Latest inventory update breaks fundamental laws of humankind.

I admit after reading this post... this is probably by far the geekiest thing I have written since I finally graduated college. =) But It needs to be said, so here it goes...

First of all, let me boil down the previous rants and complaints for Linden into three simple bullets so we can be on the same page. The inventory system:

* No longer retains focus of the search result, so searching is useless,
* Opens folders not requested to be opened by the user, and
* Has complex rules regarding what is placed at the top of the list and when, causing people's inventory list to be in a constant and unmanageable state of change.

After seeing a number of posts on here about the new broken inventory system, I think there may be some misunderstanding on just why people are so upset about it. The issue is a rather complex one, combining a number of thoughts and feelings from people. Some of the reasons I see people upset about the latest inventory update include:

1) The change ruined their fun
2) The change ruined their business
3) People pay real money for #1 and #2
4) Linden labs seems to blame the users for not catching these problems on the preview grid
5) Some people are just emotional.

However, I think there is a more serious and fundamental problem going on here: that when faced with a change in how a human being interacts with their environment - something learned over thousands of years, people are thrust into an alien world and do not know exactly how to react. The problem is compounded when people then ask themselves "why is it no one saw this problem?" That is what is happening here.

"huh?" you say? Well, lets dive into some generally accepted facts about how the concept of "search" works on our little blue planet Earth:

I. Search targeting.

Every person, perhaps every -cell- in our bodies knows how to search for a target and then act on that target. Examples:

1) A virus selects a certain cell in a person's bloodstream, moves to it, and attaches itself to it in order to begin replication.
2) A person opens a phone book, searches for name, selects it and then calls it.
3) A person goes to google.com, searches for something, finds the result and then clicks on it to go there on the Internet.
4) A 2 year old child sees an array of lollipops on a table. They decide they like "grape" more than "cherry". They physically pick up the grape lollipop and begin to eat it.

All of the above are fundamental, factual examples on how humans (and parts of them) interact with their environment. And it is important to make the distinction that in all of the above examples there is a SEARCH for a result and a selection/UTILIZATION of that result. Additionally, anthropological studies have shown this behavior to be the case for millions of years in some form.

The latest inventory update breaks this fundamental rule of human existence. This is not a hyperbolic statement, nor is it an inflammatory one: it is purely a statement of fact.

In the "updated" inventory system, you perform a search for a target. That target (specifically, a folder) is highlighted. When you decide to utilize that target, you can't. You can't double-click on it. You can't remove the results of your search and have your target remain focused so you can utilize it, as you could in the past. You simply cannot do anything. You must start over.

Using our examples above, here's how Linden's new inventory system would work in reality:

1) A virus selects a certain cell in a person's bloodstream, moves to it, the cell zig-zags away from it somewhere else in the body. (If only we were so lucky!)
2) A person opens a phone book, searches for name, selects it and then before being able to dial it the phone book flips in the air, mixes its pages together, and falls back on the table closed.
3) A person goes to google.com, searches for something, finds the result and then clicks on it. They are then presented with the main Google search page again, as if they never searched in the first place.
4) A 2 year old child sees an array of lollipops on a table. They decide they like "grape" more than "cherry". They physically move to pick up the grape lollipop but suddenly the lollipops all jumble together in different spots on the table with different wrappers. The 2 year old cries, wondering why they can't just pick up the grape lollipop (and wondering where it even went.)

These are fundamental breaks with our Mankind/Environmental existence. Yes, honestly.

Ahh.. but Linden has broken even more! Let's examine the new "lets open all folders" behavior.

II. Folder opening behavior.

Every person, throughout millions of years, knows the importance of focusing on a task and ignoring extraneous information. Examples:

1) A person talks to another person in a crowded room. They focus on each other's conversations despite many people being in the room.
2) A person opens a phone book consisting of hundreds of pages, searches for name on a single page, selects it and then calls it.

All of the above are again fundamental, factual examples on how humans interact with their environment. And it is important to make the distinction that in all of the above examples there is a ORGANIZATION of a large number of pieces disparate information, and a FOCUSING on the critical information to enable effective communications and/or choices.

The latest inventory update breaks this fundamental rule of human existence as well.

In the "updated" inventory system, if you move or copy an item into a folder, suddenly -all- folders open up. It is near impossible to find where you just put the item you placed again, or focus on different folders should you need to. There is also no way at all to close all the windows at once while still keeping focus on the folder you just placed your information into.

Using our examples above, here's how Linden's new inventory system would work in the real world:

1) A person talks to another person in a crowded room. One person states something to the other. They attempt to focus on each other's conversations despite many people being in the room, but instead are suddenly forced to hear everyone's conversation at the same volume at the same time. Their inability to process a single stream of information effectively makes them unable to communicate.

2) A person opens a phone book consisting of hundreds of pages, searches for name on a single page, and selects it in preparation to make a phone call. The phone book suddenly starts flapping its pages about, scrambling the book up so the person cannot dial the number.

