NDepend version 2019.2.1 has just been released. This new version proposes a simplified menu for the NDepend Visual Studio extension.

Before going further I underline that we didn’t get rid of the standard menu, the user can switch back and forth simplified and standard menu within a single click. There is something in UI that all users worldwide dislike: don’t force a new UI just for the sake of it.

The simplified menu is shown per default on machines that never ran NDepend, else the standard menu is shown. Here is a view of the simplified/beginner menu vs. the standard/advanced menu.

We introduced a simplified menu because we think that trial users and beginner users will benefit from it. Having most features available through a single level menu certainly makes the product features more discoverable.

More and Tools popup menus

A More… popup menu is here to show features and actions that are typically used less often. It is a UI trade off to force an extra-click to access these actions:

The Tools popup menu is an opportunity to switch to the advanced menu, and see the NDepend Start Page. It is also good to discover NDepend tooling outside Visual Studio, the standalone VisualNDepend.exe, NDepend API and OSS Power Tools, Azure DevOps extension and others Continuous Integration possibilities:

Opportunities to lean up the user experience

Having a simplified menu is also an opportunity to encourage the user to do some configuration steps. For example in the first screenshot we have the Explore Code Coverage button. With NDepend the code coverage by tests of a code base can be harnessed in multiple ways as explained here. But to harness code coverage data the user has to import it first. Hence, per default an Import Code Coverage button is shown to the user and the Explore Code Coverage button is shown only upon data imported.

Another important NDepend feature is comparing against a baseline. As far as I know NDepend is the only Visual Studio tool that lets the user diff the actual code base against a baseline. The user can then focus on new issues since baseline, or diff-related issues like API Breaking Changes or Code Smells Regression. The baseline can also be used to review code changes since the baseline. When NDepend analyzes a large legacy code base, letting the user focuses on new issues since the baseline is a very important facility to avoid letting the users lost in the prioritization of thousands of issues.

Per default the baseline is set to the first analysis result obtained. It means that the first time the user runs an analysis on a code base, this first analysis result is used both for the actual snapshot and the baseline snapshot. In this situation, when the user clicks the buttons New Issues since Baseline or Diff since Baseline, there is nothing to show. Thus we take a chance to show an informational message box that explains this no-diff situation. Doing so avoids the user being stuck with a no-result action or even worse, a button disabled with no obvious reason. We also hope these explanations will motivate the user to work on changes and then re-analyze to see what NDepend has to say about the new changes.

Having a single level menu just became mandatory

Another point to underline is that having a single level VS extension menu just became mandatory. Visual Studio 2019 just introduced the Extensions top level menu and extensions cannot have their top level menus anymore.

This move adds an extra click for accessing each extension feature. This extra click represents a UI regression for the millions of VS extensions users and de-facto discards features accessible only through a nested sub-menu. This move was unexpected because it solves a UI problem we (as a VS extension provider) have never heard of: having so many extensions menus that it becomes a cluttering problem. The only right way to solve such problem would be to let the user choose which extension have their top-level menu and which extension lies under the Extensions menu. An extension menu should be top-leveled by default upon installation: when a user installs an extension the goal is to spend the next minutes or hours trying it and using it. In this context it doesn’t make sense to put the extension menus in a second-zone, doing so degrades the so precious and fragile FTUE First-Time User Experience. A VS extension doesn’t get a second chance to offer a first impression to a trial user.

Several big names in the VS extension industry have already complained about this move here. You can vote and comment now because apparently Microsoft will monitor this thread only till mid May 2019.

We hope this simplified menu will help trial and beginner users getting started with all the NDepend goodies. Certainly some seasoned users will also prefer this less cluttered menu style. If you have comment or ideas to improve more let us know.

On forced UI change you can read further this 2012’s Scott Hanselman post Who moved my cheese?

People don’t like it when you move their cheese. They are just trying to get through the maze, they have it all under control and then, poof, someone moved their cheese. Now it’s a huge hassle to find it again. Change a hotkey or the case of the menus and all heck breaks loose.