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#8832 10/26/08 03:46 PM
Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
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I'm hoping that PGMusic will finally give BIAB a facelift after all these years.
And a radical one at that.

Over the years (and we're talking over a decade here) the user interface has remained essentially the same. More and more new features are added and piled on top of/under the interface.

The main screen just keeps getting more and more cluttered. I don't use more than 90% of the buttons on the main page and I wonder whether other users do either.

Of course it's much easier for developers this way. Move from ver. 2006 to 2006.5 or 2008 to 2008.5
and just add more features.

The standard rebuttal would be: "Well users are most comfortable when things don't change much in the looks department. They know where things are now and would be lost if we were to make major adjustments to the user interface."

That rebuttal would be/is a cop-out. It simply isn't true.

What's needed is a clean uncluttered user interface.
A minimum of buttons situated at the top of the main screen. Everything else should be nested under menus at the top of the page.

The interface should look more business-like rather than child-like.
Business can be fun too don't forget!!!

And while we are changing the interface, please add user-configurable screensets.
You know, the kind EMagic wrote for Logic more than a decade ago.

Thank you for listening PGMusic!

BIABguy #8833 10/26/08 06:20 PM
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You can always configure the toolbar to contain only the buttons you want. I just use a few buttons and they're the only ones that show. Later, Ray


Asus Q500A i7 Win 10 64 bit 8GB ram 750 HD 15.5" touch screen, BIAB 2017, Casio PX 5s, Xw P1, Center Point Stereo SS V3 and EWI 4000s.
raymb1 #8834 12/31/08 11:08 PM
Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
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I have also been troubled by the clutziness of the BiaB interface. Luckily for me, RealBand solves most of my problems. Remaining issues? I have three interface concerns that I continue to scratch my head over:

1. Big dialog boxes with many options, and little consideration to functional grouping and natural eye/mouse movements. i.e., they are hard to understand and use.

2. Big lists of filenames in stylepicker and such, rather than a database-type interface. Why? It's gotta be a legacy thing.

3. The WIERD mix of slick User Interface (Track window, Mixer window) with prototype-level UI (the Arranger). <soapbox> Come on guys! The rule is, to the end user, the interface IS the program. If you go all clutzy on the UI, people think you are amateurs, and in large degree they are right. The other rule is, it all has to look like it was done by the same person. That means some measure of discipline in the software development standards area, using the same toolkit in the same way, and having a designer have final say over your UI. This *can* be done in a rapid develop environment, I've seen it done many times.</soapbox>


Scott Emery
Scott Emery #8835 01/01/09 08:57 AM
Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
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Personally, I like it the way it is ...... I know where everything is that way, I get confused easy ;o)
I prefer time being spent creating all the great new features. And like Ray said you can configure the toolbar.
Happy New Year,
Dave.

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