Toolbar Designs 1 - 19/07/2013

This page shows several mockups of redesigned toolbars. Below each mockup is a list of key characteristics.

Mockup 1 - Edit Mode

No wide buttons, all buttons are organised in two columns.
No text headers for groups of buttons, could possibly be changed for a group icon in front of the group.
Shortcuts are shown on the buttons as to provide a cheat sheet.
All buttons that lead to submenus are shown as normal buttons, but with three full stops to indicate a menu will open.
Only one panel can be open at a time (e.g. opening Mesh Options will close Mesh Tools) as in an accordion style.
Small dots in front of a button's name indicate that the corresponding command has default parameters that can be set. A grey dot turns to orange if the default parameters have indeed been changed.
Scrolling in the toolbar will scroll through the panels.
Repeat Last and History… have been moved to the History panel.
The History panel shows two columns, labels left, widgets right.
The divider between the Tool Shelf and the History panel is more clearly shown through a darker divider.

Right clicking a button will show a popup menu which allows for the default parameters to be changed.
A reset button allows for the default parameters to be reset to the absolute defaults.

Left clicking the title of a closed panel will open the buttons from that panel in a popup menu.
Clickability is communicated by underlining the title and appending three full stops.

Commands for which the default parameters have been changed should have a small but clear indicator.

Similar to the Edit Mode toolbar, the Vertex Paint Mode toolbar becomes wider and makes better use of horizontal space.
The brush and the colour widgets sit next to each other at the top of the brush panel.
Other properties of the brush are shown in two columns, labels on the left, widgets on the right.
Brush options that do not fit go in the More Brush Options panel.
The options in the current Appearance and Stroke panels are moved to the new Brush panel.
No default parameters can be set (like in the Edit Mode mockup) because the whole panel is already a list of parameters.