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Old 12-03-2010, 04:57 PM   #1
White Tie
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Default >> V4 Theme : The Theme Team requests appearance discussion

Please don't post in this thread until you've read this post.

You now have an alpha of the Default V4 theme, which I have created with the Theme Team, and we will continue to develop it. The Theme Team is a collective of some of the most experienced and talented Reaper themers from around the world, gathered together online and motivated by a love of theming Reaper and of making the theme the best it could be for Reaper's many users. These people have my utmost respect and gratitude, and I believe deserve yours too. Designing in a team is always challenging, particularly across language gaps and time zones, but I am a strong believer that it can yield the best results and is a strong extension of REAPER's development ethos. For the benefit of our team workflow, the Theme Team will not communicate directly here in the forum, though I may pass on messages and may post to clarify and inform on my personal interpretation.

Invitations of members to the V4 theme team were freely decided by the members of the V3 theme team. To avoid anyone (quite possibly wrongly) feeling left out, this will not be discussed, so please don't even ask - no good could come of it.

New in V4 we are including the development of the theme into the prerelease cycle so that the wisdom and experience of you, the users, can be incorporated into the theme's development. This is an experiment that may or may not work out for the best, but is most certainly worth trying. Please note, however, that this is not an exercise in 'design by democracy' - that may sound appealing, but I assure you that the results would be execrable. I request that you all engage in this experiment with care, maturity, patience and intelligence. If the experiment fails please remember that the Theme Team is ultimately responsible to its own instincts and experience of what will best suit all users (not just those on this forum) and to the satisfaction of Cockos, but if the experiment succeeds then we will have a blueprint for how future themes can be better developed as a true and exciting reflection of Reaper's users. The determination of how well this experiment works out is in the hands of you, the community.

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** The Theme Team requests : APPEARANCE DISCUSSION **

Please use this thread to, by discussion amongst yourselves, feedback to the Theme Team on the appearance of the Default 4 theme as it is developed. These will often be be subjective qualities of personal taste; the styling of colour, tone, and shape. There is another thread for your objective interaction feedback, please understand the difference as we are applying it here (and help each other to understand the difference) and choose your thread appropriately.

Some of the appearance goals of the theme:
  • Eliminate, wherever possible, ambiguity. WALTER allows us to assign as much (or as little) space as is needed for an element to do its job well. A good example of this is the IO button; previously space issues restricted us to various schemes to indicate the master / send / receive status of the track. We can now take the space to make that message very clearly, on every track, with full words. Experienced Reaper users will likely find they don't need this level of clarity, they can effortlessly interpret (for example) an icon based representation, but we favour a solution that benefits all users including casual, occasional or new Reaper users. If this is ever in conflict with efforts to make the interface attractive, the lack of ambiguity is favoured.
  • We do not have a marketing department screaming at us to make a flashy interface to generate sales. This is a strength to be recognised. Wherever there may be conflict, favour long-term usability over superficial appeal.
  • Size : Walter opens the possibility of themers making themes that are ideally suited to very small screens, so to a certain degree we do not have to cater for 'all controls at very small sizes' situations that V3 themes may have been effective at. Avoid if possible, but if taking more space would get the job done much better, do it.
  • 'Buttons' in Reaper can be a button, or an indicator, or both a button and an indicator. Some buttons are state changing push buttons, while others summon a drop down or a window. If this might cause confusion or inaccurate expectation of the function of the button, style to avoid it.
  • Use styling to visually 'grade' controls by their importance, making them less or more easy to find at a glance. Group elements that will often be used in combination during common workflows. Grade and group using position, colour, styling and selective use of 3D.
  • Ensure that selected state is always clear. Always.
  • Have an overall brightness of around 50%

Please remember than in subjective matters there is no 'right answer' and simply expressing your personal preference is far less useful than you might think; this is not meant to be your perfect theme, nor mine or anyone else's. It has a job to do, we need to drill down to discover what that job is, how well it is doing it, and what can be done to improve it.

Please also remember that almost everything is a balancing act. If you consider something to be "Too XXXX" then it is probably because we decided to make it "Less YYYY", and most likely after some thought. Think of these things as a slider. An example:

[X ] --------------------------------V-------------------------------- [Y]

X : Positives: Each individual element is more easy to visually find, one element is rarely mistaken for another. Negatives : Overall appearance can seem busy and intimidating.
Y : Positives: Overall appearance is relaxed, approachable and 'easy on the eyes'. Negatives : Visually finding the individual element you are looking for can take longer, one element can be easy to mistake for another.

Choosing where to put that slider between X and Y is a difficult balancing act that requires thought. In this example, new or occasional users would benefit from the positives of more X, whereas experienced users would have less trouble with the negative values of more Y, and so would like the fact that it looks more appealing. We need to make these decisions, and if you put some careful thought to the matter, you will realise that these sliders are everywhere in the job at hand. I'm sure you can think of others.

We look forward to your discussions. Thanks!


************* v *************** READ THIS ************* v ***************

You are being asked how we can make the very best of the tools we currently have.
There is no practical value in making Feature Requests to the Theme Team.
Discussion of Feature Requests will only cloud or derail the clear communication of user feedback.
There are other threads for your Feature Requests. Please take them there.

************* ^ *************** READ THIS ************* ^ ***************
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