Hi,

I've been thinking a bit on the control panel (right sidebar), and it's a bit ... static (and lots of text).

I'd restructure it a little:

• What is currently the Control Panel section ("My Open Request", "My Resolved Requests", ...) could be moved to the top and replaced by Icons with the old text as mouse-over option. Aligned beside each other, rather than below each other, this would save a bit height, place the most critical navigation icons at the top while not obfuscating the rest. Icons are more intuitive as well, making the basic navigation smoother for newcomers.
• Consolidate preferences into an icon that shows a modal screen with the options (which has the added benefit of having additional options not consume extra space on the sidebar)
• Add a large icon to create a new request, replacing all those little "New Request" icons currently in use.
• Replace the main section where you can select a product with a filter system:
  Product Icons that can be toggled on or off (With tooltips showing the product name on mouseover)
  State Icons that represent the state of the request
  For example, this would allow a user to check out the Requests for PowerShell Studio and the PowerShell HelpWriter that are currently in Development.

The "Make a Request" functionality would then default to the product "Select", unless the current filter has at least one product chosen, in which case it will select the topmost product selected before clicking "Make a Request" (Idealy people would check whether a similar request has already been made before creation a new request, so their search criteria is likely to match what they want to create a request for.

Much of this is little practical (or at least a major effort) under the current static website layout, however if ajax is implemented, allowing dynamic reloading of content without changing the entire site, this would be rather feasible and - I believe - a significant improvement of usability.

Cheers,
Fred