Simplify the UX/UI by making MuseScore less Menu-y

[scorster]

Things could be easier

Here's an awkward trip down menu lane

Lets say I’ve got a Mixer track’s Sound set to MuseStrings Violin1 (Solo) and then I decide to change it to Violin 2 (Solo).

Should be simple, and could be just a click or two away. But to start the journey in the current system I must know (or remember, or determine by trial and error) the vendor /category.

For instance:

     MuseSounds
     VST3
     SoundFonts
     …

From there the path follows MuseScore’s unwarranted predilection for hierarchical menus. And there the real search begins. Do I dip into Cinesamples or MuseSounds, or one of the offerings from a dozen more vendors. If I’m smart or lucky enough to choose the Muse submenu, then I still have to navigate to MuseStrings.

And finally then I can switch to Violin 2 (Solo) as shown:

Worth mentioning: Hierarchical menus can be challenging because the user can inadvertently dismiss the menu by exiting the colored area. (Arrow keys work better, but not everyone knows about that option.)

Here's a simpler solution

In the following image we see the initial Violin 1 (Solo) menu item, which normally includes no triangle—and in the current clicking that item does nothing except close the menu. For streamlined functionality I added an enlarged rightward pointing arrow/triangle to the Violin 1 ( solo) menu item. The illustration shows that clicking that triangle will display only the final hierarchic menu, i.e. just the menu containing all of the library's sibling instruments and none of the submenus in-between. (It’s all the magic of a dialog, but without a stodgy old dialog and the tech debt of an OK button.)

For original functionality use the MuseSounds menu directly below Violin 1 (solo).

And a further simplification

Better yet, imagine a triangle click that bypasses the initial Sound menu too, and just displays the final level of the hierarchic menu, leaving only the business end of the proposal in view: the list of the instruments in the same library.

As shown:

And we have the existing functionality, and the option to explore the hierarchy, by clicking the menu item ... but not on the triangle. And again, for original functionality, use the MuseSounds menu directly below Violin 1 (solo).

[scorster]

Here's another example where MS4 added difficult hierarchic menus.

In MS3 we had a straight shot down the View menu to toggle Invisible, Unprintable, Frames, Page Margins, Irregular Measures:

      

Now in MU4 we go through View>Show and sub-menu to the desired item.

      

In either case, the menu-approach requires a lot of repetitive trips through the menu just to change a couple of related settings.

The old-fashioned dialog to the rescue

I think dialogs (or popups) work better in cases like MuseScore's Show/Hide.

The View menu could contain a Show/Hide menu item that, when selected, opens a dialog like this, for one-stop shopping.

      

[sifhg]

I like both solutions. Where I work, we have something similar to the first solution, when there's are menus and only one element of all the deepest level menu can be selected. We have radio buttons at each selectable element and of each parent of a selectable element. If a parent is collapsed so you actually cannot see the selected element, the parent will be partially selected (non filled circle instead of a filled circle).

Here's an example of an unselected, partially selected, an a selected radio.

[sifhg]

Just a quick mockup of what I was suggesting

[sifhg]

I would like to ask about your second suggestion. I like it as it's simple and reaches the goal of allowing the user to change from violin 1 to violin 2 by only two clicks. However, if instead I wanted to change from violin 1 to a sound in a completely different sub menu, how would I navigate to that when I only see the sub menu of the selected element?

[scorster]

@sifhg Thanks for your feedback

I would like to ask about your second suggestion: How would I navigate [to] a completely different sub menu?

By "second suggestion" I think you're referring to the section in the original post entitled Here's a simpler solution

I've reworded that section for clarity. But in brief, to access non-sibling Instruments just use the MuseSounds menu as you normally would.

Same goes for the third suggestion entitled: And a further simplification. That solution provides the elegance of selecting siblings with a single click, regardless of their hierarchical depth.