[OFFICIAL] Please discuss: Expert Mode Useful?

[Mario]

I'm pondering the idea to add a new option Expert Mode.
Maybe a on/off switch or with 3 settings: "Beginner", "Experienced User", "Expert" or something along that line.

The idea is to hide settings and features potentially dangerous or confusing for new or casual users.
Maybe simply menus by trimming some commands, reduce the number of options (especially for Metadata and Metadata 2) etc.

The idea initially sounds good. But after thinking about this for a while, I'm not so sure anymore...
I know a bunch of Settings in Edit > Preferences > Metadata 2 which allow users to shot themselves into their foot and which I would hide in "no expert" mode.
But that's just a handful and probably not worth the effort.

What do you think about this?
Which commands, features, options should be invisible or somehow restricted when the Expert Mode is off?

I know that most users use maybe 50% of IMatch. But every user uses different 50%...
Let me know what you think below.

[Mees Dekker]

I'll take that you meant : "Expert mode" in stead of "Export mode""

The "full" interface of IMatch is a bit daunting and can put people off. I saw that a couple of times when I introduced Imatch to others. Apparently it is difficult for a lot of people to understand the difference between the physical location of a file (media&folders), keywords, categories and the name of a file (it beats me how you cannot understand this, but it happens all the time). So given this: here are my recommedations.

• Categories and keywords are imho the most the reason for confusion (by far). So hide "categories". Same for "People" and "Events".
• Collections are easier to understand: so keep them, ven for beginners.
• Metadata can be hidden for beginners. The filter panel is key for managing images, but could be more simple for beginners.
• For beginners: hide (almost) any app.

Just my 2 cents.

[mastodon]

That would be extremly good. I think the beginner section is critical, IMatch must look easier and better, than the others. So, it must show the basic things, that the others show AND a bit more:
- rename files
- find duplicates
- set metadata:
1. when - set/correct date and time
2. who - face recognition for tagging people
3. where - set tags (min: country, city, location) with reverse geocoding AND with pointing on the map and add a picture search for google (not included yet in IMatch)
4. what - headline? and EVENT!

Filtering, searching, built in dinamic categories (instant WOW), easily create slideshow with important tags, that can be selected easily

[Aubrey]

I like the idea, it should be a good approach to increase sales to the average occasional user.
Marketing:

• perhaps different versions, basic, elite version? DxO do this with Photolab 4.
• An ability to upgrade from basic to elite (DxO don't allow this - I think).

Mees has made good comments: removing timeline, events, people. All Apps should be hidden.
Favorites should also be hidden. Perhaps also quickview (BTW I rarely use, the viewer window is more than adequate)

Limit layouts: perhaps even user downloadable layouts (a separate IMatch page with examples)

Preferences: A completely separate layout with simple tabs, much less bells and whistles
No ID Plate (maybe just backgound color as other vendors have). This is very daunting (I still get shivers when I open  )

A few suggestions on preferences tab....

Indexing, file formats (I'm assuming most users are photographers - I understand there are users who use db for other purposes, - perhaps a series of check boxes)

Geo and maps - do other "db" vendors (DxO, Adobe) ask to input API keys? Just simple default values

No visible File Window Tip - default selection is usually fine

no file Window tab

No Sort profiles - just a default selection.

Limit the number of panels that are available - probably telemetry gives you info on panel usage.

Hope this is of use - I could expand; these are general thoughts.

As Mastodon said: Must do basic things (a few more things than competitors but not showing the order of magnitude of improvement)

Aubrey.

[Mees Dekker]

In addition to my earlier thoughts:

• keep the renamer, but make it a lot simpler. So only names and numbers should be changed. No other fancy options like, moving, copying, text replacement etc.
• Batch processor: just a few standard options, like preparing for e-mail, move (it is more logical to move files in the batch-processor, than in the renamer)
• show only a preset number of panels, no option to change the visibility of panels for beginners

[herman]

[...]
The idea initially sounds good. But after thinking about this for a while, I'm not so sure anymore...
I know a bunch of Settings in Edit > Preferences > Metadata 2 which allow users to shot themselves into their foot and which I would hide in "no expert" mode.

When you go for Basic / Standard / Expert modes that may solve some problems but I am afraid that you will spend a lot of time restructuring the entire user interface and menu structure, not sure if that is worth the effort.

As a suggestion, perhaps something like the Firefox "Proceed with Caution" window you get when you type about:config in the address bar is worth considering (see attached screenshot)? I imagine you could hide some 'dangerous' settings behind such an extra step.

[DigPeter]

I go along with Mario's reservation that one size will not fit all.  You might try a simplified taster trial version, to attract non-techy new comers.

[ubacher]

I think hiding options will just cause a lot of "How can I...." questions in this forum.
Better to just visually highlight standard / beginners items - or - in reverse - dim less used items.

