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Omnifocus Interface Aesthetics/ Visual Design Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
I'd just like to make a request to OMNI to do something about the busy, sterile, bland aesthetic of OMNIFOCUS. Clearly it's the functional leader among the ToDo apps out there, but it seriously lacks a clean, elegant aesthetic. That's one area they could improve on and mimic the likes of Things, Hitlist, action|method etc.

I suggest looking at Things, HitList, and Action|Method(from Behance) and come up with a way(using color, texture, layout) to make Omnifocus as aesthetically appealing as their competitors. Form and function should be harmonized, not seperate. Each of those competing products has something to be learned from re: visual design and look/feel.

The aesthetics of an application contribute significantly to the user experience that it delivers.

I'd like to invite ohers to add what they think would be desirable changes to the OF visual design:

I like the colored tabs in The HitList
HitList:


I like the clean look of AM, and the layout of tasks as a grid option.
Action|Method:


Note the use of shading, color, and texture in Things
Things:
 
While I agree that the default OF appearance doesn't seem likely to make someone get excited by all the pretty colors and shapes, this is intended to be a functional, industrial-strength tool. I look at your screenshots, and I look at my task list in OmniFocus, and my immediate reaction is that OF appears to pack a lot more content onto my small screen. If I had a few dozen projects with a few actions each, it wouldn't be a big deal. With hundreds of projects, making it more beautiful by just spreading everything out isn't going to be a welcome change.

Don't misunderstand me, I'm not insisting that the UI design must stay the same, but rather that the most important part of the user experience for me is that the tool helps me get my work done expeditiously, and if that means the only people interested in printing screen shots and framing them for the wall are Omni developers (and their mothers), that's fine. I'd rather they work on fixing rough spots in the UI that make various tasks more difficult than necessary.
 
I love OF but agree it could look a lot nicer, and have a few more bells and whistles taken from the OSX toolkit.

I can't say I really 'enjoy' using Omnifocus in the same way I have with Things or The Hit List. Yet Omnifocus is the most powerful. If Omnigroup could sprinkle OF with some graphical love and some things that would just make it 'cooler' to use, while still retaining it's core functionality, I would be really happy.

And probably more productive. Looks DO matter. It's software. You have to look at it. A lot.
 
Perhaps adding visual appeal/elegance without sacrificing screen real estate is one answer, but another one would be to provide the OPTION of a stripped down sterile industrial look, and then the option of a more appealing interface for those who are emotionally connected to an elegant aesthetic.

I for one prefer a more simplistic view, and am turned off by too much info on the screen at once, but I realize others desire the opposite, and that's why I think it should be customizable. I'd rather scroll a bit than be visually overwhelmed by dense information...

I'm trying out HitList now and I must say I'm definitly enjoying it and look forward to interacting with its interface... this is the opposite 'sensation' from what I get when using OF.

I have to agree that the lack of an appealing aesthetic does act as an obstacle to me actually using OF unfortunately. But then again, I'm a UI/UX designer so I'm often very emotioanally reliant on aesthetic elegance.

Again, I want to be clear that I'm well aware that OF is the CLEAR leader of this category in terms of power and functionality. I just think it should not sacrifice aesthetics as a result, and could learn from others in that regard.
 
Every piece of software, with all its strengths and weaknesses, is a model of the organisation which produced it.

So far, I'm not convinced that Omni has either formulated the visual quality goals, developed the visual quality management processes, or acquired the visual design skills which would be required to make this leap.

A pity, I think.
 
I happen to like the OF display just the way it is now. The display contains everything I need / want and it is easy to see-find-and use. I am not into "pretty" software, I want function and high visibility of the information I want and need with a glance and it is all there. The bells and whistles are there and easy to find without all the extra colors and fluff.
 
Agree.

More graphical love!!
 
 


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