1. #1

    need advice -where do you start building a new UI?

    I have built dozens of UIs and learned a lot from these forums but I feel lost - I just cannot get the hang of what kinds of data need great big honkin' weak auras because they are critical, what can be on a simple Bartender Bar with an Omni CC cool down, where should my health go 'cause that seems important

    *

    So I'd like to build a minimalistic UI from scratch this weekend - what would you tackle first?* Second?* What is critical?* Ideally I'd like a base UI that is 90% reusable for all classes and then I can use Weak Auras to tailor it to different classes.

    *

    But I do not know where to start.* Health seems important - yet it usually does not seem to be the center of the UIs I see here.* How do you monitor your health when it is down on the bottom?* Cool downs matter - but I have so many especially as a Paladin tank - which are critical for the center and which can be managed, well, elsewhere.

    *

    You guys inspire me.* I'd love to know your process.* What do you tackle first?* What is critical to see front and center for a tank?* A Mage? Ranged DPS?* What can be hidden?* What can be on the edge of the UI for the rare times you need it?

    *

    Thanks for your time, design philosophy tips, and help in general.

    *

    Mash

  2. #2
    Pandaren Monk shanthi's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mashugana View Post
    I have built dozens of UIs and learned a lot from these forums but I feel lost - I just cannot get the hang of what kinds of data need great big honkin' weak auras because they are critical, what can be on a simple Bartender Bar with an Omni CC cool down, where should my health go 'cause that seems important
    I'd start just by creating some super-simple layout...like just 32x32 icons (in the horizontal center and just above or just below your character) to display when rotational abilities that have cooldowns are available and when important rotational procs occur. Then run dungeons/LFR/flex with it and see what things you struggle to know quickly enough to play your rotation perfectly while handling mechanics. Based on that, adjust your Weak Auras to address those issues...you might need timers to know how long a proc is active or an icon to flash because it's super-critical, etc. Then run some more content and see how the new layout functions.

    I think that sort of iterative process tends to best show what you, personally, need in order to get the necessary information to play your class and spec. Once you have all the information you need and displayed the way that allows you to process it best, you can polish it up to make it look attractive. But that should be the last step.
    That is not dead which can eternal lie.
    And with strange aeons even death may die.

  3. #3
    Deleted
    Here's a blog post about minimalistic UI design, which talks a bit about positioning and stuff: http://oopsihitaltz.blogspot.com/201...inimalism.html

    The first thing I do is to consider what class, spec, and gameplay mode (meaning solo questing, 10-man raiding, BGs, etc.) the UI is for, because I believe that a UI being good for as many different characters as possible (or even two different specs) and a UI being as good as it possibly can be for one specific character are mutually exclusive things, due to the difference in what information is most important to each spec in each situation.

    As far as what's critical for different characters goes, I would generally say that:

    As a raiding healer, the most important information to you is the status of your group (i.e. raid frames), followed by what tools are available for you to use (i.e. cooldowns and procs), what the status of your resources is (i.e. health, mana, and holy power or whatever), and whatever's relevant to you about the current encounter (i.e. the boss alerts that actually matter to you as a healer, so that you don't die to fire and you're ready for heavy raid damage or whatever).

    As a raiding ranged DPS, the most important information to you is that which helps you determine what ability you should use next in your rotation (i.e. DoTs, cooldowns, and/or procs), followed by whatever's relevant to you about the current encounter, followed by the status of your resources, followed by raid status if you have something like Void Shift or a brez that you might actually use and prevent wipes with.

    My educated guess is that a raiding tank would want largely the same information as a healer, except with a much lesser emphasis on raid status and a greater emphasis on resources and the status(es) of the other tank(s), and that a raiding melee DPS similarly needs to keep a closer eye on their health and threat than a ranged DPS does. And then in PvP things are different, because of how aggro isn't a thing, you need greater awareness of who's around you, you want to know about enemy procs and cooldowns, etc.
    Last edited by mmocf531e475c8; 2014-01-16 at 09:37 PM.

  4. #4
    (this is more or less what shanthi was saying, put a different way):
    Sometimes it's hard to decide what you need and don't need to see in an interface. A lot of the time you can have a lot of info in front of you and think that you need it because you're looking at it often. That's the definition of needing it, right? But actually you can be looking at it, reading it, but not really using it. My method to deciding once and for all whether I need to see something is to remove it completely (and I mean completely). Then try to play without it. If I literally can't make the decision I'm supposed to make next (be it rotational, survival, movement, whatever) because of missing info... then you bring that bit of info back. Repeat that process everything on your UI, and in the end you'll have only things you proved you needed, and a lot of other junk will be gone.

    And if you don't or can't use an ability in combat, hide it in combat. Addons like Opie are great for out of combat things.

    Well learned keybinds are important to minimal designs.

    In terms of general layout and style, I don't even start on any serious UI project until I've got a design I'm happy with it in photoshop first. I just hack the photoshop designs though, they're not polished (they don't need to be), but that's my sandbox for ideas. If you don't have and know photoshop that that's not helpful advice or anything, but that's how I do it. And you did ask :-D

  5. #5
    Never do too much at once or it will not only become over whelming but your gameplay will go down tremendously. Do slow gradual changes. Also ALWAYS MAKE A PROFILE AND BACK UP YOUR MODS. I would start with the bigger things like Action Bars or Unit Frames.

  6. #6
    I don't know if this help you at all, but what I like to do is to go through pictures of UIs posted for example here on MMO Champion. Ones I find a layout I like, I pick the addons I feel comfortable with and start tweaking them following the desired layout, but still keeping in mind what I want/need from my UI

  7. #7
    Start with your action bars. Figure out how you want them laid out, if you want some things hidden, etc.

    Go browse the Post Your UI threads on the various class forums for some inspiration, to start with.

  8. #8
    Thank you all! Exactly what I was looking for.

    Follow up: how do you keep your UI's separate? For example, I have a stable UI right now. I want to start this new one. I may wind up with three or four - a leveling, a paladin tank UI, eetc.

    How do you switch between them? Does Reflux do the job with profiles? Or do I actually have to figure out what TouchyMcFeel is doing with GGitHUB? Actually, I have a better chance of relearning Calc than GitHub...



    Thanks again all.

  9. #9
    Pandaren Monk shanthi's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mashugana View Post
    Thank you all! Exactly what I was looking for.

    Follow up: how do you keep your UI's separate? For example, I have a stable UI right now. I want to start this new one. I may wind up with three or four - a leveling, a paladin tank UI, eetc.

    How do you switch between them? Does Reflux do the job with profiles? Or do I actually have to figure out what TouchyMcFeel is doing with GGitHUB? Actually, I have a better chance of relearning Calc than GitHub...
    The simplest way, IMO, is to copy and paste your WTF and Interface folders into another directory and date them. To avoid redundancy, you could just save the WTF folders but, since I don't keep tons of archives, I like to grab the Interface directory too so that all the right addons are in place also if I go back, in case I changed any in the meantime.
    That is not dead which can eternal lie.
    And with strange aeons even death may die.

  10. #10
    I'd write down things I want to be visible and arrange them according to priority. Then I'd take a blank piece of paper turned landscape-wise and start a rough sketch of what you want where. Only then would I start worrying about which add-ons to use and whatnot.

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