I’m a bit cynical in general. I’m also entering my fourth decade of banging hard on civil software. When the development team was internally previewing OpenRoads to us five or six years ago, they were making a big deal about the Heads Up Display (HUD).
Then: I thought it was a bit gimmicky. “How much time is that actually going to save me?”
Now: “You can take it from me when you pry it from my cold dead fingers.”
Using it for input does save time, but what makes it transformative is its click-and-debug capability. I can click on geometry and determine, just from the heads-up, its relationships, how it was built, and what will happen in the future (if any “parent” geometry is changed). Oh, I can edit the values in the rules right there at the object (radii, offsets, etc.).
Being able to troubleshoot, do forensics, divine intent, change engineering, and see the future with just a click: for me, it’s up there with food, clothing, and shelter.
(with a little layout experience, you could tell exactly how that ramp was built and how it will behave. the video link below (from the Geometry Evaluation training) details the details.)