Melda GUI improvements

[wilx]

Might be good to have a thread with some suggestions - I know (as Vojtech often points out) design is very subjective. But I think there are some tweaks that would please almost everyone... I've tried to come up with relatively easy ideas that won't radically change the look, or the customisation options, but will hopefully help to make the Melda plugins look more 'grown-up' and be less likely to put people off at first glance. I know so many people who have said they're impressed with the ability of these plugins but can't get past the awkward GUI.

Disclaimer: I have loads of Melda stuff and I think it's fantastic. I just think some small, well-considered tweaks would make it much more enjoyable to use, and probably more enticing to new users.

Here's a comparison of Melda with some plugins I think have a good, clear, simple design language. The most obvious differences to me:



1) Colour. There's good, consistent use of limited palates. Even if I edit the Melda GUI to use only softer, desaturated pastel shades it forces some of the text (presets on the left) to be neon and garish.
And from a design point of view, those presets don't need to be different colours. Looking at them, I instinctively think they are preset levels for the same control on a scale of light (green) to severe (red). They're brighter, and use more colour than the rest of the GUI so they draw the eye, which is not ideal. They should all be the same colour since they all represent the same thing - a preset. The analyser/level meter being pure white is also a distraction and should be more in line with the rest of the colour scheme.

2) Aliasing - knobs on Melda look jagged, others look nice and smooth.

3) Unnecessary detail on knobs on Melda - it doesn't contribute to feedback or ease of use. The line is enough of a guide to the knob position.

4) Text! The non-Melda plugins use nicer fonts, and make better distinction as to what is a section/element title and what is an individual control label.
On the Melda plugin, 'Globals' 'Flattening' and 'Spectrum' should be a slightly different shade or style (non-bold maybe) to the individual controls like input/output.

5) Use of space. I understand this is partly because Melda plugins are so much more customisable, but it would be good to see the GUI intelligently adapt to its size by increasing controls & text size to best utilise the space. There is more 'dead space' on the Melda example and the controls therefore look more scattershot and less well organised.

6) Distinction between sections/modules. It is actually there already in Melda - you can see 'boxes' for each of 'globals' 'flattening' and 'spectrum'. I think we just need the ability to make these a little more distinct, plus those text changes mentioned above.

I'd be interested to hear how feasible these are, as well as other users' opinions. As I said, this is a set of things which will hopefully improve the GUIs globally yet still allow the plugins to look more-or-less as they do currently, to satisfy everyone!

[drdriller]

you take an example from a preset macros views, everything is this view (color, space between elements..) is preset related, clic edit to get the real view.

[wilx]

True - but all my points apply to both views. Button layout is of course a bit neater in the full view.

[ZentralmassivSound]

Might be good to have a thread with some suggestions - I know (as Vojtech often points out) design is very subjective. But I think there are some tweaks that would please almost everyone... I've tried to come up with relatively easy ideas that won't radically change the look, or the customisation options, but will hopefully help to make the Melda plugins look more 'grown-up' and be less likely to put people off at first glance. I know so many people who have said they're impressed with the ability of these plugins but can't get past the awkward GUI.

Disclaimer: I have loads of Melda stuff and I think it's fantastic. I just think some small, well-considered tweaks would make it much more enjoyable to use, and probably more enticing to new users.

Here's a comparison of Melda with some plugins I think have a good, clear, simple design language. The most obvious differences to me:



1) Colour. There's good, consistent use of limited palates. Even if I edit the Melda GUI to use only softer, desaturated pastel shades it forces some of the text (presets on the left) to be neon and garish.
And from a design point of view, those presets don't need to be different colours. Looking at them, I instinctively think they are preset levels for the same control on a scale of light (green) to severe (red). They're brighter, and use more colour than the rest of the GUI so they draw the eye, which is not ideal. They should all be the same colour since they all represent the same thing - a preset. The analyser/level meter being pure white is also a distraction and should be more in line with the rest of the colour scheme.

2) Aliasing - knobs on Melda look jagged, others look nice and smooth.

3) Unnecessary detail on knobs on Melda - it doesn't contribute to feedback or ease of use. The line is enough of a guide to the knob position.

