Cannot easily drill down the collapsed subprocess as append element gets focussed

[GeethaParthasarathy]

Describe the bug

When we have a collapsed subprocess with the new context pad hovering on the drill down arrow also focusses on the append element making it difficult click on the drill down arrow

Steps to reproduce

1. Create a collapsed subprocess
2. Try to click on the drill down arrow

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/527e5816-f30d-46cc-b9c7-2c8612ea276d

Expected behavior

Focus on the drill down arrow and make it possible to click

Environment

• OS: [MacOS 10.2]
• Camunda Modeler Version: [5.28.0]
• Execution Platform: [Camunda 8]
• Installed plug-ins: [...]

Additional context

No response

[nikku]

@philippfromme @lmbateman I'd be interested to understand your assessment of this UX challenge. From what the looks of it drilldown is not easily possible using the improved canvas.

[lmbateman]

I thought from Geetha's example that there might be some steps we could take to fix it, like separating the icons a bit more and perhaps decreasing the click target for the append menu, but now I think it will require a bit more than that:

For the context pad issue, I wonder if it makes sense to move the start element down just enough that the context pad can appear above tasks by default. Or actually, I've just noticed that when you append a task, it gets nudged down automatically, so perhaps we can do that with sub-processes as well.

This brings us back to the original problem. I'm not sure why my expand button is in a different spot than Geetha's (directly under vs. off to the right); could that be due to screen size? I think understanding how the positioning works might be helpful in thinking about a solution.

[nikku]

@philippfromme Maybe you can work together with @lmbateman here?