Properties Panel – 2 req. (non-priority)

As far as I have understood (please correct, if I am wrong) there are two “layers” of interaction.
The first one is ruled by the design of the application and its default set values.
The second one is the layer, where the user comes into play. Here you have to first show, that you want to overrule the defaults and then secondly show, what you want. This must be two steps obviously.