4) Text! The non-Melda plugins use nicer fonts, and make better distinction as to what is a section/element title and what is an individual control label.
On the Melda plugin, 'Globals' 'Flattening' and 'Spectrum' should be a slightly different shade or style (non-bold maybe) to the individual controls like input/output.

5) Use of space. I understand this is partly because Melda plugins are so much more customisable, but it would be good to see the GUI intelligently adapt to its size by increasing controls & text size to best utilise the space. There is more 'dead space' on the Melda example and the controls therefore look more scattershot and less well organised.

6) Distinction between sections/modules. It is actually there already in Melda - you can see 'boxes' for each of 'globals' 'flattening' and 'spectrum'. I think we just need the ability to make these a little more distinct, plus those text changes mentioned above.

I'd be interested to hear how feasible these are, as well as other users' opinions. As I said, this is a set of things which will hopefully improve the GUIs globally yet still allow the plugins to look more-or-less as they do currently, to satisfy everyone!

I can somewhat relate to 1 and 5. Text and anti aliasing looks totally fine on my machine though, no complaints about that.

[wilx]

I am NOT in any way a graphic designer, but here's a super-rough example of how I think some of those changes would make the GUI look a bit more uniform, clear and consistent.

[DarkStar]

Some observations:
Colour
The bright white text can be solved using the Textured Style Editor (TSE). I notice that the Valhalla Delay uses it too.

Originally, the Active Presets (devices) on the left have different colours to indicate different categories. I do not know if that is still the case.

Meter background (and other Displays) can be changed in the TSE.

Aliasing
All graphic elements have to be able to deal with magnifications of 60% to 300% I think that the Neon knobs should be OK up to 200%

Unnecessary detail on knobs
Neon's knobs are intended to look like some classic analogue knobs. The knob design can be changed in the TSE. Any of the knobs in those other plug-ins could be used.

Text
The Neon style uses a font named "Roboto". Again this can be changed in the TSE.

Use of space
All the GUI layouts are built using the idea of panels and parameters laid out in a grid. Increasing the size of controls and labels to fit the space could reuslt in all sorts of size and, imo, would look fugly.

Distinction between sections/modules
Can be done by adding visible borders to the Panels in the TSE.

Neon modified:
>>> https://imgur.com/JchTze1.png

>>> https://imgur.com/zKk22IN.png

Circonium (WIP)
>>> https://imgur.com/BLyURMH.png

>>> https://imgur.com/0m2kXSr.png

[wilx]

Thanks DarkStar - that addresses some of the points but not all (text differentiation, clarity of UI elements, distracting multicoloured preset text etc) but the problem is that editor doesn't seem to be available on mac. Also, I'd prefer Melda to have a clean, professional looking default skin something along the lines of my mockup/valhalla etc, but with the option to still customise however users want.

[MeldaProduction]

Here we are again . No way to make everyone happy . But to be honest, I'm going to focus mainly on actual development of audio stuff... The fun fact is that I personally hate all the screenshots you posted wilx, so you can see how much people can differ. You imho also completely crippled the neon using the colors you used, almost like you wanted it to look bad . Anyways I personally love the knobs - they actually rotate! Unlike the horrific simple line knobs, that "move line" and don't make me feel like I'm rotating something. So you see, everyone is different. And for this case there are other styles and there's the style editor! So please just check it out and make it look the way you like! And then please share, since if you like it, there will be others that would too! (and that goes for both ways)

[drdriller]

the v13 look is really a nice UI improvement.

[wilx]

Here we are again . No way to make everyone happy . But to be honest, I'm going to focus mainly on actual development of audio stuff... The fun fact is that I personally hate all the screenshots you posted wilx, so you can see how much people can differ. You imho also completely crippled the neon using the colors you used, almost like you wanted it to look bad . Anyways I personally love the knobs - they actually rotate! Unlike the horrific simple line knobs, that "move line" and don't make me feel like I'm rotating something. So you see, everyone is different. And for this case there are other styles and there's the style editor! So please just check it out and make it look the way you like! And then please share, since if you like it, there will be others that would too! (and that goes for both ways)

Is there a mac version of the style editor?

I understand you personally don't like the other plugins and a more intuitive layout & colour scheme, but many people will. And many of those people will either be on a mac, with no access to the editor, or working professionals who want their tools to work well and look professional & intuitive straight away with no editing.

