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The 2000 Beanies

Category: Best Designed Interface in a Graphical App 42

Posted by Hemos from the it-works-so-smart dept.
Have you found a graphical program that you picked up with ease? Or is there a program that looks smart, but more importantly has an interface that lets you get work done? Hint: There's another category for non-graphical applications, so nominating the CLI doesn't count. (And please don't nominate that annonying paper clip.)
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Category: Best Designed Interface in a Graphical App More

Category: Best Designed Interface in a Graphical App

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  • I found myself rapidly nearing a deadline on one of my assignments, and needed diagrams! [Insert ominous music here] I'd used xfig before, but it is about as user-friendly as the cockpit of a 747. So I downloaded Sketch (a vector based drawing program), and learned how to use it and finished my drawings in less time than it would have taken in xfig.
  • I nominate xdaliclock for easiest to use interface. All I had to do was *load* it. However, it does have some y2k issues... =)
  • Definately. Esp with the changes they've made in .16. Even relatively inexperienced linux/X users can run enlightenment and have a mostly customized setup now.
  • Well, XMMS has an attractive user interface, which it, well, "borrowed" from another shall-remain-namelessAMP. But, it's an incredible piece of software never-the-less, and is undoubtedly one of the kings of configurability, right up there with Eterm and Enlightenment.

    It just makes sense to use the interface of a tried-and-true MP3 player that is widely liked and used, instead of making YAMP3 Player.

    MinaInerz
    Mina Inerz [N. Reinking]
  • I hate to pick something that isn't OSS, but this one deserves attention. Designing a functional GUI for a graphics application is notoriously difficult, but Corel got it right. About the only thing it lacks is an option to work in an SDI mode, but under Windows I guess it never mattered. Here's hoping we see something similar that's OSS one of these days, cause the GIMP sure doesn't cut it.
  • I haven't used Sketch so I don't know how it compares, but Tgif [umd.edu] has saved me many times. I tried lots of commercial vector graphics packages and found that it took ages to draw diagrams with any of them. Tgif may not look as impressive, but its no-nonsense design makes it orders of magnitude quicker to use. I like the way it concentrates on the features you actually need and puts them readily at hand.

    -- Lightstorm.

  • Open Source ecommerce application Tallyman is working within the constraints of a web-based interface, but still makes it so easy to build and maintain an ecommerce site that a marketing guy could do it.

  • Blender. [blender.nl] This program simply blows me away, and it's interface is simply the most addictive thing since caffeine. You can get it at www.blender.nl [blender.nl], it works for IRIX, Linux, and Windows (most definitely not in my order of favorites =) ) and although it is not opensource, it's free! Now, time to describe the GUI!

    Everything you'd ever wish for is customizable. You can set different window placement configurations and save them either in the current file (everything setting-wise is saved in the files, along with a default in your home directory [or wherever]) or set as the default. So you can have frame (they aren't windows, everything in Blender is flattened to prevent anything from being covered up when working) placements for using the sequencer, modelling, texturing, setting IPOs, and more, and set up configurations mixing different frames into one. You can have, say, a modelling / scene frame next to the IPO frame for watching object animation in two ways. You can have the hierarchy frame along with a separate frame for the Material Buttons, plus the normal buttons frame at the bottom. You can even have multiple modelling/scene windows for viewing your scene from another perspective.

    Onto the actual widgets and all! Many things are in pulldown menus, which contain a whole good list of names of objects, etc while still taking up very little area. There are also menus (special weird one, it either pops down from a button or just appears when you press space), toggle buttons, and a special kind of input widget (Dunno its name, but it's cool!). It is like a slider, but without a handle, and you can enter text directly into it or drag it one way or the other, or click on one side or the other to move it slowly. All in all, the widgets just rock. And the entire interface was custom made from the ground up, entirely using OpenGL (PORTABLE).

    I don't know what to say about keyboard shortcuts... they blow my mind (ooh yeah)! There's a shortcut for nearly everything, and after using Blender for just a little while you get hooked. You'll start trying to use b to borderselect in gimp, F1 to load, F2 to save. G moves stuff, RIGHT? Resizing doesn't work with s? ACK! Then you'll go back to the comfort of Blender and bask in the GUI.

    The file load / save frames (more like whole window or something, they cover up the workspace but that's about it) are very customizable and and you can choose to have the directories displayed however and when choosing textures and the sort, thumbnails show exactly what is what. It's grrrrrrrrrrreat!

