Should Xara's interface change?

[Xcellent]

Yes, i think the interface should change. Mainly to make it customiseable and select different workspaces for different applications.

An example for this is After Effects 7, which i've found very painful in the beginning but its such a time saver once you got use to it!

Watch an introduction to AE7 interface and notice the different workspace layouts
http://library.creativecow.net/artic...o-tutorial.php

Some workspaces in Xara could be:
-Brochure Layout
-Illustration Layout
-Website Layout
-Custom

Xara Interface Icons.
We all know Xara has great artists, there is no need to prove it.
All icons should be greyscale or simply monochrome - simple 2d, no 3d look or any special effect. Keep it clean. The artwork you as a user you create on the screen should be the focus and i find it often disctracting having colored icons around it when its not on fullscreen. I don't mind Icons getting colored when the mouse moves over, but other than that the interface should be fade away from grabbing any attention on the screen.

[steve.ledger]

AE7 UI would (for me at least) be probably the #1 most unsuitable working interface I could imagine for Xtreme.

I do like slate grey colour schemes though

[Xcellent]

AE7 UI would (for me at least) be probably the #1 most unsuitable working interface I could imagine for Xtreme.

I do like slate grey colour schemes though

I believe what you're saying. The default current workspace you are used should be implemented exactly like it already is as a 'default' workspace. You just have other layouts for different tasks or always come back to your very own custom workspace layout.
The way its working is not forcing you to learn anything new.
On the right upper hand you can choose with a simple drop down button your workspace layout and if stuffed up your interface, go and select default again - voila, back to the old like nothing ever happened.

[steve.ledger]

You just have other layouts for different tasks..

I can see the point you make, but this doesn't serve me.
I can produce many different types of meals in my kitchen with the same equipment. I don't need the kitchen layout to change for each cooking task.

[Albacore]

Each programme that I use in the Adobe suite I customise for that application. In InDesign I have a certain amount opened and others docked ready for say a brochure design while in Illy I have less panels floating and less panels docked. This way of working suites my style of working as before in Illy I had too many panels floating when it was just CS and spent more time moving panels about than docking.

That's Adobe now what about Xara? well I like the lack of uncluttered space to work with and so long as I remember all the keyboard short cuts I am a happy bunny. To use the AF interface as a example is maybe not fair as the timeline is as important as the art board and so is some of the other panels, you may guess I am not a user. I don't like the way panels dock in Xara taking up so much room of the working area I much prefer the Adobe way which was started away back in GoLive version 6.

[Thatch]

I'm of two mindsets on this. On the one hand a little modernization to the interface I think is warranted. It would also be nice to have an easier way to modify the workspace and save multiple looks/layouts. On the other hand, the person that switched the spacebar from toggling the selector tool to the push tool and made the bright move of adding a contextual menu when right clicking on the color bar should be kicked in the jimmy. Talk about needless annoying change....

J

[ss-kalm]

AE7 UI would (for me at least) be probably the #1 most unsuitable working interface I could imagine .........

Couldn't agree more!

[Xcellent]

I can see the point you make, but this doesn't serve me.
I can produce many different types of meals in my kitchen with the same equipment. I don't need the kitchen layout to change for each cooking task.

Good point. In your analogy you seem to use the same cooking pots for every dish you make, no matter if its an oven, pan or pot dish

I think it comes down to this: Do you use the same panels for every diffenrent job you do (webdesign, print, brochure, illustration...)? If yes, workspaces don't seem to be an issue for you.

[covoxer]

In your analogy you seem to use the same cooking pots for every dish you make

Cooking pods are "tools" one uses. The kitchen layout is environment in which these tools are located. No?

[Xcellent]

Cooking pods are "tools" one uses. The kitchen layout is environment in which these tools are located. No?

A functional and good designed kitchen is based around the tools How else do you design an environment if you don't know which tools will be used in it, the number and size of tools will determine in which function of the environment is mostly used. Another step back, the size and number of tools you decide to use is determined by factors like how many people, how much time you're about to spend and what dish you want to cook in the very beginning. Then you layout all ingredients and tools in your environment. Xara's kitchen is big.0LOL Way off topic

Just the fact that xara got more functionality over the years should mean a redesign of the interface. Where will the page overview go in future. Paragraph Styles? Some future HTML features(?). All cluttered into the existing interface? There's more and more features coming. Some users are specialised on one or two things only. And then there are power users... Different tasks require different set of tools. Xara is more than just a cooking kitchen enviroment Comes down to: Who's xara's audience if it continues to grow and why did features come in that may be fully expanded in future? This is not a complaint whatsoever.