8 Jun
2004
8 Jun
'04
4:05 p.m.
On Tue, 08 Jun 2004 20:55 , Marek Peteraj <marpet(a)naex.sk> sent:
It all depends on how you perceive different controls
(different knobs
in different sections etc) and how you learn ot perceive them, i.e. how
you get to know them and how you get used to them.
Aaaaaarrrrrggghhhh - knobs. One of my pet peeves. Knobs make absolutely no
sense in a GUI. There is no easy (or standard) way to control them. Note that
there are no knobs in JAMin. The parametric controls aren't even knobs. I think
this was the point he was making. Take a look at T-RackS. Lovely knobs and
litle glowing tube pictures - how lovely. But a major PITA to use. Trying to
make GUIs that look like some metal box is counterproductive. Just make the
thing work efficiently.
Virtual 3d guis copy the real world. Try to do it the other way around,
with widget sliders and one color for both sliders and background(most
cases). Imagine a hw which would look like that.
Why would I want to imagine hardware - we are talking about software aren't we?
Another such case is animations in UI. They improve
usability aswell.
If carefully adjusted, they help to prevent sudden changes in the UI.
Animations are not just eye-candy.
Sometimes. Rarely. Usually they are just a way to sell a product.
Jan