Summary Panel Redesign

[liz]

As some of you may have saw, whether in our release notes or after opening Hero Lab, the Summary Panels have been redesigned.

What do you think about the redesign at first glance? How does the redesign affect your game play if you're using a computer with Hero Lab at the table?

We look forward to hearing your feedback!

[Exmortis]

I updated my work copy, checked it quickly and LOVE IT!!!

I will chime in on how much better it is with my Surface 3 Pro once I get home and update it. With fewer panels and the ability to scroll I am sure it will be just what the RPG doctor ordered! The panels were the only issue I had with HL on the hi-res tablet screen, with that looking fixed, I could not be happier.

As far as better at table, quicker and faster lookups, less huting and pecking for tabs as I disabled so many panels now I think I won't have too. Much cleaner look.

Great work HL team!

[Zan Thrax]

The new panels are much more useful than the old ones. I pretty much ignored the old ones, except the basics, and even that one was just so I could see if modifiers were applying when I toggled them on and off. Just by being wider and slightly more spaced out, these ones are useful enough that I won't have to change tabs just to look information up. This change is enough that I could see using Hero Lab directly in play rather than the character sheet.

[Daengren]

I absolutely love it. Seems to be much easier to navigate through.

[tahltwo]

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everything seems all right except for the few visual changes...

white shapes in basics tab housing ability scores / hp / save = eh.

• distracting; add no improvement to usability
• too cutesy and unrefined: heart looks hokey; shield not looking like shield; no apparent reason for the minor variation in rectangle boxes

would rather have design layout since before this version; simple but effective.


i've got interface design kung-fu. get in touch with me if interested in overhauling look-and-feel. herolabs could use a major update.

[tahltwo]

Originally Posted by tahltwo

.
i've got interface design kung-fu. get in touch with me if interested in overhauling look-and-feel. herolabs could use a major update.

following up on my comments from above.

below is a drastic design direction, keeping many good usability considerations in existing interface layout.

some usability considerations in this comp:

• larger type for quick scan and legibility
• tabs are color-coded and clustered into similar contents
• more space around lots of bits of info to reduce visual clutter
• data clustered into blocks of similar info for quick-scan
• additional info (beginning with "skills" to the right of screen) intended to auto-hide on smaller viewing area, or when window is made smaller
• info block is flexible at bottom for any stat section that grows (e.g. feats; weapons; etc)
• secondary info grayed out to reduce distraction while quick-scanning but still available for viewing

feedback expected and welcomed! :-)

[Frodie]

Very cool!!

[AndrewD2]

Looks quite nice, I know I'm always searching the tab for my saves and AC, and it'll be nice to see ability scores and their bonuses right there too.

[Zan Thrax]

I like the boxes around key stats. I don't care so much about the shapes one way or another, but they do make it easier for the eyes to go right to the HP, AC, saves, or ability scores without having to hunt for even a fraction of a second. The previous version that was just a list of text made it difficult to immediately find the particular stat I wanted.

[nullPointer]

Yeah I agree, it's much cleaner now