The Omni Group
These forums are now read-only. Please visit our new forums to participate in discussion. A new account will be required to post in the new forums. For more info on the switch, see this post. Thank you!

Go Back   The Omni Group Forums > OmniFocus > OmniFocus for iPad
FAQ Members List Calendar Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read

 
OmniFocus for iPad interface feedback Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
It does look like someone took a cardboard physical mock-up and just moved it wholesale over to the iPad.

I wish I could offer something constructive, but design skills are not my strength. I can only say when I don't like something as-is, and that's the case here, with the (very) short preview.
 
First, let me say that I'm a fan of your products and am really excited about OF. I know that it's going to be great and appreciate the chance to see a rough draft. I also reserve the right to rescind any comment I make based on future screenshots/previews.

For myself, the biggest shortcoming of the iPhone version is the awkward way in which one has to conduct weekly reviews. On the other hand, I love the desktop interface for reviews. I review exclusively on the desktop and that's no problem. I do, however, feel that being able to leave the laptop at home and conduct a desktop-style review on my iPad sitting on the patio at my local coffee shop would be dreamy.

It seems like you've simply "unstacked" the first couple of screens from the iPhone version meaning it feels much closer to that than the desktop. I'd love to see an interface where the items that are currently situated in the left frame appear as icons across the top or maybe in keeping with the developing iPad design aesthetic, along the bottom. The left and right frames could then function more like the desktop version.

The other interface quality I love about the desktop is drag and drop processing of inbox items. I still struggle to remember how to turn an inbox item into a new project in the iPhone edition.

Perhaps there are programing reasons these aren't possible and I defer to you all on this.

In terms of aesthetics, I'd like a little color in the icons. Subtle and muted, not really popping and loud.

Side note: I can't proof read this because the text entry box doesn't scroll on my iPad.

Last edited by TripleM; 2010-06-01 at 03:30 PM..
 
Someone here just pointed out that I hadn't made it clear that what's in the video is the current state of the iPad app, not necessarily the finished state of the app.

I am not promising that every change folks ask for will be incorporated into the application, of course. Just making clear that sending your feedback is not a waste of time. :-)
 
That looks awesome! Nice clean, distraction free interface.

Thanks for sharing that with us! Worth waiting a few more days for?

Perhaps in a couple of weeks time I will stop playing with this thing and finally start Getting some Things Done!
 
I'm in agreement with a previous poster, it looks to "blocky" for me (if that's a word...) I like the UI that is on my Mac, a single line to denote an action and a grey bar to identify the project. That way there can be many projects and actions listed on a page instead of a half dozen or so blocks to identify both projects and actions. I would prefer the iPad version to look more like the Mac version instead of the iPhone version. There should be enough space on the iPad display to offer a single line for each action, color coded the way they are on the Mac, but I don't know if the OS could handle whatever code would be needed.

The only downside to my suggestion is the touch screen interface. Putting actions in small lines may make it difficult for those of us (myself included) with large fingers. Even so, if you were to make each line the size of what is on the iPhone version now there would be room for many, many projects/actions on the iPad with plenty of space between. I just don't care for the "block" look, looks too much like Things.
 
Let's be blunt. It is ugly. It is off-putting in its ugliness. It's disappointing when you should be wowing customers. Both Things and that other ToDo app that is selling well are beautiful to look at, but this strikes me as a quick port of the iphone app and I wonder why on Earth it took so long. There certainly is no reimagination of GTD on the iPad.

Someone once said of a well designed bridge that it must have both function *and* form, i.e., it must support weight, of course, but that it must also be beautiful if only so people form an emotional bond to it and want to maintain it. There is no question that you guys do function very well but you don't seem to respect form as much as the other guys. Customers intuit quality from good form design and the visual cluckiness of your iPad app as represented in the video does not project quality. There are going to be customers buying based on screenshots who will choose the other apps because of the attention to form detail both in layout and at the pixel level, which is lacking here. Watch how much Steve Jobs points out all the little visual design details when he introduced OS X for the first time (it's on YouTube); he told his team he wanted the user to want to lick the screen - is your current design that emotionally engaging? No, it's pedestrian - it looks like a Windows XP app, like Windows Explorer. You haven't even reworked the icons.

