Hive 2 is coming!

[Ploki]

Some of these comments are actually pretty spot on.
I too hope for a “classic” skin for hive2

[PieBerger]

I'm probably in the minority here, but I'm not that fussed about the UI. It is always a difficult area, with so much of what constitutes a useable design being very subjective/personal. I'm personally more hyped about the new mod sources and if the interface is not to my taste, then I can always rely on plugmon or others to come out with something that is better suited to my needs and tastes. That's the beauty of skinnable UIs and in the case of u-he (and others I imagine), the entire interface can be reimagined, to enable a new workflow.

[pdxindy]

Dear Urs,
Please read until the end, and I'm glad if you consider it.
I'm not good at English. So I wrote this text with the help of the Internet and automatic translation. I'm sorry if you may not understand or you feel bad.

well done for not being good at english. and some good points in there...

[Urs]

No worries. We will start testing the new layout very soon. I expect a lot of feedback.

Nothing in the new layout is irreversible. It just saves a lot of space, and that's what we've been experimenting with. Interestingly, the new modulators have become much more compact than I thought.

We'll have one more week until feature freeze, then two months to perfect the UI during testing and preset design.

(all under the provision that the new modulators work out... I'm confident though, I think they're just as I imagined)

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

Let me just be the first to say, I have no idea what the new modulators are, what I'd do with them, or how many there are, but regardless of any that I'd like to let you know it's not anywhere near enough and insist you at least double the number.

Sincerely,

"That Guy"

/s

[Stefken]

Dear Urs,
Please read until the end, and I'm glad if you consider it.
I'm not good at English. So I wrote this text with the help of the Internet and automatic translation. I'm sorry if you may not understand or you feel bad.

Hive is my favorite synthesizer. But Unfortunately, Hive2's graphic that currently uploaded is not good and not acceptable to me. It's sad that Hive's design will change to like that.
I will talk about design from now, But I will not talk about "Good design". I will talk about the basic design. "Good design" is the next level of the basic design (idea, artistic part, etc.).

When you think about what is design, Please imagine the condition that you communicate with someone who has a different mother tongue.
Probably, You'll try to communicate by Using common understanding, Using simple words, and Explaining in due order. Design is also the same. Design is nothing less than that to make people understand with less information. When a user touches the synthesizer for the first time, The user has no knowledge of that synthesizer. So, You need to make them understand how to use it. To do that, You'll use common understanding, use simple words, and explain in due order.

■ Use common understanding
Using association with the real life experience. For example, knobs are possible to turn, sliders are possible to slide.
By having rules like "the similar behavior has a similar shape", Let the user predict behavior and enable learning.
Wrong cases in Hive2 :
· Use the similar graphic for buttons that behave differently

· Use multiple different graphics together without a reason

These cases not only create confusion for users, They make learning impossible.

■ Use simple words
When you use words in design, It's Important that easy to understand, and clarify what is written about.
Wrong cases in Hive2 :
· Paste different label on button with same function

· Label positions are not unified

· Mix abbreviations and full words

· Use abbreviation that can't determine original word


■ Explain in due order
If there is a procedure 1 → 2 → 3, Professional designers do not line them 1 → 3 → 2. They will line them 1 → 2 → 3. Also, Unless there are special occasions, Does not place functions to use together apart from each other.
Correctly arranging not only deepens understanding, but also has a great meaning in improving work efficiency.
Wrong case in Hive2 :
When trying to set envelope for the filter,
In case of Hive, it's in alignment with Cutoff → ENV Amount → Envelope, It is easy to understand and easy to use.
But, Hive2's placement is not appropriate, causing confusion.


I listed several wrong cases, But they are just a little part. Hive2's UI has really many mistakes.
I'd like you to understand, Hive2's graphic that currently uploaded is not suitable for a professional synthesizer. Please back the design of Hive2 to the drawing board once. And Please leave the design to someone with expert knowledge.

I sincerely hope that Hive2 will be a wonderful product like Hive.

Best regards.

Can't argue with that...

