[UX/Discussion] Improve FACS panel selection workflow & questions on panel curation

[sbwiecko]

Hi! First off, thanks for creating and sharing this tool. I recently submitted a PR to help with the directory structure and Python 3.12 documentation.

While exploring the app, I noticed a minor UX quirk in the FACS window and also had a few questions about how the data panels are curated.

1. The FACS Window Dropdown

Current Behavior:
When the FACS window opens, the primary dropdown menu on the top left (self.sheet1) starts completely empty and inactive. A user has to intuitively know to click one of the buttons in the top middle (e.g., "Com" or "Ex") before the dropdown populates with panels to choose from.

Suggested Improvement:
It might be more user-friendly to replace the top-middle buttons with a toggle system (like Radio Buttons or Checkboxes) for "Commercial" vs. "Experimental".

• We could set one as the default (e.g., Commercial) when the window opens.
• This ensures the dropdown is always populated immediately, making the filtering flow much more obvious to first-time users.

2. Questions on Workflow and Data

To better understand the intended workflow of the tool, I was hoping you could clarify a couple of things:

• The 'Total' Button: I see this combines every commercial and experimental sheet into one massive table. What is the intended use-case for this? Is it primarily designed so users can export a single master file, or is there a specific way users should be navigating this combined view in the app?
• Panel Curation: Could you share a bit of context on how the specific T cell phenotyping panels were curated and chosen for these Excel files?

Thanks again for your time and for maintaining this project!