4 ms·
I don't think it's about familiarity at all. I think it's about mapping domain knowledge to users tasks with as little friction and unnecessary complication as
by TheOtherHobbes 5y ago
I don't think it's about familiarity at all. I think it's about mapping domain knowledge to users tasks with as little friction and unnecessary complication as possible.
You might think that's the same thing as familiarity with existing software, but it really isn't.
For example: Cubase. You can do a lot with it, but it's a mess of accreted features with some bizarre near-duplications, all splattered around almost randomly. A good few are entirely hidden. You won't find them unless you read the manual and/or watch a video - if you can find it.
A lot of people use it, but it's not a model you'd want to copy.
Ableton Live is more of a mix. Some features are very intuitive, some are less so. But someone has at least thought about typical task-based workflows and tried to minimise the number of UI entities and clicks required to perform them.
None of this is mysterious. The principles of good UI design are well known: minimise clicks, minimise pages, minimise the number of entities that users need to remember, avoid multiple access points for features, avoid hidden modes and secret key combinations (unless it's a command-line app, sort of), group related features, concentrate on implementing the most common tasks with as little friction as possible, avoid constant mode switching, avoid long lists of unrelated items, try to handle windows and dialogs intelligently to avoid clutter, make all operations as consistent as possible, follow general OS and industry standards. (Etc.)
Of course software is specialised and if you don't know anything about DAWs - or photo editing, or 3D - you're going to have to climb a learning curve.
But domain basics are standard. If you know them a good intuitive tool should be able to make them available with as little friction as possible. And a really good tool will anticipate what you're trying to do and make it even easier than you were expecting it to be.