[QUOTE=doodiebrad;87865] You should be wanting to polish it, not me![/QUOTE]

Man, I would HATE it if OF looked anything like that. Totally style over substance. I'm using a computer, I have absolutely no need or desire for it to look like a ring binder. How much screen space is wasted on those rings!

I agree with Rik. Circus Ponies Ponies Notebook, Aquaminds Notetaker, and others are lovely to look at it, but I wound up using OmniOutliner and Devonthink instead, because of their functionality. One of the things I love about OmniFocus is that the emphasis is not on eye candy, but on how it works.

That said, I have to also say that I really LIKE how it looks. It's clean, slick, uncluttered and functional. The disparity between the two small yellow boxes that so troubles doodiebrad is totally insignificant to me. Different strokes for different folks ...

[QUOTE=rogbar;87874]One of the things I love about OmniFocus is that the emphasis is not on eye candy, but on how it works. [/QUOTE]

You can't have both?

I think the "Design Considerations" section of [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skeuomorph"]this page[/URL] does a decent job of laying out the pros and cons of the sort of UI design being employed in those examples.

We do want our apps to be functional and attractive, but we don't feel they should attempt to mimic real-world items that closely. As much as possible, we'd like to use the screen real estate to display the customers' content.

[QUOTE=Brian;87879] We'd like to use the screen real estate to display the customers' content.[/QUOTE]

And you think you've accomplished this goal? Take a look at how much space is wasted! Huge fonts, indentations, black space. This is just an excuse.

[IMG]http://images.intomobile.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/omnifocus-ipad.jpg[/IMG]

I mean, I'm not trying to bust your bawls here, I just think you guys can do better. As someone who has paid $140 to your company, I think it is within my right to offer constructive criticism in the face of denial.

I have to agree with doodiebrad on the looks of the two boxes, I honestly don't think that they match the style of the rest of the app, and at a minimum - they should at least be designed to either look alike or compliment each other (although I am sure that there are many that feel they already do). It is all in personal taste.

As for the look of the other apps, I prefer the look of the iPad OF app over those hands down. BUT, as I stated awhile back when the quick peek video of the iPad app first came out before the actual release, I still like the look of the Mac OF app the best and still wish that they could both look like that.

[QUOTE=doodiebrad;87885]And you think you've accomplished this goal? Take a look at how much space is wasted! Huge fonts, indentations, black space. This is just an excuse.

I mean, I'm not trying to bust your bawls here, I just think you guys can do better. As someone who has paid $140 to your company, I think it is within my right to offer constructive criticism in the face of denial.[/QUOTE]

I'm honestly surprised that I didn't notice the icon alignment issue. I see it now and it looks really obvious.

Regarding wasted space, the example you gave of an app you liked not only wasted far more space, it filled the wasted space with bright, distracting clutter.

Am I right that you are the [REDACTED] who thinks that [OMNIFOCUS IS UGLY]? (Review on the App Store, if anybody is wondering).

I'm just another customer, but, the company is The Omni Group, not Omnifocus. While you have raised some valid criticisms, the direction you want them to take is ugly and wrong, IMHO. If they built their apps to more closely resemble the apps that you say you like, I would be *less likely* to give them money in the future.

You are entitled to your opinion, and I encourage you to express your ideas for the app's future. However, language that implies that your aesthetic sense is objectively superior and that the app is clearly ugly is silly.

I'm sorry, but IMHO, the UI is ugly, not from a taste point-of-view but in that it looks cobbled together by half-a-dozen different people from bits-and-pieces downloaded from [URL="http://www.iconshock.com/"]iconshock[/URL]! It would be understandable if this was a 59p (99¢) App but at $40 a serious bit of polish wouldn't go amiss.

No, OmniFocus doesn't have to start visually imitating a [I]filofax®[/I] although I can certainly appreciate that those who bought it as a task manager or shopping list App rather than a GTD system might be somewhat disappointed observing that much cheaper rivals look so [I]much[/I] better because they do imitate such physical entities. It also undoubtedly makes those Apps much easier to comprehend and use for non-GTD'ers.

I've never designed a UI in my life (step in here, Policarpo!) but just looking at OF on my iPhone (apologies, my iPad isn't to hand) I think a start would certainly be some consistency across all three versions, reverse the foolish decision to box up the icons with a tonally-similar dark grey background (sadly even search has finally suffered the same fate), get rid of the [I]radial[/I] fill in [I]square[/I] check boxes which just makes them look grubby, etc. etc. etc.

Hell, even some consistency in the same App would be great. OK, maybe not, I don't want the perspective icons boxed up too!

The saving grace? The inbox icon on the iPhone looks like the view you get pushing an old fashioned peramulator, [I]that[/I] at least still makes me smile! :)

My two cents added: The UI is not efficient in its use of screen real estate nor is it especially appealing to me asthetically - though it is functional. I have paid for and use OF in all three renditions because it is presently the best GTD app concerning features and syncing. On the iPad, I would like to see the new item screen shed the multi-tabs and cut down on the steps/time needed to fill in item info (very inefficient). My thinking is that if the OG is going to waste screen real estate, at least make it pretty :).

My own 2 cents
 

I'm a longtime Omni fan (started using Omniweb back in the 10.0 days, when we eagerly downloaded sp after sp).

Anyway, I've read the thread and had a few observations:

(1) I agree the the two icons in question are rather generic and that some consistency would be welcome.

but

(2) I question whether the "Inbox" and the "New Item" should have similar special status at the top of side-bar (or pop-up side-bar). My thinking is as follows:

-The Inbox is yet another way to view tasks. It ought to be down with projects, etc. like it is in OF for iPhone, no?

-The New Item icon is redundant. We already have a new item "plus" in the upper right that's visible from everywhere except the "Map" view. That should be plenty.

I whole heartedly disagree with any of the statements suggesting OF iPad isn't beautiful and polished - I think it is. But fixing (or removing) these icons is something that ought to be on the list of improvements for 1.2 or 1.3