Evaluating for Task Conformance means that one must ask whether the product performs the task(s) that the user needs for it to do.
For the most part, Photoshop's task conformance is good. Where it does not do what the user might wish, the reasons seem clear. Some reasons might be:
The primary and most extensive of the Layers menus is found
on the menu bar at the top of the Photoshop window. It is well
organized, with sub-menus where detail is needed, and options
grayed out when they are unavailable at a given time.
The layers menu attached to the layer palette is found by clicking the arrow button at the right side of the palette tab bar. For such an obscure button, the drop menu of options is not trivial, though all of the options listed except Palette Options (a choice of thumbnail image sizes) are also available from the menu bar.
Recommendation: The layers palette itself has 2 menus found by clicking tiny triangular arrow buttons. On my 17" monitor at 1280x1024 resolution, these buttons, at about 12x12 pixels, are less than 1/8" across. They should be slightly larger, perhaps 16x16.
Blend modes are found in a drop menu at the top of the layers palette, just below the tab bar. These blend modes apply to the entire layer's interaction with the layers below it as contrasted with the tools having similar effects, but only where applied by the user. Blend modes are also found in the layer options dialog box, with a very slightly larger arrow button. The blend mode drop menu is not labeled as such.
Recommendation: The blend mode drop menu should be labeled just as is the opacity.
Layer opacity can be adjusted by highlighting and typing over the number in the opacity field box, or with the slider revealed by the arrow button to the right of the field box.
The preserve transparency check box allows the user to toggle between having changes apply only on the opaque pixels of the layer or to the entire layer.
Clicking on a layer's name panel makes it active and visible, indicated in the interface by the layer panel being "highlighted" and the appearance of an eye icon on the left side of the layer panel.
A layer can be made invisible (hidden) by clicking on the eye icon but still be active. When a layer is active but not visible, the user is prevented from performing some inadvisable actions, such as painting or erasing. Other inadvisable actions, such as moving the layer and applying effects are still possible.
Recommendation: When the user tries to use the move tool or hand on the layer, the layer should appear visible again.
When copying any layer, active or inactive, the copy becomes the active layer. Copying can be done through either layers menu, or by dragging the layer bar to the new layer button at the bottom of the layers palette.
Recommendation: The new layer button is too close to the trash can and should be moved to the left.
Linked layers move together. Linking layers is achieved by clicking in the box between the layer's visibility indicator and the layer icon, where the active layer shows either a paintbrush or a mask icon. The chain icon shows only when one of the linked layers is active.
Grouped layers interact primarily with each other rather than with the rest of the layers. Grouping is achieved by holding down the Alt (Windows) or Command (Mac) key while placing the cursor on the line between layers (at which it changes shape as shown) and clicking on the line; or by going through the Layer —> Group with Previous Layer menu option.
Recommendation : The descriptions of these actions in the manual are very vague. The Help file has no information on linking and its mention of grouping is wrongly-linked, also offering no information. Both the manual and the Help file should be updated to address the uses of these actions.
Selections can be made based on a particular layer and are retained until deselected, so that they can be applied to another layer by activating and acting upon the layer before deselection. This is especially useful for creating layer masks. Loading a selection based on the transparency of the layer requires holding down the Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac) key while clicking on the layer thumbnail, or going through the selection menu. A saved selection based on a particular layer can't be loaded by the keyboard shortcut.
Recommendation : The user should be able to choose a layer's saved selection for keyboard or button access.
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Masks can be applied to layers through the menus or by clicking on the mask button at the bottom of the layers palette. The mask button's icon looks more like a selection than a mask.
Recommendation: There should be a button for loading a selection like that on the channels palette, and the mask button should look more like a mask.
Layers can be deleted ("trashed") whether or not they are active by dragging the layer's name panel to the trash can or via the menus.
Recommendation: The new layer button at the bottom of the layers palette is too close to the trash can and should be moved to the left.
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