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I feel like Gmail went from being Photoshop to Draw Something

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Re: I feel like Gmail went from being Photoshop to Draw Something

#271

Post by esalman »

oinksoft wrote: post #168
missing_cipher wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The default behavior for "Tab" on the web is to move to the next element on the Tab order.

The default behavior for Tab in rich text editors has been to insert a tabstop for quite some time. I think this is just a casualty of goog.editor.Editor's unconventional default behavior, which is to tab out of the field. If that is truly an oversight (not overriding this behavior), it says a lot about how the Gmail project is being run these days, because previously they did override this.

This is not default behavior for TinyMCE (http://www.tinymce.com/tryit/full.php) or cKEditor (http://ckeditor.com/demo)

But old Gmail did override this.

Re: I feel like Gmail went from being Photoshop to Draw Something

#272

Post by dm2 »

mixmax wrote: post #74

Here's another total usability fail: Tab sends the e-mail you're currently writing instead of indenting text. Everywhere else tab indents text, and when you write an e-mail in gmail you'd expect it to act consistently with how it's used everywhere else. Start writing in gmail, hit tab to indent some text. Congratulations you've now sent half an e-mail to you boss.... I can't fathom who thought this was a good idea.

I often write emails in Google Documents then copy and paste to Gmail to get around these quirks.

The problem with that is that Google Docs and Gmail have completely different default styles and features. The bulleted lists are not compatible and bold font gets all messed up when you try to edit it (like the normal and bold switch).

Boooooooooooooooo.

Re: I feel like Gmail went from being Photoshop to Draw Something

#273

Post by 3825 »

serginho wrote: post #208
3825 wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I actually use tab -> enter to send and I find it quite convenient. Why are people complaining about this when we've all tacitly admitted top posting? IMO bigger problems are that email ought to be plain text by default and replies ought to go in the bottom (with three dots on the top if necessary). Sorry if I made anyone mad. Now you know how I felt reading this post.

Ctrl + Enter is much more efficient for me.

How long has Gmail supported Ctrl + Enter? I agree. It is pretty sweet. Now I can go back and forth between Outlook and Gmail!

Re: I feel like Gmail went from being Photoshop to Draw Something

#274

Post by mherdeg »

tomkarlo wrote: post #95
mixmax wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks - I didn't notice that. After having mistakenly sent a few embarrassing half e-mails I've stopped using tab altogether in gmail for fear of doing it again. When I indent text it's spaces instead of tab - unlike anywhere else. This proves the point that it's terrible UI though...

I highly recommend turning on the "Undo Send" extension in the Labs part of settings. It lets you choose to undo settings for ~5 seconds after you press send. It has saved my bacon countless times, not because I hit send accidentally, but because I realize I want to add one more thing or recipient to an email.

Heh. Imagining this UX patch 25 years ago:

"I highly recommend turning on the 'Undo Irradiate' feature on the Therac-25. It lets you undo irradiation settings for a patient for ~5 seconds after you press irradiate. It has saved my patients countless times, not because the UI tricks me into irradiating patients with the wrong settings, but because I realize I want to add one more dose."

Re: I feel like Gmail went from being Photoshop to Draw Something

#275

Post by mikro2nd »

curiousdannii wrote: post #205
sharjeel wrote: post #152

Gmail is the application which has made me realize a big weakness of web applications. The web was supposed to make "application upgrades" painless and instant. After GMail's recent changes, I would really love to "download old version of Gmail"; however its web, I can't do that!

I was given the option to go back to the old version..?

So was I, and I took it, and I'm still using the old version. Thankfully. The day they force me onto the new version I'll go back to Thunderbird, using the gmail backend only as a searchable archive.

Re: I feel like Gmail went from being Photoshop to Draw Something

#276

Post by jodrellblank »

gcr wrote: post #222
DanBC wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's irrelevant to the point in the parent that I was responding to - that every app uses tab to format text. Most apps don't. There are a limited section of apps that use tab for text formatting. I'm pretty sure most web browsers never have, although I welcome examples of web browsers that do. If people want to write real email they can use a real client, not a web interface.

I think it's relevant. I expect app designers to use the keybindings that make sense based on what the user wants to do instead of blindly adopting whatever guidelines the OS suggests. If you're in the shell, "tab" should tab-complete, not move to the next terminal you have open. If you're in a shooting game, "tab" should reload your weapon or show scores or whatever, not advance your cursor to the next target. If yo…

None of your other examples have the conflict of running within a browser, and the browser already having an expected behaviour for tab, including an expected behaviour for tab inside a text box / edit field.

Re: I feel like Gmail went from being Photoshop to Draw Something

#277

Post by hollerith »

cmircea wrote: post #265
crummy wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the web, it's copying a tab from somewhere else and pasting it into your web field... or at least that's how I do it :|

And web apps are supposed to replace desktop apps...

Not if I can avoid it they are not!

Re: I feel like Gmail went from being Photoshop to Draw Something

#278

Post by alan_cx »

mzeshle wrote: post #123

I think Yahoo mail beats Gmail at many levels..especially the newest UI. It feels like working from desktop email client.

I've been using yahoo mail for so long now I cant remember. 15 years, maybe. I'm not going to wave flags for it, but in all these years I have never seen a half decent reason to ever consider changing.

Re: I feel like Gmail went from being Photoshop to Draw Something

#280

Post by jimmaswell »

cmircea wrote: post #75
tomkarlo wrote: post #70

Does anyone really think Photoshop is a good UX for mass consumption (which is obviously the target for Gmail)? I've been using it since version 2, and I think it's a great product, but for new users it's a miserably difficult product to learn, especially for any kind of casual use. There's a reason why users love apps like Draw Something or (more relevantly) Instagram or Paper. They're able to easily achieve the res…

Nobody thinks Photoshop has a good UX, but that's not the point; the point is it's been consistent, with only small, helpful changes. If Adobe redesigned the Photoshop interface they'd instantly love half their market share, as people using software professionally don't like or have the time to learn something new just because it's better in some odd way. Microsoft did that with Office, the whole Ribbon fiasco, but t…

What exactly about Office 2003's interface was "extremely complicated"? It's been nothing but intuitive and helpful to me. The new versions of Office aren't hard to figure out either, though.
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