the cross icon in the Chart tab, that closes the tab,
is invisible and this causes, that user closes tab, instead of switching tab.
The fact, that the cross in invisible causes, that it looks like empty space
and user click on it, when switching tabs. But then, tab is lost,because he clicked
on the cross, that is not visible constantly, only the milisecond, when mouse was over.
Users can love NT8, but will are short minutes, when they will hate it,
after they all the work prepared on the chart, that took much time to do.
One click into invisible space (i.e. it looks safe to click, no hint about closing tab) and all the work is lost !
This should NEVER happen to the user !
How to improve:
This should be improved and the cross icons should be visible all the time.
Their color can be nicely in lighter tone of the background, so they are not distracting, but visible enough. - BUT THIS JUST INCREMENTAL IMPROVEMENT, THAT CAN BE DONE QUICKLY WITHOUT WORK. IT IS NOT SERIOUS AND WELL THOUGHT FIX.
Why: ? Because even if the cross will be slightly visible, nobody will be so precise in his mouse movements, that he clicks the right pixels all the time. Just try to switch quickly between tabs, on you will close one by mistake. It can happen anytime again = it is error prone.
To achieve improvement, the icon should be really strong and have have clear boundary with some empty space around it to be safe.
And for this, there is probably not much space in the tabs... so this solution is not good one. It does not really fix much and still leaves space for error.
Best solution:
Close tab should by accessible from 2 possible (and safe) actions:
- middle mouse click on Tab will close the Tab
- RMB on Tab and click "Close Tab" in popup menu.
This solution has all the benefits (speed and safety) and no drawbacks:
- it is accessible in 1 click - for power users - they can use Middle mouse button. Nobody can complain, because it cannot be faster than 1 click.
- For others it is safely accessible in 2 clicks - this is OK, if we take into account, that Closing tab is not so frequent action. And it is absolutely safe. Work is never lost.
- It is easy to implement, because popup menu already exists, and cross can be removed easily.
The close tab behavior is not one of the most frequently used.
It is occasional action, once for a time. It does not need to be on the front line, accessible on 1 click inevitably. But it has to be safe first, because it has serious destructive effect causing serious loss of prepared work!
See the picture:
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