Also, I understand the focus on audio development. As I said I'm a big fan of the Melda plugins I own, *but* I think it's a bizarrely stubbon attitude to think that GUI doesn't matter to people. It's a hugely important aspect of using these tools, and I strongly believe that addressing the points I mentioned in the first post would help everyone. you would still have the GUI you prefer, and others would have theirs. On the standard GUI, my attention is drawn to the presets on the left, because they are multicoloured and bright. That is flat-out unintuitive. On my rough mockup, the module titles are capitalised and centred, which makes them distinct from the knobs and knob labels and makes it *much* clearer that the stuff in the middle is the main controls, and makes it clearer what each module is for. And re. knobs - the 'horrific' simple knobs are used on many fantastically designed synths. Other people will find jagged, not-quite-skeumorphic knobs to be distracting and unnecessary visual noise. Especially when there are black-on-white-on-black like the screenshot. That amount of contrast is also not great design.

It feels a bit like you didn't read the constructive points I made at all - I spent time putting that together because I thought it would be constructive and useful to explain exactly *why* certain things don't work as well as they do on other plugins. But it feels more like you've seen the word 'GUI', assumed what I've written and said 'Well I like it the way it is, so there!'.

Again - I'm not saying it has to look like my hastily cobbled-together mockup. I'm just suggesting you make some small tweaks that will make using melda plugins a more pleasant and intuitive experience for most (but of course not all ) users.

[masitito]

For me it is amusing how many people argue about parts of the design I don't care much about. As long as the fonts are readable (size and contrast matters) and any UI elements are usable (not too small or otherwise fiddly) I'm content. Maybe not entirely happy.

What I'm more concerend with is the placing of the UI elements. Which readouts or inputs are put on which screen/dialog and in what relation to each other. This is my main issue with Melda plugins. To me the many screens/dialogs are cramped with stuff.

I'm aware that workflows are also highly personal, so moving things around will hurt someone. Is it possible to find out what is really important? If so, some of the plugins could do with less UI elements on the default screen to be less overwhelming.

Masi

[wilx]

All of my suggestions would help that -and they would allow people to keep the GUI exactly as-is if they want. Maybe with the addition of an option to centre or left-justify the module/section names.

But it's really bizzare to see so many people talk about the GUI being a significant issue for them, to be met with, essentially, "well I think it's fine so they must be wrong".

I mean, design is subjective to an extent but there are universally observed principles of good user interface design. Is anyone seriously saying this - from Melda's own site - represents a professional and intuitively designed GUI?



- and yet again to reiterate. I love Melda stuff and use it often. But a small number of little improvements to the styles or even just the editing options would make the design so much more palatable to most people.

[MeldaProduction]

wilx: First of all, thanks for the feedback, I completely understand. And I'm not saying GUI doesn't matter, look at Melda history, there has probably been more improvements than in any other company . But there are multiple problems - the plugins are very complex, that makes the design very complex and limited. There are lots of options - style colors for example, this again makes things unbelievably complex. And then there's the main issue here - different tastes. You say the knobs need to be round, I say I like them jagged. And everyone else will have some taste too. Now imagine the amount of work I have here considering we are the company with most FRs in the world , I need to schedule stuff carefully, and changing knobs then goes to the ultimately low priority, since I like them and I know whatever I do to them, some people will like and some hate

[wilx]

Of course - I do understand, and I'm impressed by how often all of the plugins are updated and improved. Thanks for the reply. If it helps to condense that initial post into something a bit more manageable, it would be great to see the following - at some point:

1) The option to have minimalist, round buttons like the examples in the screenshots (even though not everyone will prefer them! )

2) The option to change the text to something a bit more readable and sans serif, like Futura

3) more differentiation between section/module labels and control/button labels - either by making section labels uppercase, or a different colour, or centred, or a combination.

4) Slightly more control over the colours. I find I can often get 80% of the way with customising colour but a couple of elements will still be bright purple, or yellow etc with no way of changing them. Perhaps a global control for saturation, so even if some GUI colours are auto-generated, they still fit in with the saturation level of the rest of the GUI?

That would do very nicely, I think

[spencerlee]

Hey DarkStar
I think Circonium looks amazing. Dont change it.
Only thing is names in presets should be all white.
Spencer