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Omnifocus, the powerful, the ugly. Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
I've been a huge fan of OF since i first laid my hands on it. However, after seeing apps like Things, Inbox and other, i really became jealous of how pretty those apps are. After trying them out, none really work as nice as OF or had any import option for me to fully test out.
Even with the ability to have custom styles, i don't see any style that says: "Don't worry, I'm pretty now". Instead i see a lot of: "Am I pretty... now?".
Is it just me, or does this bug anyone else?
secondly, is there any plans to change the UI in OF 2.0/etc?
 
I weigh in that I *kind* of agree with you that eye-candy doesn't seem to get any special treatment. But it seems that there are a lot of users (at least here on these boards) that do prefer it's simple interface. I have looked around at what themes other people have set up, but there don't seem to be that many (further indication that it doesn't seem to be a high priority for other users).

I wouldn't mind some enhanced functionality that, coupled with a UI enhancement, would let me have one-click access to more options. Screen real estate is an issue for me as I work all day on a 13" macbook air, and I can only get so many perspectives to be listed up top (whatever that area is called). I do wish either those icons could be made even smaller, or have some kind of side-bar that is small. Maybe if it could somehow be included in the Inspect window, which also takes away from my screen real estate. Maybe something that auto opens with a mouse-over.

I guess I kind of veered from your comment on OF's level of attractiveness; sorry about that. But if they are going to change it, I hope they add some of the functionality I need. ;-)
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by erifneerg View Post
Is it just me, or does this bug anyone else?
I can't speak for anyone else, but I greatly prefer the look of OmniFocus over competing apps. It's UI is plain, simple, clean, unpretentious , and somewhat understated. Content doesn't have to compete against "chrome" for attention, which IMHO is an integral part of good human-computer interaction.

I don't much care for the heavy feel of the Things UI. And the tool bar at the bottom just doesn't feel right to me for this kind of an app -- although I must admit I don't mind it in iPhoto, perhaps because it's a more visual app that doesn't focus on text and searching as much.

I also don't like The Hit List's tacky notepad look. I generally don't like apps that try to recreate the look and feel of real-world objects in cyberspace; I think they're invariably doomed to be awkward, uncomfortable reproductions that don't truly match real-world behavior but also feel out-of-place in a virtual world.

I haven't looked at Midnight Inbox in some time, but the last time I did my impression was that it felt a bit gaudy. Besides, it did far too much "hand-holding" for my taste. I just want my apps to get out the way so I can get some work done.

For me, craftsmanship is far more important than ornamentation; things need to fit together nicely, be proportionate, and have an air of quality. I think OmniFocus accomplishes this for the most part and does it without a lot of unnecessary graphic embellishment.

-Dennis
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by chriswitt View Post
Screen real estate is an issue for me as I work all day on a 13" macbook air, and I can only get so many perspectives to be listed up top (whatever that area is called). I do wish either those icons could be made even smaller, or have some kind of side-bar that is small. Maybe if it could somehow be included in the Inspect window, which also takes away from my screen real estate. Maybe something that auto opens with a mouse-over.
Hmm, I don't know about "auto opens with a mouse-over." OmniFocus already has too many widgets that flash on mouse-over. ;-)

Have you tried keeping only your key perspectives in the toolbar and accessing all the others from the Perspectives menu in the menu bar? That's what I've been doing and it's worked quite well (I work full-time on a 15-inch laptop display). I only have a half-dozen or so perspective icons in my toolbar; everything else has a keyboard shortcut assigned and just sits in the menu bar pulldown.

You could also open the Perspectives window and use that as a "launching palette" but I personally prefer the menu bar option.

-Dennis

Last edited by Toadling; 2009-03-05 at 09:30 AM.. Reason: Add Perspectives window suggestion
 
Sort of agree but - I love Omnifocus ability to drill down and get fairly granular. I just wish it allow for a simple, clean way of showing me what I had to do TODAY - is a simple list - right now I pump out an export to Taskpaper to give me "action List" for the day. It takes times and any modifications in the day have to reentered at night which is a big PITA.
This and the ability to use multiple tags are two feature I am drooling for!
 
I greatly prefer ease of use and lower CPU over eye candy. I think the OmniFocus interface is good for a 1.x release, but of course there's room for improvement.
 
I don't think it is really a matter of eye candy. Even though I am considering using OF again, I have always thought of it as a "truck" in the world of GTD/todo aps: a little work to start, takes some time to stop, lots of stuff on the dashboard. It's well thought out for what it is, but it's hard to praise it for flexibility or elegance. Things has its issues, but it has a simpler interface that is faster to learn and faster to use. IMHO, OF is over-engineered, a victim of creeping featurism. I wish it were not so.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by shuttersny View Post
I just wish it allow for a simple, clean way of showing me what I had to do TODAY...
Have you tried the 1.6 sneaky peak builds? See this thread:

http://forums.omnigroup.com/showthre...6199#post56199

-Dennis
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by mcogilvie View Post
IMHO, OF is over-engineered, a victim of creeping featurism. I wish it were not so.
And what would you have had them leave out?
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by mcogilvie View Post
I don't think it is really a matter of eye candy. Even though I am considering using OF again, I have always thought of it as a "truck" in the world of GTD/todo aps:
I'd say not so much a truck as a fighter jet. Lot's of dials and switches, but man, can it go when you get it turned on.

- Don
 
 


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