williamstein
commented
2 years ago I expected the eraser to erase elements
Can you define very precisely what you mean by "erase elements"? Do you mean that you want to delete the element? If so, you could select the element, then click the trash can button (or hit the delete key). Given that this is literally your biggest issue out of all of the other issues, and it would be very helpful if you can define it, since I don't understand what you mean at all.
... intro video or docs ...
Unfortunately, as you have found, we have not created even a shred of documentation yet for the whiteboard.
Perhaps keyboard shortcuts could be only active while holding down. Thus, if you are holding "v", then you can select, but when you let go, the UI will go back to the previous tool (i.e. the pen).
That's an interesting idea, but isn't it different that literally all other 1000 drawing programs out there, so likely to be confusing? Maybe something like that, but with a modifier key, e.g., shift+v or control+v, would work? Note that the reason for the shortcuts is that they are consistent with dozens of other similar whiteboard/drawing programs, which have probably mostly copied things from pioneering Adobe products, I would guess. For example, "v" for select makes no logical sense to me, but it is standard.
Perhaps it would be better if the selector did not appear by default (i.e. when switching from select to pen).
Maybe the state could just be what it was when you last used it? E.g., the very first time you click pen it shows all the option, but if you click pen again to close them, then switch to another tool, then click on pen again, they are still closed? That would be easy to implement, but would have the advantage the you see the options the very first time you click a tool.
How to get my Wacom pen "Erase" button working (or customizable)?
Can you send me a link on amazon.com to your model (or a close model) of pen? I currently don't have access to anything like that hardware, so probably need to buy it. I fortunately do have Windows tablets with touch screens...
... It looks like this is an issue with all apps including OneNote, so a solution probably requires something at the OS/Driver level.
It's likely that it could be solved at the webapp level, but doing so breaks some basic accessibility assumptions. Thus it could be something that is an option that is off by default.
There can be latency issues which significantly impact drawing. Sometimes this is so bad as to be unusable for writing, but other times it is reasonable. I noticed it was specifically bad when mirroring my Wacom display, but when using the Wacom as a secondary display without mirroring, it was reasonable.
I don't even really know what a "Wacom display" is, so it's hard for me to think about how to debug this. Can you provide a link?
mforbes
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Here are some comments about the whiteboard from a quasi-first-time user experience. It is not quite at the point that I can use reliably, but getting there. For background, my previous experience is drawing with a Surface Pro 3 using OneNote.
For this exercise, I am not using my Surface, but am trying out my new Wacom One tablet with a pen. This is connected to my computer which allows me to use my keyboard too (a new experience for me). I am writing comments in the order which they marred my initial experience. After using things for a bit, I discovered features that made some of these annoyances irrelevant - I have commented about this with Edits so you can see what bothered me at first.
Erase
My biggest issue is how hard it is to erase: I expected the eraser to erase elements. Instead it seems like it is actually white paint, and it paints over the grid. While this may be a useful tool for crafting careful drawings, I would make the default erase tool erase elements (and would like this element-erase tool the be what I get when I click the button on my tablet.)
Move and Select
It would be nice to be able to click-select objects rather than having to use the rectangle tool. (Maybe with Shift). Edit 1 Now I see that you can just drag objects. That is nice (but was not obvious at first). Edit 2 Aha, now I see that you can double-tap to select. That works nicely - an intro video showing this is needed, or maybe a live animation on the Whiteboard showing how to use features? I think the UI is actually pretty good, just a bit hard to figure out without hints.
Keyboard Shortcuts
There was no clear list of keyboard shortcuts, and had to randomly guess to figure them out. I would like "p"en and sele"v"t? close to my delete key (until pen-erase works) for example. Edit I now see them in the tool tips: I did not notice that for some time and was looking for a help or menu item with a list.
Toolbar
I find the pen and tool position intrusive: It will probably just take some getting used to, but the left side of my tablet is my working space, so for right-handed individuals, it is probably better to have the toolbar on the right side. I also expected the "Pen" selector to get out of my way once I select a new pen, but perhaps keeping it active is better (until a custom toolbar exists). Edit: Now I see that if you click pen again, it hides the pen-selector. Perhaps it would be better if the selector did not appear by default (i.e. when switching from select to pen).
Wacom Specific comments
Performance
There can be latency issues which significantly impact drawing. Sometimes this is so bad as to be unusable for writing, but other times it is reasonable. I noticed it was specifically bad when mirroring my Wacom display, but when using the Wacom as a secondary display without mirroring, it was reasonable. Thus, there can be issues at the OS level. Is there some way to have symbols drawn fully on the client before sending them so that the interaction is smooth?
Update: I could not reproduce the mirroring latency issue today, signalling that it might depend on things like the network connection, or machine load (was running Zoom at the time too.) Will try again to see if I can find a reproducible way to cause this problem.