    Well, I guess that's the end of my talk on Blender. I believe wholeheartedly that it has one of the best GUIs ever and deserves this award. If you haven't, please check it out, it's probably the best 3D suite (and does nonlinear sequencing, but no sound) for Linux available. Also, keep watching it, as when 2.0 comes around it will amaze everyone (even I, and I've heard most of the features already!) =)

    Ack! I forgot! The new C-key features include Python scripting, and Blender now has an interface to allow Python to use OpenGL commands. This allows scripters to make custom GUIs for their scripts and even in-script object viewers! It's awesome! You can use the Blender widgets (like the cool slider-thingy) within the scripts to allow, say, a script that generates a gear with a certain number of user-inputted teeth. I think this script is already a reality!

    Well, I've ranted on enough about my favorite program ever! Please check it out, and possibly check out my website (hopefully it will work, CI|Host is still having some problems) at http://www.cybercoment.com/deadmonkey/ [cybercoment.com] for more info and some of my work.

    Thanks!
    DeadMonkey

    ------------------------------------------------ ----------------
    Everybody's got something to hide except for me and my monkey...
    www.stampede.org

  • I fully, fully agree! The gui takes some time to get into, but then it is like having no barrier between you and your computer anymore. I love it. Thijs.

  • Grip (Score:2)

    by Booker ( 6173 )
    It's pretty, intuitive, and it does everything, and does it well. Nuff said.
    ----
  • I'm torn here. Sonique (www.sonique.com) has got the most awesome interface. Its interface breaks the common desktop mold, it is eye candy, intuitive, and useful. I wish all programs had a wicked interface like this one.

    On the useful application side, I have to give a hands down to Veritas Volume Manager (X version). Make and break mirrors, migrate data between disks, consolidate disk space -- all with a wave and a click of the mouse. This interface makes management of a large number of disks into something very managable.
  • I can only say that everything is true DeadMonkey wroter ! I have found Blender interface extremely good and fast. I really love the software ! Mika Saari
  • I totally agree. Blender has the sort of the GUI you have to get used and get a feel of it, but then it dances under your hands!
  • I couldn't agree with DeadMonkey any more. Blender is simply the most fun program I have used in ages. When I demo this program to friends, I find myself demo-ing the interface features almost as emphatically as the program content. This is a GUI that was built with keyboard shortcuts in mind. I find the fastest way to work with the program is to have one hand on the mouse while the other is on the keyboard.

    It is not very intuitive at first but you are amply rewarded by investing some time to learn.

    --ralphieboy

  • Xfig (Score:2)

    by jfunk ( 33224 )
    It's old, but it still rules.

    Try it out. The interface is really good.
  • Morphic is a huge step forward in graphical object-oriented systems. Just great. It was born in SELF, I think, but has been incorporated into UIUC Squeak.
  • so i know the newer versions arent free, but the 0.6x stuff is, and it is really well done... www.littleigloo.org makes ya want to learn gtk

  • LyX (Score:1)

    by Florian ( 2471 )
    LyX has a clean, consistent interface and makes writing cleanly-marked up, structured documents a snap even for computer novices. It combines the power of a superior word processing engine (LaTeX) with the ease-of-use of a program like WriteNow (Mac/NeXT), AbiWord (Linux/GTK) or WordPad (Windows). LyX demonstrates that a good interface is not just about simplifying work for beginners, but about making everone more productive, since it vastly speeds up LaTeX-editing (at least for me). At the same time, LyX is highly customizable and can be fully controlled via Keyboard shortcuts. LyX IMHO is a shining example of how Linux GUI software should always be: Keep all the power of Unix and make it easy to use.

    P.S.: I know that LyX is still based on the old, non-free XForms-Toolkit, however the LyX team is working on making the program GUI-independent, so that GTK-, KDE- and XForms-Frontends will be possible.

