Hello,
I recently downloaded the public beta to try out DevonThink because I had heard and read so many fantastic things about it. (I am trying out DevonThink Pro beta 3) And I have not been disappointed, it is really a fantastic piece of software. Congratulations.
And because I am liking it so much so far, I would like to offer 2 suggestions that I think would improve the usability of the interface.
Suggestion 1: The tab-area on the tabbed browsing is very dark, making it difficult to read. The metaphor of tabbed browsing has recieved quite alot of debate lately, (see one article here http://daringfireball.net/2009/03/safari_4_public_beta) but the general consensus is that the tabs should face the document that it refers to. This means that the tabs in DevonThink are upside down.
To solve both the direction issue, and the darkness issue I think DevonThink could adopt tabs like those in Coda. http://daringfireball.net/misc/2009/03/coda-window.png
The Coda tabs are not directional so it makes a nice metaphor in the 3-pane view of linking the document name above to the actual document open in the editing window.
Suggestion 2: In the toolbar on the left hand side is the “View” Chooser. There are 6 different buttons grouped nicely together. When I choose to view “as List”, “as Columns”, or “as Split” then the folders (of a brand-new empty Database) appear in alphabetical order:
All Images
All PDF Documents
Inbox
To Do
Today
Trash
Unread
Yesterday
But if I choose to view “as Three Panes” then the order becomes:
Inbox
Trash
All Images
All PDF Documents
To Do
Today
Unread
Yesterday
One very important rule of interface design is that objects should not change location unless there is an extremely good, logical reason that they do so. If the order is set it should be set in all views, and there should be some logic to it.
This order does not seem to be based on anything and since it is not alphabetical I thought perhaps it was user customizable through drag-and-drop like sidebar items in the Finder, but they are not. They should be. One reason they should be is because in many applications the Trash in on the bottom, not under Inbox. It makes sense that is should be on the bottom. In the new app called Things the Trash is actually stuck to the bottom, seen here: http://macapper.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/picture-14.png This makes perfect sense and serves to make the sidebar look less cluttered.
So there it is, my 2-cents. If I discover of any other interface issues in the future I will also post them to this forum!
Cheers,
Ryan