As for reimaging GTD say for example some projects are more important to me than others. Is there a visual cue for this so I will zero in on these projects? Maybe these icons could be larger than less important projects. Maybe if there is a lot of actions, the project icon can take on a stack appearance like the iPhoto stack icons in iPad vary depending how many pictures are inside. I've always wanted a better visual cue for an action that I've allotted a lot of time to as oppose to a little time - even with the hr, min designations, it doesn't convey visually the way say fonts metacommunicate more than the written word can. Wow in a wow-like font says wow better than wow in helvetica. Finding ways to visually metacommunicate an idea like "important project" or "day consuming action" aids your user in ways that yet another line in an outline do not.

I understand that Omnifocus came out of the outliner app, but I think that metaphor is hampering real, constuctive reimagining. Are you in the outlining business or the GTD business?
 
I agree with most people here, it really doesnīt look good, and it certainly doesnīt feel like much love or care was put into the UI.

If we start with the left region:
When you have this HUUUGE box showing the number of stuff in the inbox, why is the text "Inbox" put so close to the top of the edge? you have plenty of space and it seems really weird that you didnīt put it a bit lower so that it would have 5-7 px of space above it.
Why is it necessary to show day and date here? It looks like an extra element, that just adds to the clunky look.
The labels for the sections here really ought to be in bold here and possibly 1 or 2 px bigger, they look too weak here as they are.
The giant "add" button and the inbox field is sooo huge and really looks like the designer here had a lot of space to fill out.

Top bar:
Why you decided to separate the black top bar I really donīt understand, itīs a very strange design decision.
The buttons are in different sizes, just compare the "move to" button and the "plus" button. It is so basic to at least make sure that they should be the same size.
You ought to move the search field 1 px down so that itīs in the center.

Now the main section:
You waste so much space here with those boxes.
On top of that it makes it look very "blocky"
I really donīt get your arrows, the one pointing downwards probably shows that itīs open, but what does the one pointing upwards mean? That itīs closed? In the case it should be pointing to the right.
Why are those icons placed so close to the left edge? Why is the font used here so huge?
Why not use the space to show people how many items there are within each folder or project?
As far as I can see, you have added a note to the task "Lay out sidebar items" and then you actually try to show the first words there. that looks completly odd as it really clutters up the way it looks, why not add a note icon to the actions that have notes attached?
I would suggest to make the action title bold and a bit smaller.
---------------------

Those are the things I can say about the 4 sec. preview.

I must say Iīm very dissappointed with the way you decided to do the iPad app. This was an opportunity to do an app that is as beautiful as it is functional, but truth to be told it looks like something designed by an engineer on a lunch break.
It is clear that no one has paid any attention to details here, and this layout simply isnīt good enough for a stellar product like OmniFocus.
It lacks elegance, balance, polish and an understanding of how to utilize the iPad screen in the best way.

Last edited by Nicolas_Thomsen; 2010-06-01 at 09:19 PM..
 
I love the program and appreciate the work you put into it. I'll take the functionality in any form you package it. That being said, the UI looks bland. I think its the dull color scheme and square corners. Maybe a black background, brighter foreground images, and rounded edges would spice things up.

To be fair the video did show the graphic design project open so it looks like that's what they are working on next.

Last edited by Young Daniel; 2010-06-01 at 07:29 PM..
 
I did a quick Photoshop of two screen grabs of the sneak peek and lightened the background. The lessening of contrast reduced the blockiness, perhaps at the expense of differentiation, but the desktop program is legible without the dark background.

I compared your interface with Things and the problem that you have is that you need to show nested folders, which they don't have to, so your arrangement has to be more intricate. But many of the comparisons between you are focussed on their more Mac-like appearance. My preference too is for clean, simple lines. Instapaper uses a slight graduation to draw the eye in rather than harsh lines and colour.

I am wondering if you need to keep the traditional stepped arrangement of the full version, but will think through alternatives before posting suggestions.
 
Thanks to everyone for your feedback so far. I assure you, this is just a peek into OmniFocus's dressing room. The app that emerges will be much more charming than what you see here. :D
 
 


Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Feedback from the OmniFocus 2 Team? bafranklin OmniFocus 2 for Mac (Private Test) 4 2013-04-26 01:38 PM
$40? Seriously? [OmniFocus for iPad Pricing Feedback] ssh OmniFocus for iPad 296 2012-06-08 02:38 AM
Book: Creating Flow with OmniFocus (Feedback request) Kourosh OmniFocus 1 for Mac 21 2011-05-28 12:50 PM
OmniFocus URL Support -- Community Feedback xmas OmniFocus 1 for Mac 33 2009-11-24 06:26 AM
Last call for OmniFocus 1.7 feedback! Ken Case OmniFocus 1 for Mac 45 2009-08-27 05:16 PM


All times are GMT -8. The time now is 02:24 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.