MOI has grown into a serious 3D software, but the appearance of the GUI is still far behind that of most 3d software today. Now, since the V2 is almost ready, are there any plans to hire a professional to work on the interface aesthetics? In my case the look of MOI is the only thing preventing me from switching to this modeler. I don't mean any disrespect for the effort of Michael in that regard. Quite the opposite, I think he has done more than what most other software engineers/coders are capable of, but still... don't you think that the help of a specialist in the area of aesthetics would help MOI to expand its market by including the groups with more developed criteria?

Have you an example of aesthetic CAD GUI ?
:)

Heurm, same question than Pilou here, have you any interface exemple, because actually I find MoI interface nice.
Icons are really beautifull and well designed, without saying that everything is at the right place.

If it's about to add fake shiny 3d buttons ... no way ... well just my point of view of course.

(As a matter of taste I will only change some colors, but I'm too lazy to edit the .ini file anyway)

Hi Enzo, what is it you don't like?
The colors? The Icons? The Layout design?

Marc

Here is my opinion ...

The U1 is good ... esthetically it works well in its simplicity and clarity and I am a lot more interested in how it works, in any case.

I use a dual screen setup and would like some flexibility to place the UI on my second monitor and get a bigger drawing area ... If that comes along in V3, 4, or 5 it would enhance MoI for me.

But, I urge Michael to keep it clean and simple with an emphasis on working efficiency.

cheers,
eric

My first post. Hi everyone.

Actually, I really like the interface. It's absurdly simple, making everything so easy. I mostly work with 2D drawing programs and my favourite is Sketchbook Pro which is deceptively simple like MoI. There is always room for improvements but I wouldn't want to see the basic simplicity disappear.

/Heurm, same question than Pilou here, have you any interface exemple

GUI appearance optimization is a relatively new genre seriously backward compared to the other contemporary areas of applied aesthetics. So its very hard to give impressive examples, but yes, I think the recent trend of Autodesk is going in the right direction.

/Hi Enzo, what is it you don't like?
The colors? The Icons? The Layout design?

The human perceptions of visual attractiveness is very complicated psychological process related to our fiction of harmony and the individual level of maturity. Unfortunately the problem can not be simplified to that level. That's why I suggested attention of a specialist.

/works well in its simplicity and clarity and I am a lot more interested in how it works, in any case.

Simplicity and clarity are definitely some of the basics. As for the simple utilitarian approach - most people are eager to upgrade it as soon they have opportunity/chance to do so. It's in our nature. IMO its very important not to underestimate that fact.

hum
I am not sure that the GUI Autodesk shown above is very easy to use!
Icons are very small, there is no difference between them, text is no readable etc ...:)

"the look of MOI is the only thing preventing me from switching to this modeler"

What matters to me is getting the job done in the fastest, least frustrating way possible.

The "look" of the UI is not a consideration for me, as long as I can find things, it's logical, and it doesn't confuse or work against me.

Now, several years ago I purchased a render program called TrueSpace. I gave up after 2 weeks because the UI was like a game of looking inside the little 3D icons to find various functions.

So, is it the "look" or the functionality that is the issue? From the title of your post, it seems to be the aesthetics.

If so, that seems to be a strange criteria to decide which modeling program to use. I'll take functionality, ease of use, and excellent support ahead of aesthetics. Not that I think MOI is ugly, but who needs the cluttered eye candy? Also, keep in mind the MoI UI was designed from the beginning to be compatible with a pen tablet. Simplicity is the key here.

+1 for keeping MOI like it is. Aesthetics IMHO are always subjective. It doesn't mean there isn't room for change. As more features are integrated into the existing structure obviously Michael will change some things, but I think gradually and in harmony with the existing structure. I believe sometimes those who aren't currently using MOI are unaware or have forgotten that the stated mission of MOI is for 3d modeling using a tablet or on a tablet pc. This by necessity forces some changes to the typical guis that are prevalent today. I like positive change but never for change's sake. MOI's gui to me is great in that most of the power is not shown until you need it. By keeping an option for a command located within the relevant command's tab it shows that option is related to that command. If it doesn't show up on a tab it keeps me from trying to do something that is not supported or not recommended. That's worth its weight in gold to me. It seems to me that Michael works very hard designing logical relationships in commands by choosing sensible placement of tab options. Sometime in the future when I become more skilled I may need a certain subset of tools that I use frequently for a particular type of modeling job to be always available. I believe that's already available though. Perhaps I just don't have sophisticated tastes, but I've always really liked MOI's clean non-intimidating interface.

My .02

Size, differentiation and readability are typical usability issues and not aesthetic problems. Even though I personally think that both terms overlap in meaning to some point (because attractiveness catalyzes the acceptance and therefore affects the usability) for clarity in such discussion I think they should not be mixed:

Usability = ease of use
Aesthetics = attractiveness

And I totally agree with you – usability factors should never be sacrificed in favor of aesthetic factors. They should be supported by them. But again, a professional should know all that.