These are, again, fundamental breaks with our Mankind/Environmental existence - though I have to admit not as bad as the search/selection example.

III. Conclusion.

Linden Labs needs to ask themselves some simple questions when they implement new designs:

First and foremost should be "does this new behavior contradict any fundamental knowledge or interactivity law that humanity has known for millions of years?"

Secondly, "did we run this past a focus group that can ensure we do not break any of these fundamental laws?"

Thirdly, "did we test, and retest, and did we -really- Assure Quality before we decided to roll this out to our paying customers?"

and perhaps we should add "do we want our business to succeed or fail?"

The last question is the most significant. For if Linden Labs persists in making such baffling decisions in their UI design that seem to be contrary to many things even newborns understand instinctively, no one will ever want to utilize their product again.

There's only so much people can take. I have seen questionable design. I have seen people blame bad beta testing or bad documentation. But I have never, ever, in my professional life seen a company blame its paying users for its mistakes or whimsically breaks basic interactivity practices known to even infants without so much as a blink of an eye.

I am utterly disgusted with this latest update and the seeming lack of Linden Labs to roll it back when it fundamentally ruins the product.

Don't get me wrong.. I think when properly implemented Second Life is -amazing-. It is a wildly creative environment that lets people be whomever and whatever they want to be. It is like a living dream. But such a intensely creative program needs solid UI. Linden seems to have some huge issues with this (by their own admissions in press interviews), and this latest inventory update is a prime example of this.

PLEASE, roll the change back. That's not all you need to do, but it is a huge step in the right direction.

without getting ranty, I'd like to comment on what I've found:

1. When the "Show all folders" option is turned OFF (the way it should be), the "everything is open" bug happens. (When the inventory list changes, such as when an item is deleted, moved, or worn, the list resets, all the folders open up, and the current selected item is no longer selected). All that's necessary here is for the inventory browser to retain the folder state and selected item, just like it does when "show all folders" is turned on.

2. If I buy items out of a box (as opposed to a vendor, which gives me an box with items in it), the items don't show up as "new", and the folder they're in (if they go in a folder) doesn't show up on the recent items tab. If I'm given an item by another avatar, if I take an item off the ground, or if a vendor gives me an item, the feature works properly. I asume it's just necessary for the "buy" feature to raise whichever event it is that sets an item as "new" (sets a date flag on the individual inventory item?)

3. the "X" on the search bar doesn't always clear the search text. This is easy enough to fix.

I like the idea of two tabs on the inventory list. I'd maybe like to see that expanded to 3 tabs: All items, Recent Items, and "Favorites". Favorites would be individual folders or items, and would let us just keep our most common items in there. i could keep my 3 most-often used outfits and about a dozen of my common attachmetns in there. It would make it so much easier to manage the whole process.

Confirming I've read and learned from this! Thanx Bethanee and Dr!

There are a few known extremely annoying bugs--annoying because searching inventory is a repeated behavior, and having them keep coming up BUGS THE HECK OUT OF YA!!!

And yes, those are bugs--it's not intended to be that way.

Hey, I'm an average everyavatar, it confuses me. Let's keep moving!

So once those are fixed, it'll ease things out again. (Back in the day, there were YUGE kerfuffles with how Search was originally done too.)

Anyone noticing smaller flaws like "Animation" being singular for so long too, has a good sense of observation.

BTW, you may also want to read this.

Mirroring this to spread communication--


Lotsa Resis asked that more info be given... so YES! The following are known inventory bugs we wanna fix ASAP:

1. Receiving or moving inventory expands all folders when "Show All Folders" is not checked
   
2. Deleting any inworld object you own expands Trash folder and obscures Recent Items tab view
   
3. During inventory streaming, every single folder expands when alternating clicks on All items and Recent Items tabs
   
4. Focus is lost on a selected folder when search query is deleted--all folders expand instead
   

As well as similar "folders expanded unwantedly" bugs.

Please help spread the word and send in new bug reports inworld with your step-by-step instructions from HELP menu > REPORT BUG.

We're hot on the trail.

Torley, thanks for your understanding.

My post above was basically to hammer the point home that such bone-crushing bugs shouldn't be released because they are so obvious. It was also a plea for help.

Other posts were to basically explain the inventory bugs without ranting, and you just narrowed them down exactly.

We hope for a fix very soon so we can get back into the game, and hopefully everyone involved (users and Linden alike) learned something from this. =)

-Beth

Now onto the Mac bugs... which Brent is willing to help on!

I tested this tonight on 1.10.3(3) on the Mac client...

All has been fixed!!

-search works again (you can use the results of the search by having the folder keep focus), fixed, check!
-search shows what you are looking for, not everything else, fixed, check!
-all folders opening madly...fixed, check!

You can even search and use your "recent items" as well. The behavior is all as it was, and was expected.

Thank God.

Thanks again for the rapid fixes, Linden. Hope it won't happen again. =)