The "Proceed with caution" option mentioned by herman can be used for settings which frequently cause
problems.

[Jingo]

I agree wholeheartedly with this overall concept - but don't think just hiding features and/or warning users is quite enough.  I believe a "guided approach" created for a beginner (vs advanced) might be a good option.

Beginner mode might start the program with some sort of Wizard... explaining certain option settings and how they might affect the database/metadata.  The Wizard could also help create a workspace - turning on/off panels and docking them based on these guided questions or perhaps certain "workspace scenarios" could be included in the software for specific purposes (ie: viewing images vs adding keywords).

The end result would be to only show the user functions and panels that they are currently using - remove the extra bits to minimize confusion and only display them if they need to use them (ie: versioning).

Just my thoughts... 

[HaWo]

Ich gehöre zu den Usern, die vielleicht 50% nutzen, aber das intensiv und die anderen 50% meide. Davon gibt es bestimmt viele, die wissen aber dann auch, was sie tun. Das wäre dann ein IMatch, so wie es momentan ist.

Für Anfänger müssen kritische Bereiche ausgeschlossen werden, was ja momentan diskutiert wird.

Ich nehme an, dass es im Falle von 2 Modi auch 2 verschiedene IMatch geben könnte. Nur eine Umschaltung vom Anfänger- in den Expertenmodus wird schwierig sein. Nicht technisch, sondern in der Preigestaltung. Denn ein Anfänger wird ungern den jetzigen Preis bezahlen wollen. Vielleicht später, wenn er tiefer einstigen will.

Das ist nur mal so ein Gedanke, aber daran hast Du vielleicht auch schon gedacht.

[javiavid]

I've been an iMatch user for a year and a half and I find it amazing. I really like the amount of configuration options you have to customize the software to your liking, but I've always thought that a redesign would suit it very well for users without knowledge.

iMatch has a lot of power, but I think it's a bit scary if you want something basic. Visually something like Apple Photos for Mac would be nice.

Something for the user who uses the mobile phone to take pictures (the vast majority).

I have many ideas, but I think what you are looking for is to disable features not polish the software to make it simpler or more visual. This would imply extra effort and I don't know if you are looking for this...

What I mean is that there are many types of users, if you are looking for less complexity, it is not just taking things away, the interface design, the fonts ... it's also important.  More visual, less data, more templates.

[Mario]

I have many ideas, but I think what you are looking for is to disable features not polish the software to make it simpler or more visual. This would imply extra effort and I don't know if you are looking for this...
What I mean is that there are many types of users, if you are looking for less complexity, it is not just taking things away, the interface design, the fonts ... it's also important.  More visual, less data, more templates.

There are probably a dozen or more "entry-level" catalogers/DAMs aiming at the casual or rookie user. From Windows Photo (part of Windows) to things like ACDSee, Photo Supreme, Mylio and others.

Duming down IMatch, a complete revamp of the user interface etc. is very hard, mostly because of I'm one person and my time is limited.
IMatch is more like Photoshop than Windows Paint. Making things simple to use by removing most of the features is what Apple does, successfully. And they have the marketing to tell users "If it does not do it, you don't need it".

IMatch 's target audience are users in need of a very capable and robust  DAM, that does not lock them in or limits them.
A software which handles metadata properly and does advanced things like stacking and versioning (you don't even get in touch with these things unless you start digging).

I did what you requested already with IMatch Anywhere WebViewer, which is a simplified version of IMatch which runs in your browser, and on Windows, Linux and Mac. It is mostly used by corporate and institutional users, but also by people who want to work with IMatch on their tablet or smart TV. Or who want to give family members easy access to the image collection managed by IMatch - with zero install and a very intuitive user interface. The help system for IMatch Anywhere WebViewer has maybe 10 or 15 pages...

Have a look if you have not see it. Here are free tutorial videos which show it in action.

My general idea was to hide dangerous features behind an extra switch.  To prevent things like users enabling "Don't change the file date/time on write-back" and then forgetting about it and wondering why Lr does not see changes done by IMatch. Or similar features which may be very important for some users (the IMatch user base is very diverse) but may cause problems when users play with them without actually knowing what they do.

[mastodon]

I think a good compromiss would be, that you recklessly cut the number of the options, that will be good for a beginners workflow. AND make 1-3 simple guided workflows. Windows that tell the user, what to do.

[Mario]

I think a good compromiss would be, that you recklessly cut the number of the options, that will be good for a beginners workflow. AND make 1-3 simple guided workflows. Windows that tell the user, what to do.

IMatch has a "onboarding assistant". It can be surely improved - but the tricky question is, how many question can you ask a new user?
The database generation is automatic (just click OK) and there are a few options with sensible defaults IMatch asks. Then it's basically "drag your folders here" and wait for ingest.

