@Pawel: When seeing this line "50% 0 11" I have no idea what it could mean, is it a order 50% made or ...
Placing a star is better because it says "I want this, top priority plz". Wheres changing to % mode does not explains how % are calculated, what does 50% means next to 0 and 11. I know it could be interpreted as make axes 50% (of the time? or how?) and other 50% make pikes or bows (what if pikes are 0, only bows?). Sorry, but I find this much too confusing for an orders UI.
But a star is also confusing as a player does not know what a top-priority means: does it mean that all those items will be made
first, and then the rest of the items? Or are those items made
more often. I think we should not be worried about this at all, as players can learn.
If the interface is responsive, it means that a player knows that he can not produce more than 100% in total. As you correctly interpeted that 50% of the time will be spent making weapons, this idea can be verified by any player by just producing one job at 50% and one other job in absolute amounts. He sees that the first thing the craftsman does is to produce an axe, and after the axe produce the other weapon: validating the initial suspicion.
Pawel makes a valid point, if mixing percentages and absolute values is too complicated, a click could also switch fully to proportional production. Though I think that mixing them provides much more flexibility and allows any player to have full control over the craftsman. Even though it costs a little bit of effort for the player to understand it.
It is the same as the distribution tab. The first time a player sees the distribution tab, he mightn't know what it does or does not. But after experimentation (e.g. setting some to 0), he will quickly understand the way it works. We should also assume this is the case for any change in UI or gameplay in general.
(Though, more general: a better solution is, ofcourse, better. But as far haven't I seen any, so I'd want to kickstart the discussion by providing atleast some prototype or mockup.)