/Aesthetics IMHO are always subjective.

No this is just very popular delusion. Applied aesthetics and people working in that area study and employ the popular/group reaction to visual problems. Not the individual characteristics.

Talk of aesthetics visual things without show images is a nonsense!
it's not a CAD but fun 3D prog (Sculptris) (in Alpha work here) Same easy use like Moi ;)

/Talk of aesthetics visual things without show images is a nonsense!

Ha ha you are absolutely right :) I didn't mean to write much. Just wanted to make a suggestion to Michael out of sympathy for his work.

Hi Enzo,

> Now, since the V2 is almost ready, are there any plans
> to hire a professional to work on the interface aesthetics?

Well, it's funny you mention that, because I did actually hire a interface professional very early on with MoI to help me design the color scheme (way in the early development before the first beta release).

So that's already been done!


> In my case the look of MOI is the only thing preventing me
> from switching to this modeler.

Wow, really? That seems amazing to me that you would let the color of the UI affect your judgement so much.

I've had very few complaints about the UI, most people find the UI as a whole to actually be the single biggest positive thing about MoI!

But of course tastes vary and there is no way to please all the people all of the time.

Some people seem to like a "dark & depressing" UI more, is that the kind of thing that you would expect?

Possibly in the future I'll be able to do 2 skins, a standard one as it currently has, and a "super professional gloomy gothic" one so that you could switch between them.

But it does add quite a bit of time to maintain 2 parallel UIs, which is why I haven't focused on it so far. It is just such a non-issue for the vast majority of users that it has not been a good thing to invest much time in yet.


All of the stuff that makes up the UI (PNG files, CSS, etc...) is actually accessible under the \ui subfolder under MoI's main installation folder so you can actually go in there and tweak things yourself if you wish. See these previous posts for some info on that:

http://moi3d.com/forum/index.php?webtag=MOI&msg=3169.2
http://moi3d.com/forum/index.php?webtag=MOI&msg=2964.1


But frankly, I find it pretty weird that you would completely stay away from using MoI because the color of the UI is not "professional" enough... MoI is generally meant to be a tool that is easier for people with less experience to use. If it offends you that MoI has this focus on ease of use and accessibility to "regular people" then it probably is not going to be the right program for you.

- Michael

I know a kid with a masters degree in Human interface design from stanford. His website really sucks...Kindof a joke....But, he will explain to you all the reasons why you should like it over some of the popular ones... I think he's in a self imposed bubble. Remember, only a certain type of person will sit in a focus group to be anylized. This would never be me. Actually, this produces very poor and narrow results with regard to psychology and public sampling.

One of the great things about MoI's UI is it is completely and utterly customizable with regard to it's appearance (we just havnt seen anything with this regard due to the beta flux....When V2 is released, return to discuss this) And it is unique in this way.

Enzo, please don't take this the wrong way, but you have managed to confuse me. I am in opposition to something you said.

You said

Aesthetics = attractiveness

and then disagreed with my opinion that aesthetics were subjective.


Attractiveness = pleasing to the eye or mind. Charming ... and a lot of other similar words and phrases that are sort of close in a lesser way to beauty. I'm having a hard time figuring out how anything defined as pleasing to the eye or mind can be anything other than subjective. I don't know you, but I'd be willing to wager a very large sum of money that what I considered attractive would be something other than what you would if we are from different cultures, environments, upbringing etc. I hope you are not saying that there could possibly be a 'correct' definition of attractive? I'm sorry, but I disagree with any idea along those lines.

If you are speaking of something definite like cohesiveness, regularity or whatever might be more concrete than attractiveness maybe something could actually be discussed regarding it, but I don't agree that anyone's idea of 'attractiveness' might be more valid than another's.

Please note if this comes across as strongly worded it is not intended to be that way at all. I understand that I normally don't write precisely what I'm trying to say. I'm not sure why, but I've been told that, so I hope it makes sense and conveys my intentions accurately.

I will not hammer a nail with a yellow hammer. If the hammer were red, then I'd use it hit the nail.

Funny that the color of the tool is dictating the usage.

That exist! ;)

"don't you think that the help of a specialist in the area of aesthetics would help MOI to expand its market by including the groups with more developed criteria?"

No, because I don't think that serious 3D users choose their tools according to their colour (which in the case of MoI can be changed in any case). I would strongly disagree with Michael spending any time or other resources on frivolities of this kind. The point is that the UI works extremely well and is at least partly customisable. Let's not try to fix something that isn't broken.

Dan

Hello,

+1 for keeping the GUI as is. I'm not sure what to make of the suggestion that the GUI is a hindrance to MoI being used. After all we are not talking about a product that will be used by billions of people. It just needs to make sense for the target market. MoI is one of the few packages I actually enjoy using. I would be interested to see in a single iconic sense what might be a better representation for the fillet command for example.