OPEN LETTER TO SOFTWARE DEVELOPERS

[aklisiewicz]

Let me tell you straight. Unless you took some classes in UI design, your interface sucks !
The true fact is that 90% of plugin interfaces SUCK. Really suck. Yes some suck leess than others but most of the are developed without basic knowledge of UI design, usability, color matching, layout rules etc. On top of that 90% of software is never tested in multiple conditions.
For example running the same plugin on multiple operating systems, multiple resolutions, multiple screen sizes, multiple OS color settings, during the day, in the evening, in sunlight etc.

I am really sick and tired of dealing with absolute trash flooding the market of audio plugins.
I skip the aspect of usability in this post. My appeal is to have you DEVELOPER hire a GUI designer (who knows to to create usable interface) or take some basic classes.

It is very unfortunate that YouTubers who make VST presentations show the plugin in "zoomed-in" mode so no one would really guess how would it look on his own monitor. Most of the interfaces seem to be designed to computers with 800x600 pixels.

Appart from the color readability and layout those interfaces look "kinda" readable, but the moment the user starts to move up with the resolution they become less and less readable. If on top of that the UI has not enough contrast then the end result is trash!

REMEMBER - software is not only functionality and amount of gadgets on the screen. Readability is one of the most important factor (if not the most important). The user will spend countless hours looking at your crap and, if unhappy, will ask for a refund.

I have purchased a few dozen of plugins in recent years, which I had to stop using simply because after 2-3 hours I was about to vomit from the eyes fatigue!

Unfortunately, this trashy design does not omit big brands.

Some (a bit smarter) developers offer a UI customization, but many of them offer additional skins which suck as much as the default one. The small exception is the minority which offers full customization. Great example here would be ABLETON (which allows using skin editor, full UI scaling, font scaling etc.) as well as REAPER (but those are DAWs and I am mostly talking about DAW plugins. As an example, the most poplar plugin )KONTAKT along with Komplete Kontrol) is a great example of how not to design an interface. The only excuse here is the fact that Kontakt is one of the oldest plugins that exist. At the same time, it presents super ancient technology and almost no customization.

Here re a few reasons why users should stop using your plugin:
- to dark, no contrast
- fonts are not scalable
- no background customization
- alternative color schemes do not offer high contrast or high contrast is still un readable
- your plugin looks OK on a laptop but sucks on 4K screen
- so called "ballon help' objects cover the entry fields
- UI is overloaded with to many options (knobs, sliders)
- no way so save presets in user defined folder
- plugin window do not scale at all or scale in one direction only
- icons are to small and/or unreadable
- inactive objects are to dark (impossible to guess unless selected)
- there is a huge variety of fonts, sizes, colors
- UI uses (so called) Sheriff fonts (which with some exceptions) are considered much harder to read
- user has to purchase 3rd party "skin" or preset in order to make your plugin readable
- no DEMO (this of course is not always possible, but highly desirable)

Here are a few plugins that I consider well done (in an aspect of UI) and these can be used as an example of great design:

VITAL , Arthuria-PIGMENTS, Devious Machines - INFILTRATOR, Izotope-OZONE and others, Valhalla-DELAY and others. My absolute favorite one is TANTRA. Despite its UI is not scalable, it works perfectly well on all screen sizes and resolutions. It is the most beautiful UI design I ever used so far. I am sure there are many more, but there are also thousands of those which are not worth spending a single dollar ($1).

Finally, here are some useful links which will teach you how to create a useful GUI. I put it straight - if you do not follow those rules you as developer simply suck and I wish you either educate or lose all your potential customers.
The GOD NEWS is - If your GUI sucks, there is still a chance to redesign it and make users happy. Happy user will certainly bring you more customers!



Here are some links which help you in education.
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ART

[nix808]

do u want to design an interface for me?
u can find most of my plugin work at
www.phonicsaudio.com
for an idea of what could be done

[BONES]

Which version of Tantra. The original is nice enough but I don't think the new version has too many fans. Beyond that, I think you are exaggerating the issue just a little. Most plugins have pretty decent GUIs these days and the fact some don't scale isn't the fault of the GUI designer, it seems to be a problem with VST plugins within a host environment that requires extra work.

