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artvandelai | 9 months ago

DAWs and audio plugins are a good example. Digital audio workstations can be somewhat varied in UI, but plugins can be vastly different from each other even for two of the same tools.

Creating intuitive interfaces for complex technical controls is challenging. Fabfilter has been a popular developer for years. Oeksound and Denise Audio are great examples too. Newfangled Audio makes good stuff and their limiter elevate handles multiple pages well. They all pack parameters into tight, cohesive UIs that look good and remain intuitive.

Fabfilter often uses submenus that can feel convoluted, but they're arguably necessary given their plugin's depth. Denise Audio takes a different approach with standard, simple UIs across their product line. Everything is visible with no submenus, though they may offer fewer controls overall.

Deciding what controls to expose and how to organize them intuitively presents a unique challenge. Multiple pages like how Newfangled does it works well. I don't find Fabfilter's submenus to be the best but that's often because they are unlabeled and use small, unique icons that are hard to grok. The overall UI for primary features is usually quite good though.

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