Select to view content in your preferred language

Add a traffic light symbol into the Pro UI to show when UI is ready for user to click

423
2
09-22-2024 08:33 PM
Status: Open
Labels (1)
RTPL_AU
Honored Contributor

I find that Pro is often doing something after an operation is completed that prevents it from recognising any user input e.g. clicking on the next layer in the Contents pane to do something with.

Add a simple traffic light next to the refresh button of the map & layout windows to help show when Pro is ready to come back from its smoko and do something useful again.

This will prevent users from needlessly clicking on the same thing while waiting for Pro.

The colours can be simple:

RedI am busy, don't bother me with any clicks (unless we get the "Stop whatever you're doing button from other idea").
GreenReady to go, do your best.



I am not talking about delays due to hangs or anything out of the ordinary; just the typical second or sub-second delays that occur every here & there such as the period after running a geoprocessing tool when the layer has been added, the screen redrawn but you don't have the GUI back yet. 
Having a visual que will make life easier. 

Bonus points - make it a selectable option so those who hate to feel rushed don't have to stare at a green dot all the time 😀

2 Comments
RTPL_AU

Further to this - Pro uses a variety of spinners, throbbers, loading bars, etc to indicate that it is busy with something. 

Some of these that are mouse cursor related are not always displayed as you pan over the UI. 

Having a single indicator for active/not active dedicated to UI availability will make it easier to know when exactly you can click on something again.
You can spot a colour in a location without having to focus on it. Always being in the same location is beneficial to 'muscle memory' which improves productivity.

 

RTPL_AU

It also creates a metric that can be used for performance troubleshooting. Measuring the time from clicking "Run" or any task to the point that the UI is available again will cover all Pro actions such as UI redraws and ribbon refreshes, not just data related tasks. 
We can even use a screen or video recording method external to Pro to be completely objective rather than relying on Esri internal printf statements....