1-Visitor

Question

Why does PTC insist on Ribbon Interface? Over 40% strongly dislike!

Forum|Forum|12 years ago
June 20, 2013
24 replies
19893 views

Why does PTC insist on pushing the Ribbon Interface in Creo?

I personally feel that the Ribbon Interface doesn't work well in 3D CAD software. CAD softwares are geared to use the mouse as the main input device. The demands of everyday CAD work requires users to click away on the interface. For MS Office Suites, the Ribbon Interface works well. This is because the main input device for these tools is the keyboard. People spend more time typing away and uses the mouse seldomly to format what they have typed. And when they use the mouse, the selections are mostly under one tab. Has PTC conducted any real world usuability studies?

The Ribbons Interface doesn't make Creo easier to use. It's a smoke and mirrors interface. What I mean by this is that it is an interface that may make Creo look like an MS Office product which PTC thinks will make the public think that Creo is finally "Easy to Use". This interface doesn't adress the true usability issue. It's the same tool with a different skin. PTC needs to overhaul their interface from ground up and provide solutions that is truly innovative.

I understand that PTC's management made the decision to license the Ribbon Interface from Microsoft but these management people don't have any clue on how to use the product. When speaking to people from PTC regard the issues with the Ribbons Interface, it sounds like this conversation isn't even open for discussion. They have a lot invested in the interface and managment have given them directives that nobody wants to challenge.

Microsoft shouldn't be a company that PTC should look at for inspiration. What is the last innovative product that Microsoft made? Surface Tablet?

I feel that PTC has dropped the ball and have ignore its customers needs. When going over the polls in this discussion forum, I find that over 40% of the users don't like the ribbon interface. This is a staggering figure.

I'd like to hear what others have to say about this.

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ptc-4766099

1-Visitor

The ribbon is crap, just like Microsoft. I need more drawing area, not more menu's to drill thru. I have reluctantly switched to Creo from SolidWorks, where I customized my toolbar so I could work faster, and with less clicks. Creo uses too many mouse clicks to do everything. It just wears your fingers out.

Oh, and don't get me started on their worthless offshore technical help. Really, can't I get USA based technical support..

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ptc-4766099

1-Visitor

After using Creo, Pro-e or whatever PTC has named it this week, I think one user summed it up nicely.

"I hate Pro-e with the passion of a thousand burning suns..."

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ptc-5155539

Author

1-Visitor

Dear Community,

Please show support for this thread by keeping it alive.

Please share with us your issues with the interface. YouTube video with a link would be great! Let us know of your work arounds if there are any. And let us hear what you have to say as to what you would like to see as an improvement over the Ribbon UI.

Let's try refrain from saying hateful words. Let's try to be objective as much as possible. Instead of saying how you dislike the Ribbon UI. Let's collect data such as hours of decreased productivity, increase in mouse clicks, time spent managing the UI, etc.

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ptc-4864603

1-Visitor

I'd rather have a command prompt.

B

bowlofnoodle

1-Visitor

The ribbon bar is pretty good. All the commands are in one area of the screen. Nice and simple.

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rohit_rajan

15-Moonstone

one of the most positive comments on creo 2.0 ribbon interface so far..great..!

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ptc-4864603

1-Visitor

I played around with hiding the ribbon and just using the Quick Access toolbar a little bit.

The first hurdle was how to make a tab current so certain commands would work, mostly the Table tab in drawings and Annotate in modeling (you have to have the Annotate tab active to get the Detail Tree to show and Table tab has to be current for Table commands).

I solved that easily with a mapkeys using the Alt+ keystroke and assigned it to an icon to switch tabs. In image 1 and 2 I highlighted them.

It works for the most part except when you do anything that has a Dashboard, the tab doesn't show and it auto hides as you click options or commands in the Dashboard. Thinking on a way to workaround that.

One thing I had overlooked is you can right click on the name of a Group in a tab, add it to the Quick bar and it makes it into one icon on the toolbar with a flyout. So it's really easy to get a lot of the most used into it.

So if PTC could add and tweak some options it is totally possible to get back to that Wildfire feeling.

This is kind of obvious stuff maybe, but I thought I'd share.

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pnos

1-Visitor

I got it like that all the functions that are used in one band

J

JonathanHodgson

13-Aquamarine

Having a widescreen monitor clearly opens up the possibilities!

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ptc-4144934

1-Visitor

A ribbon interface compared to a marking menuis is like a donkey and cart compared to a ferrari.

A customized Marking Menu is very easy to remember. They are also surprisingly easy to remember when modified. I am not one to remember small shortcuts but something about using a Marking menu just is easy and intuitive. As mentioned, if you want to see how efficient and fast a marking menu is, just watch a Maya user work. Their Marking Menu can be divided into three areas. Each is in effect when different combinations of the SHIFT– CTRL –ATL keys are pressed if I remember correctly. Maya has the best Marking menu setup on the planet. That is why it is the undisputed leader for advanced 3D work outside of ID and Engineering work.

Another one of the most important features of a Marking Menu is that it allows the toolbars to be reduced in size or even eliminated. This allows for more space to see the model, a super critical need when doing advanced surfacing.

Keyboard commands cannot touch marking menus for speed because the fingers have to stretch to get more than about a dozen commands. This usually also requires looking down at the keyboard. Once that is done, time and some visual concentration is lost. This is where I personally lose my desire to use more than a couple keyboard commands.

There is a marking menu in Creo’s Freestyle tool but as far as I have heard, no immediate plans to take it further than there. That menu is good but not very big and I think it is not customizable but am not sure because I have only recently picked up Creo. After checking it further, It is generally nicely setup but a little slow to work with when drop down menus are accessed.

Remember what I said, watch a good Maya user blaze away and you & Creo will be a convert, hopefully.