing, especially in some languages other than English, because users I surveyed didn't quite figure out what it meant or why it was there. My suggestion would be that when there is no other styles available than the default style, don't make a submenu out of it, just make it like so:

"Insert > Page header"
"Insert > Page footer"

Yes, the "Default style" thing can act as a checkbox to remove an existing header/footer, but 1) this can be done directly from the contextual footer/header's menu directly on the page  2) I haven't seen users look into the "Insert" menu to delete headers/footers, and indeed it doesn't make much semantic sense that an action to "remove" something would be in an "Insert" menu...

Comment 1 Jeff Fortin Tam 2016-02-07 20:50:36 UTC

Ah, and FWIW, I've seen at least one user struggling with that particular submenu from a hand-eye coordination standpoint: the fact that there is only one subitem in the menu by default makes it very hard to hit the target, she had to sweep in multiple times before finally managing to trigger the action.

Comment 2 Cor Nouws 2016-02-07 21:40:03 UTC

Thanks for filing, Jean-Francois.
I like your idea and think it's a useful change.

Ciao - Cor

Comment 3 Carl Pettit 2021-12-10 13:48:50 UTC

I disagree with dropping the Default Style when it is the only one. doing so will yield an inconsistent interface. i.e. the user has to drill 2 or 3 levels depending on whether the is one or more styles.

Regarding manual dexterity of users, the size of menu items etc is usually a function of the operating system and can be found under "Accessibility" or "Display" settings.