I started this out trying to develop a new skin. I thought, instead of modifying an existing skin, I'd start from scratch. Then I got a little creative, moving sections around and even putting in a few features that don't yet exist.
So this turned into a way of illustrating some user interface ideas I've been thinking about. And perhaps J River might go for a couple of them. (If not, it'll have been a fun design exercise for me in using Adobe Illustrator.) I thought about developing this front end myself, but my programming skills are dated, and so it would probably take me months. More likely, I'll take some of these elements and produce a Mega-me skin.
Here's the full-size picture.
http://samuelkim.com/Public/LinkedData/JRMediaCenter-Mock-Up-2003-12-30.jpgKeep in mind that this is only a picture, not a skin or a real interface. And I've done this only for Audio Mode. Presumably there would be some significant differences in other media modes.
I'd love for this to spur some discussion about the user interface. Also feel free to comment on the design. I'm open to criticism. I haven't mastered beveled edges, so I went nuts with gradients and drop-shadows. I don't know if this look has broad appeal.
Here are some of the new things I've illustrated:
1. The navigation tree is replaced with tabs and menus. This clears up a lot of room for the sidebar.
2. The tabbed organization of the media modes is reinforced with matching colored backgrounds, lines, and shadows. There's a visible connection between the media mode and its corresponding content. And it's always obvious which media mode you're in and what you have to click to switch to another media mode.
3. I tried to simplify how you interact with the library. It took me a while to realize that Smartlists, Searches, Panes, and Trees all do the same thing: filter down the entire media library based on some criteria. So here, there's just one view of all that filtering. I put trees inside panes, and I renamed Smartlists, "Filters." And so a View Scheme is defined by Filters, Panes, and columns. When you look at a View Scheme, you can see right there what filters are used.
I haven't done anything original with MC's Smartlists and View Schemes, and so I'm not sure if this new interface can handle the needs of the power users.
4. You can build Filters (Smartlists) using panes. For example, after you select "Blues" in the Genre pane, you can close the pane and have "Genre = Blues" appear in the Filter pane.
5. You can search across the audio library or within the current view. (If you wanted to search across the entire library, you'd have to switch to "All" media mode.)
6. You can lock the first column(s) in the file list when you scroll right so you always see the song names.
7. The Action Window has been doing double duty in MC - as a tool bar and as a display area. Here, I lay them out separately: a tool bar and a side bar.
The tool bar has icons for actions. I put icons there for illustration only. It should be customizable. I don't know what the default set should be.
8. The tool bar also has room for one-click launch of playlists and radio stations, like car stereo presets.
9. The tool bar can expand to reveal more buttons.
10. With the larger space, the Side Bar can display many things: Player Controls, Playing Now, Playlists, Properties, iPod, My Computer, Help, and perhaps others.
11. You can click and drag to build playlists (as you can with the Action Window).
12. Side Bar views can be detached into windows to allow you to view multiple pages simultaneously.
13. Help is built into the Side Bar. This should increase use of MC's documentation.
14. Short Cuts to favorite locations are in a menu at the top (outside the media-specific content), and they span all media modes.
15. The location label will make sure you always know where you are in the application. (e.g., Audio>Playlists>...)
16. Player Display can handle various fonts, sizes, positions, and styles - including drop shadows.
17. Translucent menus (eye candy I've seen on MSN).
18. No need for music icons next to each song, since that would be redundant if you're in Audio Mode.