[PieBerger]

I mean they could have left out the bit about hiring a professional designer, with expert knowledge...bit of a shitty way to end an otherwise quite constructive and insightful commentary.

[chk071]

The design is subject to change, isn't it? I mean, you brought up some good points. I'm sure those will be considered for the final design. I absolutely agree that a GUI should be as clear as possible. There are really many example in audio plugins where it is done the wrong way.

[mutantdog]

I can forgive the rude sounding tone of the post in places, some things don't translate well.

He/She does make some really well considered points though and i'm inclined to agree. Hive is the only u-he synth where i prefer the factory skin (with a recolour mod) over Plugmon. Hopefully Hive 2 will be the same.

[Russell Grand]

So show us, oh great guru! Put your money where your mouth is and stop being vague about it.

[Russell Grand]

I love the original Hive GUI and the new Hive2 GUI! Gasp!

Seriously, I hope we have the option to use the original hexagon GUI as well as the new one. They're both sexy in their own ways, and I think I'd find a lot of inspiration in being able to choose between the two depending my mood. Just my two cents.

[Examigan]

And Please leave the design to someone with expert knowledge.

Ouch. It seems that part didn't translate very well.

[BONES]

Wrong case in Hive2 :
When trying to set envelope for the filter,
In case of Hive, it's in alignment with Cutoff → ENV Amount → Envelope, It is easy to understand and easy to use.
But, Hive2's placement is not appropriate, causing confusion.

From my point of view, this fixes a problem I have with Hive 1.2. Nobody expects the AMP envelope to come before a modulation envelope because the AMP (VCA) goes at the end of the signal chain. It would never occur to me to line up those elements in the first place.

Your other points are extremely minor, mostly cosmetic in nature and, honestly, mostly a matter of taste. They don't have much to do with good design at all.

Please back the design of Hive2 to the drawing board once. And Please leave the design to someone with expert knowledge.

Expert knowledge of what? Because anyone with expert knowledge of synthesisers would expect the filter envelope to be before the amp envelope. Believe me, the number of times I've tweaked the wrong envelope in Hive 1.2 is embarrassing so fixing that is a very positive move in my book.

Therein lies the problem - you are never going to make everyone happy so the best you can do is set your own goals, taking user feedback into account of course, and do your best to achieve them. More compact is, for me, a worthy goal and I am all in favour of it. The tricky part, of course, is that Hive 1.2 is so easy to use that it has set a very high standard. Making something even better is no trivial goal.

The other tricky thing is making worthwhile upgrades. e.g. I don't think the upgrade from DUNE 2 to DUNE 3 is necessarily worth spending money on because I never felt it needed a second filter or more wavetable stuff. The sound is close enough to identical that it's only real advantage for me is the resizable GUI (so I can make it smaller), which would never be worth what they are asking as an upgrade. (Of course, I get it for free so it's probably unfair of me to make this sort of comment but that's how I see it.) But when it comes to Hive 2, I'm in a similar position - I don't use Hive now and feel like it needs more modulation options or sources. If it has limitations in that area, then I have synths like Thorn or Cyclop for those situations, I don't need any one synth to be capable of everything because I already have other synths.

So what I mostly see with these upgrades is a new version that appeals to a wider range of customers, thereby increasing the size of your user base. I honestly don't see much in it for me, as an existing customer who is completely happy with the version he has. The "more = better" approach makes no sense to me, there is no logic in it and I really don't understand why people are so eager to gobble it up, like chocolate eclairs (bonus points if you can pick the movie reference).

[Stefken]

I love the original Hive GUI and the new Hive2 GUI! Gasp!

Oh wow, thank you for these great insights.
We learned a lot here today .

You think i'm going to write a book here and show all the rules that have been broken when they can't even follow some simple gestalt rules? Hell no.

Buy some UI design books, learn the rules and get some experience. Then we'll talk.

[BONES]

Oops, I think somebody might have quoted the wrong post. Like music, design is a creative process and, therefore, the rules only exist to be twisted, bent and flat-out ignored on a whim. If the end result works, that's all that matters and Hive works brilliantly.