Most UI Discussions Miss the Point

UI dicussions happen all the time, for every software, from every perspective. In the Blender community, they are especially prevalent.

Hardly a day goes by without a UI discussion on the Blender Artists forums. And time and again they crash and burn. These discussions typically drag on and on and on, often erupting into vitriolic debates. The vast majority of these discussions are meaningless. Even counter-productive.

User interfaces and usability are all about user interaction with the software. It is not which method a user chooses to interact with, but how they interact on the fundamental level.

The reason so many UI discussions are meaningless is because most participants fail to set aside personal bias and address the fundamental point. The fundamentals of how the tool actually works and how the user is able to interact or interface with that tool.

The point is not whether you select an object in Blender with the left or the right mouse button. The point is not which side of the screen the toolbar is on. It doesn’t matter! These are personal preferences that shouldn’t influence the core design decisions.

The point, and what matters, though, is how selection works and how the toolbar works. Not what you use to select or which side of the screen you choose.

In most cases, the interface is purely a means to an end, enabling the artist to interact with a tool in order to accomplish a task. In that light the best interface is one that doesn’t obstruct progress and efficiency.

The question that really needs to be addressed is this: how can Blender get out of the artist’s way to accomplish the task at hand?