Right now, there is a lot of unnecessary and annoying bureaucracy in switching between weight-paint mode and pose mode in order to test the rig and continue adjusting the weights, which makes the whole process inefficient. Specifically:
Problem #1. Pose mode to weight-paint mode directly,not possible.
I have to switch to object mode, then select a bone, then shift-select the mesh, then select weight mode. 4 actions instead of one.
Solution: A bone is selected in pose mode (most likely), so there should be the option to switch directly to weight-paint mode for the mesh most recently used, incl. a shortcut, or if it’s the first time, the option to select a mesh first.
Problem #2. Weight-paint mode to pose mode directly, not possible.
I have to switch to object mode, then select a bone, then select pose mode. 3 actions instead of one.
Solution: All the info is there: the bone is selected in weight paint mode (most likely) and the user is working on a specific mesh, so there should be the option to directly switch to pose mode, incl. a shortcut.
So, to switch to the other mode and back, 7 actions are required. If you need to do this 100 times, there will be 700 actions instead of 200.
Alternative Solution:
How about providing pose-mode features to weight-paint mode, i.e the ability to change the pose in order to test the rig in weight-paint mode, without having to switch modes?
In that case, the equivalent of 100 switch modes and back would be 0 (zero) actions instead of 700 actions currently, or 200 with my previous suggestions. No comparison in usability at all, therefore, that would be ideal.