#87

if you have a laptop: put the modular on something that will raise it to be higher than the laptop screen so you have both in front of you

Executing the modular album
#88

I’m not aware of published research on this topic, but it would be an interesting thing to do this research.

I think your instincts are pointing you in the right direction.

#89

This is a great summary of various touch UIs. I wish more developers would take the cue from Apple.

It will be interesting to see how Apple adapts their own plugins to the autolayout.

1 Like
#90

These are great points.

I wish I had the drive to build within frameworks like TC-Data and Beatsurfer – I love the post-skeuomorphic world these inhabit, where gesture and planar relationships completely override traditional knobs and sliders. But you have to understand both worlds, it seems, to make best use of these tools.

Borderlands is closest to this type of design, as you mentioned and damn, I wish it was more universal in every developer’s approach.

Erik Sigth’s designs have always made sense to me. Maybe it’s the Teenage Engineering-esque visual language, but the humbletune apps strike a really nice real-world/digital balance.

(Though it certainly ain’t research, I wrote an “article” (read: listicle) for Reverb.com last year that touched a little bit on this: https://reverb.com/news/the-best-music-making-apps-for-ipad.)

4 Likes
#91

Thanks for this direction… I was originally only intending to comment on specifically the sliders that come out when you tap on a cloud to edit it:

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But your mention of this sort of hybrid of both worlds promted me to experiment with moving the cloud and a slider at the same time, which makes for a really wonderful and interesting playing experience :slight_smile:

Unrelated to Borderlands, but on topic with the rotary controls, I wonder if the left-right aspect of the interaction spans to cultures that read right-to-left, or if it should be inverted? Time to put my phone into Arabic and check it out…

2 Likes
#92

Just in case it wasn’t already mentioned in this thread, this book may be of interest to some (no affiliation – just a backer myself).

2 Likes
#93

IMG_5831.jpg1334×750 138 KB

Looks like the knobs behave the same in Arabic.

Really looking forward to the Push Turn Move book too

1 Like
#94

and all of that gesture/parameter shifting can be recorded and looped! it’s a wonderful example of responsive design. i’m so glad that opened up!

1 Like
#95

PUSH TURN MOVE is the right kind of nightmare… It keeps getting bigger. We are up to 360 pages now! I just received the first package of page layouts to edit, and we are on schedule to get the book out the door this fall. If anyone has any questions about it, feel free to ask me. If I can’t answer, I can get answers from the author, my good friend Kim Bjørn. I’m really excited to be editing this book!

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#96

The best instruments are more about the player than the instrument. It’s why I love the piano, it’s a vehicle for self-discovery.

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#97

If you want a research partner, I’ll contribute! I’ve been building a UX of physical interfaces for a bit, but never taken it anywhere.

4 Likes
#98

Sure! One of the first challenges we will encounter when doing research without a client, will be placing some constraints on the project so that it has some measurable goals and can be completed in a timeframe.

So we would need to define that.

First of all, what type of research? @rknLA had some pretty specific questions about the behavior of software knobs. Those types of questions could find answers in a software usability study.

A project like that represents a couple days of writing a screener and recruiting participants. The study itself takes a couple/few days, and you want a couple more days to publish.

Does that sound like something you have time to volunteer for?

3 Likes
#99

In prior product projects I’ve had to work without the guiding north star of a client or technical end, it’s useful to identify either underlying principles for application to several technical endpoints or answering a specific question. There are a lot of questions to try to answer, but I think that they should center on interrogating the most compelling answers people put here. e.g. Ask about the interactive advantages or disadvantages of a skeumorphic interface versus a material principles one. the digital knobs question, etc. Another alternative is to make a findings with insights that would be marketable to device/instrument manufacturers.

Life has had some pretty big upsets for me recently so I’ll have the time to work on it, but not without a bit of coordination.

#100

I recommend keeping the scope small, unless you can find a client for the study.

#101

“skeuomorph hell” is also how I would describe some software…

1 Like
#102

I thought that article was pretty bogus. “Haha, let’s point at a bunch of UI and laugh! Haha!” and then didn’t provide any counter examples demonstrating what they thought would be better.

So, I’ll bite. I’ve been playing with Layr this week. Nice flat UI, very usable for such a flexible multitimbral synth.

What are some other great examples of non-skeumorphic audio UI?

#103

Most of the recent Sinevibres stuff! Simple flat&minimal, great use of colour. Actually Ableton Live, while it has issues and would need a bit of a refresh, it’s still one of the most functional UIs I’ve ever used. Fabfilter stuff is pretty non-skeumorphic and totally great. Last but not least I’d mention Renoise, for a DAW that looks like no other DAW :slight_smile:

1 Like
#104

+1

I just recalled that we discussed goodhertz earlier in this thread. Another fantastic set of UIs.

It’s kind of amazing how well Ableton Live has held up. The UI changes I would make really don’t involve the visual design at all.

But I’m glad everything doesn’t look exactly like Ableton Live. I appreciate the diversity. It doesn’t bother me. I think ideas should cross-pollinate and hybridize. You need diversity to do that.

#106

20 characters of “sigh”.

EDIT: there are layers to that sigh. I’m often in a situation where it’s hard to get a designer on a team, or anybody that isn’t a programmer. Not that it’s easy to hire programmers either. Heck, I increasingly get the feeling the nobody really knows how to do anything at work.

3 Likes
#107

Agreed that it was not particularly well written. I wish they would have provided some more constructive examples.

I particularly like Ableton Live’s interface and pretty much just use the stock Suite plug-ins when working ITB. A big part has to do with the interface.