No fixes to current usability issues?

I just looked at the release notes for 1.11.2 and couldn't find any plans to fix the usability issues with the overengineered snapshot feature and the fuzzy logic pie menu.

I know this might be painful to hear for some of the developers at LL, but nobody likes these "features" and they just cause confusion and frustration, especially to newbies. It is most urgent that both of them get either removed, or an enable/disable option in the preferences. I'm sure the developer's egos will get over it.

I work in software (user experience is part of my job), and I know how developers, when unleashed, tend to over-engineer like that, but sometimes someone has to tell them to keep it simple.

I don't know what your development process is like, but any good developer needs a minimum set of written specifications that get approved before they start writing a single line of code. These specifications are later turned into test cases by the QA people.

The over-complicated snapshot and fuzzy pie menu are typical cases of someone not following a healthy design process. Whatever Philip says in his blog, you don't let developers work on whatever they feel like working on. There must be some kind of direction from management. I beleive these are serious issues in LL's development process that have lead to a poor user experience and poor customer satisfaction, which is what software quality is all about.

Anyway, I digress. These are well documented and serious issues that all Lindens must be aware of, including the ones who coded these features. So when are they going to get really fixed (as in being made optional in the preferences)?

G'day Nibb, that was really well-worded. I have a focus on "digging in the dirt" usability here at LL and as you may have seen from many past posts of mine, I've been forwarding all the feedback re: what you mention to the developers as well as offering suggestions as to what can be done better.

I don't think it's fair to say "nobody likes these 'features'". Certainly, I have my own gripes, and I've heard many--but I've also heard counterpoints. For example, I have a friend who didn't like the freezing feature of the snapshot, but then she discovered it was handy to keep taking model photos while the model was changing into another outfit in the background--since the present shot remains still. I didn't think about that until I came upon that situation.

We wouldn't want to make rash changes either, so that's why I've personally been aggregating what comes about and letting it gel. Also underrated are shortcuts that need to be more obvious, like the fact Ctrl-` takes snapshots to disk without the intermediary preview.

If by "fuzzy pie menu" you mean the faded edges, that's meant to emphasize you can "throw" the mouse gesturally.

From your experience, I'd like to learn. If you have suggestions you can garner and rally community support for, as a composite alloy, I will support and advocate what you do. I'm always looking for this.

I do know specifically, some very annoying usability issues with focus not going where it should have been fixed already, and more will be on the way. That whole "Enter closes chat bar and makes me move around unwantedly" is also a major concern we're considering making optional.

Also, as I noted in my personal experience here, choosing your own work isn't incompatible to being receptive with the very real desires of the Residents. It is in my utmost interest to absorb and know what the people want.

Thank you graciously.