If you find a lot of plugins too dark and lacking contrast, it's probably because you are living in 1990 and using a light theme on your computer. Here in the 21st Century, we have all moved to dark themes for our OS and are enjoying the benefits.

[Jac459]

On the "best plugin UI", you forgot the 2 best in my view:
1 - Fabfilter (at the top, far from the competition)
2 - Phase Plant (they managed to make something complex... simple).

[trewq]

For me, using the Magnifier utility is sometimes just as important as changing the skin. Scalability, as Bones indicated, can be a tough problem to solve.

Edit: I've since discovered a method in Delphi that makes it remarkably easy and accurate for standalone - i havent tried it on a plugin.
Its still limited by screen size, whereas the Magnifier is not.

[nix808]

essentially vector or algorithmic graphics are infinitely scalable, while raster or pixel/quantified(.png) graphics become blurred. Even big software houses like Arturia have trouble implementing graphics elegantly

[pekbro]

If it were up to me, I would be able to get the 2 minutes or so I wasted skimming through the asinine original post returned to me. Hopefully, not many devs are bothering to waste their time reading it as well.

[chk071]

I'd agree that there are many plugins which lack the basic design principles.

With all the one man businesses which can't afford proper UI design, that doesn't surprise me though.

That said, things which have been criticized like the UI being scalable doesn't seem to be trivial with some plugins which were coded in times where they weren't hundreds of different resolutions and aspect ratios on your computers. So, it's understandable that some developers are slow to implement them.

[camsr]

Will all knobs and sliders be the same size in inches on the screen? If yes, then it is important for the font to be of the correct size also. What if you cannot see it from far away?

How many different sized and distanced screens can 1 producer use?

[camsr]

OP sounds like, everything should look like a shitty widget because it's the same

[aklisiewicz]

There are many plugins which are well designed. Just because I have listed a few doesn't mean there are no others. As an example of TANTRA I fully agree that the new interface is terrible and I will certainly not upgrade. I use to do programming and understand the issues with scaling, but modern libraries (I mean Development Libraries for Java, C++, Python, C-sharp ) take care most of that. Yes it is not easy to deal with 2 or 3 operating systems (that is where things get more complicated), but still there are those who can create usable UI and those who do not. That means it is doable .

I am using 4K monitors for around 10 years and running Windows (no Mac). I still do some development (not related to music) but it hurts my eyes when I have to work with crap like Kontakt or some plugins which are even worse.
The problem is that there are new plugins appear on the market almost every day and 70%+ of them are TRASH.
No - I will not use virtual magnification (to look at something 100 times a day).
Obviously, people who work on laptops have completely different experience from those working on 4K screens. Also, one who is 20yrs old will have usually better sight than one who is 60+

Font size, color and background customization is the key to readability. Some plugins with not so great default skin at least allow full customization (ie. U-he products).

Whoever uses raster fonts and graphic in the development should be fired or is an idiot.
When the vector fonts are used, they are scaled automatically when the window is resized. The same applies to the graphic.

Ableton LIVE is and example of that. They did fantastic job in this regard (when released Live10).
NI forces developers to create raster UI for Kontakt libs and this really, really sucks ! This (probably most popular plugin ever) really needs to reincarnate and its current version needs to die.

[fmr]

There are many plugins which are well designed. Just because I have listed a few doesn't mean there are no others. As an example of TANTRA I fully agree that the new interface is terrible and I will certainly not upgrade. I use to do programming and understand the issues with scaling, but modern libraries (I mean Development Libraries for Java, C++, Python, C-sharp ) take care most of that. Yes it is not easy to deal with 2 or 3 operating systems (that is where things get more complicated), but still there are those who can create usable UI and those who do not. That means it is doable .

Well, you quoted Valhala plug-ins as example of great GUIs. I would NEVER use any Valhala plug-in, because they look horrendous, IMO. I absolutely refuse to use a plug-in that looks like a 4-year old cartoon.

Ableton LIVE is and example of that. They did fantastic job in this regard (when released Live10).

Live is another example of something which looks bad to me. Go figure

NI forces developers to create raster UI for Kontakt libs and this really, really sucks ! This (probably most popular plugin ever) really needs to reincarnate and its current version needs to die.

