Dreaming about the ultimate CAD software (December, 26)

Dreaming about the ultimate CAD software.

What do you do first, when you open a new software (program application)?  Do you try to imagine what can you create with it from scratch, and how easily it could be done? Do you check all the menus, all the operations or options in drop-down lists? What is the most important for you in the program's interface, a simple wizard or plenty of toolbars with colorful buttons? What would be a “user-friendly” design for you?

I think that among millions of appications we use now, there is no particular software which could be called really "user-friendly".
You can't use most applications intuitively. For example, if you are going to create a drawing, you can't use CAD as easily as you use your pencil and ruler.

So-called "user-friendly" applications don't learn user's habits. On the contrary, they make us, users, to adjust to the software rules, remember how to use it, and know all the settings and options. It can pretty much be called "brainwashing".

And there is the biggest delusion about "user-friendly" programs. It comes from advanced
users who have mastered some common software, like Microsoft Office, or Adobe  Photoshop etc.
When you have gotten or have become used to some particular software and can use it like your right hand, you start to think just like developers, who created the program. And when you try to use something new, which has something in common with programs you already have mastered,
you think that this new program is "user-friendly", because you know in general how to use it.

I tried to imagine the ultimate program, for example, CAD for drawings and 3D design.
What would it be like, and what is the best way for? the operation?
I would probably prefer to use my fingertips instead of mouse or keyboard. This function is already has been realized on most tablets. But also in the case of CAD it would be nice to draw on several tablets at the same time, designing small details on one screen and checking the whole picture on another.
In addition, it would be easier to operate help and menus with voice. And last, the most important thing for me, if the camera could scan some object and converse it to the 3D model on the screen, you could easily create and modify so many things that already exsist. There are more things that need modifying
rather than developing from scratch. You can’t invent a bicycle, but you can improve its design and
functionality.

For those who create music, audio scan and converting into score could also be helpful.
Again, if you connect several tablets into one system, you could have your own orchestra.
For me, scanning, voice recognition and operating several devices simultaneously are the keywords for my vision of ultimate software (in the scope of present technologies, of course).

I think we will say goodbye soon to "windows", "dialog boxes", keyboards and mice.
Instead of that we will have more "skinship" with our devices and gadgets in more intuitive (or intimate?) way. And in the end those devices, connected into one network by the same software or application, could have their own algorythm of dealing with their users (i.e. some kind of artificial intelligence). And then it will be our turn to be “application-friendly” users!