I was getting ready to post on a completely different topic yesterday, and I spent most of an hour driving myself crazy. I’m contributing this in case it happens to anyone else, or occurs to anyone else to look into why they’re unhappy with the perception of information in OF2.
I’m getting too old for this.
A few days ago, I realized that I was getting much happier with the new OmniFocus UI. But something was still bothering me, and I couldn’t put my finger on it. Finally, I realized, I was enjoying it more on my MacBook (15" non-retina) than my desktop (24" monitor) - and why: it looked different on my MacBook. In particular, I found the horizontal rules and shaded folder dividers were really helpful in ameliorating some of the properties I was complaining about.
But my MBP copy of OF2 had them, and my desktop did not. So, I started to collect information to post a question, or send feedback; initially by making some screenshots to show the problem. Surprise: a screenshot of from my MBP with the rules didn’t show them when viewed on my desktop machine!
It turns out that my desktop monitor had fallen far out of calibration - it’s probably starting to reach the end of its useful life - and until I attempted to calibrate it again (which, actually, I can’t, fully), I did not see many of the subtle gradations in the OF2 design.
I’m posting this because I do use the desktop for photography, had calibrated it at some point, and have not had this experience with any other application - in other words, I had no clue that I was “missing something”. If I hadn’t seen some of this design discussion mentioned in this forum, I wouldn’t have even asked the question that led me to notice these differences.
This may be a useful anecdote about the vagaries of modern computer displays, a concern for UI designers, or perhaps even helpful to someone else who hasn’t “gotten it”. But, since this particular phenomenon hasn’t happened to me before, I thought I should mention it.
I’m still not 100% with the new UI. I don’t really mind the checkboxes on the right as much as some others, now that I’m selecting an action and using the spacebar to check it off. I wish the density were a bit better still, and I miss the theming from OF1 - but it’s much better now, and I’m glad that I can see it.