You forget several things:
1. There are a lot of libraries available, which will lose compatibility of NI does what you want them to do. If you are a Windows user, you know that one of the biggest strenghts of Windows (when compared to macOS, for example) is retrocompatibility.
2. Anything NI does with Kontakt, they have to be very careful to preserve that same retrocompatibility. And as a Kontakt user myself, with many third-party libraries, I have to confess I don't experience such an hard-time as you imply (maybe because I don't spend that much time looking at the GUI?). Most libraries GUis don't "suck" (IMO) the way you say.
3. If NI would "reincarnate" the GUI breaking compatibility with existing libraries in the process, they would created an uproar, and would probably hurt themsleves big time.

To sum it up: Your opinion is just that... Your opinion. Regarding GUIs there are lots of opinions. My opinion is that something that looks "cartoonish" is a no go. I don't give a damn if the contrast is good, if the fonts are good, whatever. For me, the GUI has to look beautiful and be functional. Fab Filter, which has been mentioned, is a good example (among the best). U-He GUIs (especially the latest ones) are good examples too. Arturia GUis look great, IMO. And I like the GUIs that reproduce or are close to the looks of the originals, when we are talking about emulations.

OTOH, I hate Valhala, I hate Ableton, and I hate pretty much anything that's basically flat. They look ugly, boring, and uninspiring.

Regarding colors: I have a problem (which I learned is relatively common, and affects around 10% of men) regarding colors. I have difficulties with certain tones of red (around the purple spectrum), when mixed with certain tones of green (around the water green spectrum), and certain tones of greys. If the right tones are combined, I end up seeing exactly the same color everywhere. And I have severe problems with red over black, for example. Guess what? A lot of GUI designers like to use reds, purples and water greens. Imagine how I feel about that

[aklisiewicz]

For the most part, I agree with you. I think so far that Ableton UI is still the best of all DAWs, and I would put S1 on a second place, but here we're talking about plugins (not so much about the DAW. I am quite opposite I like flat design and do not like when people try to emulate 3d knobs and make it look like a real world physical device, simply because it looks to me less clear and makes eyes more tired. All this is of course the matter of preference, and I do not like a GUI which looks like cartoon either. The main problem here is not so much of a color matching and graphic used, but the ability to customize it.

While I do not like for example default U-He HIVE2 colors, I got impressed few days ago seeing how the interface can be converted. To the point one could not even recognize it is still the same HIVE2 program. That is really nice, although it would be even nicer to have some tool to edit (kinda like Ableton does this through Max extension editor).

UI really does not have much to do with the backward compatibility in Windows (you are wrong about that). I used to do desktop programming since 1990-s. Things like fonts size, background color and scaling Kontakt window can be implemented easily, without breaking plugin integrity. It is just a matter of cost and for some unknown to me reason NI is far behind the entire development world with the simple customization. I stay away from buying Kontakt plugins (if I can) for that simple reason.

I also agree that Fabfilter UI is really, really good example of how to design things. I hope that potential developers who read this thread will learn something and attract more customers by being more mindful about the GUI.

[BONES]

...modern libraries (I mean Development Libraries for Java, C++, Python, C-sharp ) take care most of that.

Which is probably why GUIs on pretty much every new plugin are scalable. IT is pretty much exclusively a problem with older plugins that were released before Apple f**ked everyone over with their ridiculous marketing bullshit.

I am using 4K monitors for around 10 years and running Windows (no Mac).

My first question is how big are these monitors? If they are less than 32", then you are just asking for trouble. My second question is what is the point of a 4k monitor if you are just scaling everything to make it usable? I avoid any monitor I can't use with 100% scaling because you don't get any advantage from scaling, only problems.

Obviously, people who work on laptops have completely different experience from those working on 4K screens.

Rubbish. The problem is at least as bad with laptops. There are plenty of lappies with 4k screen options and any half-decent laptop these days is offering 2.5k on a 13.3" screen. It is increasingly difficult to find a good laptop with a proper full HD screen.

Ableton LIVE is and example of that. They did fantastic job in this regard (when released Live10). NI forces developers to create raster UI for Kontakt libs and this really, really sucks !

As a graphic artist with 26 years experience, I feel exactly the opposite. I think Live has an horrible GUI overall, although there are some aspects of it I quite like, whereas some of my abdsolute favourites are Kontakt instruments, like Output's Substance and Straylight.

[jancivil]

some rant there