Challenge ;-)

You can simulate a fresh installation by renaming the settings database ("C:\ProgramData\photools.com\IMatch6\config\imatch.pts") to, say, "C:\ProgramData\photools.com\IMatch6\config\NNNimatch.pts" (while IMatch is not running). When you now start IMatch, you'll get a (mostly) first time user experience.

Check it out. Let me know what you think.

To undo, close IMatch, delete the new "C:\ProgramData\photools.com\IMatch6\config\imatch.pts" and rename the old one back to its original name.

[jch2103]

My general idea was to hide dangerous features behind an extra switch.  To prevent things like users enabling "Don't change the file date/time on write-back" and then forgetting about it and wondering why Lr does not see changes done by IMatch. Or similar features which may be very important for some users (the IMatch user base is very diverse) but may cause problems when users play with them without actually knowing what they do.

As you are of course well aware, given the very diverse nature of IM users, figuring out which are the 'dangerous' features that aren't also essential to some other users isn't simple. In an ideal world (with unlimited resources!) you would reach out to a sample of users with some kind of easy-to-fill-out survey (aka SurveyMonkey or similar) to find out useful things like this. You would also somehow know who stopped using IM and query them the same way. But since there's just one Mario, this probably isn't feasible... A similar alternative would be analyzing the 'dangerous' issues that have come up on the Forum, but these would also be hard to track down in any systematic way. Maybe your 'Challenge' is a better route.

Fortunately I haven't shot myself in the foot lately so I guess I'm not a good source of information for this problem.

I wonder if there would be a benefit in packaging IMA as a true stand-alone lite desktop product (no administrator required, easy setup from scratch) for 'beginner' users? That doesn't solve the 'dangerous features' issue in IM, but it might be useful for some potential users.

[Mees Dekker]

John adresses a real problem. How to reach te right people?

Most participants on this forum are regular and long time users. So there is not much dangerous stuff for them. Perhaps try to focus on users that are no longer than 1 year on this forum?

[mastodon]

after creating DB
Database option not necessery, need a good preset
telemetry - NO, user don't want lurking software
and after that a "forced" workflow (with a popup window at the beginning):
1. Importing pictures
Show the folders, where your pictures are
or let IMatch find them
   let search in the user folders (drop folders is fine!)
   search everywhere on comp
   question: search on drives, too?
2. After importing, show, what IMatch find:
   XXX pictures don't have any date/time data
   XXX pictures have date/time data in the future, need to set
   others are show in a time line
3. Select a group of pictures and make an Event
4. let set location tags for that evet
5. let make face recogn (if it will be better, than now)
6. let make keywords
7. let add title/headline for pictures
8. let add credit (who is created the picture), a helping with the camera modell for this, might be benefitital

the pictures without date/time need a good workflow, that would be a great addon. ex a timeline, where you can set the picture date, like the location on a map. And a lighttable where you can arrange the pictures, that are made on the sam day, and than let IMatch make an imaginary time for them (in a timerange the user set)

Sorry, my summray is a bit messy. Might you get some ideas.

[PandDLong]

Most participants on this forum are regular and long time users. So there is not much dangerous stuff for them. Perhaps try to focus on users that are no longer than 1 year on this forum?

Hey - that would be me.  Evaluated several products earlier in the year - purchased in February.  I just created a forum topic on one suggestion to simplify the new user's experience (and I have couple more to write up).

Lots of good ideas but I really get Mario's issue that he has limited effort to put into this (and we all wouldn't want to wait another couple years before new and enhanced features!).  iMatch needs to continue being what it is - a highly configurable and powerful DAM.

I struggle with the idea of distinct modes as that sounds like it could create new issues and how deep into the functionality would one take this separation - the farther one goes the more work it will take. 

A wizard or new user guided process sounds like a good idea but it is my understanding that the number of uses cases for iMatch is large - if the wizard isn't right for the user's situation, it would just be frustrating and potentially have a user decide "not meant for me".  Many people - especially if they are a serious potential user of a DAM - will want to get going and not be led through a set of pre-decided steps by a wizard.


The beginner video tutorials are super useful - a couple for me were indispensable (eg. "Using iMatch Panels and Workspaces" kept me from uninstalling the evaluation copy) - how does one drive people to use those?  Can they be played directly in iMatch as early 'Did you know?' material?


As I understand Mario's primary goal with the 'Expert Mode' is to keep beginners from using options that can create problems.  I think that can be served by:

    1. Putting them on their own dialogue box which is accessed by an 'Advanced' or 'Expert' button.
    2. Including in the dialogue the caution yellow triangle and a quick description of what could go wrong 

If such items are creating support issues, perhaps a 'trouble-shooting' help section that lists some of these problems (may be more tempting for people than to search a support forum which many may find time-consuming).  Such a help section could have a link from the yellow-caution warning.


Michael