  • Moonlight Atelier (http://www.moonlight3d.org/) has the best designed user interface I ever saw. It is a 3D modeling application running under Linux, and its graphical interface is very polished. Even the install tool deserves a mention in this category !
  • At the risk of displeasing the creators of Blender, I have to say that Moolight 3d is without a doubt the best GUI I have ever seen. I heard about it only recently, but this is clearly the most user friendly and efficient modeller. I was able to get started on this software within 30 minutes since the interface has been set up to replicate as closely as possible SoftImage (settings, buttons, menus, etc.). And this is free ! Also, you can use the modelling to do literally everything you can ever dream of, and the texturing and rendering is fast and efficient. You guys should have a look at it, this is really an amazing modeller. And the animation is not even there yet !
  • Cool soft... A very complete and professional 3D modeler and renderer with a ruling GUI which allows fast creation and rendering of models. What rules according to me : 1) newbie accessibility : - A real "click and go" installer, which keeps you aware of what it does, and lets you change installation directory and option (could this installer one go open-source ?) - A "tip of the day" which drives you through the first steps. 2) non-invasivity and intuitivness : One window, with different tool win windows inside this window (texture selection, shape adjustment, ..): you don't lose 60% of your time looking for hidden dialog boxes and windows, since the GUI arranges everything in a comfortable manner. You can close S 3) speed : Moonlight provides you with a series of shortcuts "a la photoshop", which enable fast moving, scaling, selection, rotation, ... 4) portability : The GUI is 100% Open-GL. This is why I have to say that I'm addicted to the ease of use of commercial tools like photoshop, because
  • Cool soft... A very complete and professional 3D modeler and renderer. The 3D capability of the software is quite impressive (I've never seen a free 3D modeling software with so many features), but the GUI is also ruling GUI since it allows real fast creation and rendering of models. What rules according to me :
    1) newbie accessibility :
    - A real "click and go" installer, which keeps you aware of what it does, and lets you change installation directory and option (could this installer one go open-source ?)
    - A "tip of the day" which drives you through the first steps.
    2) non-invasivity and intuitivness : One window, with different tools sub-windows inside this window (texture selection, shape adjustment, ..): you don't lose 60% of your time looking for hidden dialog boxes and windows, since the GUI arranges everything in a comfortable manner. You can close or reduce these tools windows, and of course none of them is modal (my worst nightmare is modal dialog boxes)
    3) speed : Moonlight provides you with a series of shortcuts "a la photoshop", which enable fast moving, scaling, selection, rotation, ...
    4) portability : The GUI is 100% Open-GL.
  • agreed.. coming from a Max&Maya background, I found it much easier to start working with Moonlight than with Blender. blender is a really nice piece of software, but the UI does have a bit of a learning curve. with moonlight, while a 3d newbie will have problems, the UI is closer to other existing 3d packages so experienced 3d people can pick it up quickly.
  • I had the chance to try a beta version of moonlight and I have been able, thanks to the great user-friendly interface to create a 3D object in 15 minutes!! Have a look at their homepage [moonlight3d.org], it will give you a nice idea of all the capabilities offered by this software and how easy it is to use.
  • Geoshell [geoshell.com] is a replacement for the standard Windows Start Bar, Task Bar, and System Tray. In addition to making Windows more efficient (both from a user viewpoint and from the system resource viewpoint) it also removes many many explorer crashes.

    It really is a nice user interface, one that I miss when in Linux. In fact, when I learn to code, I would like to port this interface to a wm for X. (It's GPL'ed, by the way.)
  • Stop joking. Just briefly I was very impressed by this very new software: MOONLIGHT 3D, available at www.moonlight.org.
    One of big success of this powerful 3D modeler is its very beautiful, user-friendly and intuitive interface. The use of the menus and buttons, the organization of the different windows, all was thougth to make this tool enjoyable to use! Simply try it...
  • Stop joking.
    Just briefly I was very impressed by this very new software: MOONLIGHT 3D, available at www.moonlight.org.
    One of big success of this powerful 3D modeler:
    its very beautiful, user-friendly and intuitive interface. The use of the menus and buttons, the organization of the different windows, all was thougth to make this tool enjoyable to use! Simply try it...
  • Blender... well - It whipped my 3D into shape.. gotta love a program that blows away 3DSMax, LightWave, etc.. and is EXTREMELY easy to use and learn.. the short cut keys ALL MAKE sense (except for G to move until you realize the G if for Grabber.. then that works too). Blender is awesome. I love it.. I used lots of graphics packages and blender is among the best and had the shortest learning curve of any REAL graphics manipulation package I've ever used! Tillius
  • Every previous thing the monkey stated was true! Blender may not be opensource but who cares. Blender is the most deserving award out there.

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