I would like to help an open-source project with UI design and UX design. I have over 18 years of experience in the field and have worked with desktop and mobile software on Windows, Mac, iOS, Android and Windows Mobile/Windows Phone. Unfortunately my knowledge of Linux is very limited but I’m eager to learn. Could you help me find a project? @thelinuxEXP @linux @macrumors @windowscentral @windows
I think that one of the projects that needs it the most right now, a complete overhaul, is FreeCAD.
It needs a good, competent UX designer. Nothing has changed UX wise for like 6 years. Everyone who begins to use it quits saying that it is the biggest hurdle.
It is literally the only real classical FOSS CAD software and they have no UX designer as far as I know.
@JustEnoughDucks thanks for pointing that project out, my husband is a heavy CAD user so he could help test it too. I’ll look into it, see how I could help.
Everyone who begins to use it quits saying that it is the biggest hurdle.
It’s really not. The main problem with FreeCAD is the topological naming problem (available in a fork) and the lack of assembly support in the core (available as add on). Those make it a pain to build anything more complex and they make refactoring a nightmare. Following that you also have the problem that the geometry code is not very capable and the software will just refuse to perform some actions that would results in multiple bodies.
That’s not to say that the GUI isn’t in need of polish. Back in 0.19 it had obvious issues like conflicting keyboard shortcuts between modes and without a tutorial you might have a very hard time finding the window that even allows you to build stuff. So there is plenty of room for improvement, but one shouldn’t be under the illusion that there is some professional CAD solution hiding under a bad UI. It’s would still be a very basic CAD tool even with a highly polished UI.
But as they say, every journey starts with a first step. It’s certainly a project that has plenty of UI issues and could benefit from improvements.
Subjective take: there’s worse than FreeCAD - sure it’s a bit “old school” but it’s bearable. O. The other hand, the solver has crashed on me so many times… The workbench way of doing things requires some time to get usdmed to, sure, but a crashing solver is far worse.
Oh I get that. I have been making a flight stick with a bunch of curves. There is a ton of problems with solving and the utilities still, especially TNP, midpoint creation, subtractive pipe solving, and QoL things.
However, there are already devs working on it and now a private company devoting resources to it recently. What they still don’t have is a UX designer, purely from a resource standpoint.
The solver can definitely be done in parallel. A UX designer can not necessarily just as easily just as well work on multithreaded FEM solver debugging, curved surface resolution, etc… it is a different resource.
There’s a nice little project called Lemmy, have you heard about it?
@gary_host_laptop I am reading up on it right now! Are you part of it?
@Piers Yeah, I did not know what Lemmy was, thought It was some random instance. Very much a newb at FOSS. *Embarrassed*
I’m also a UI/UX designer who’d love to help out! 🥸
These are really Linux, but these Android projects need some UX assistance if you’re at all familiar with Material Design.
https://github.com/dessalines/thumb-key
https://github.com/dessalines/jerboa
I’m pretty familiar with Material. Wondering how (specifically) I can help. I’ve used and followed some open source projects but I’ve never contributed.
This advice is pretty universal. First things first, install the app and get familiar with. Then write down all the ways you believe that the app could improve. Then break the list down further to figure out what are the goals and how they’re obtainable. Check those new list items against the Material You guidelines. After that, your list should be smaller, items that can be grouped together, should be. Figure out if you need to make a mockup to help illustrate your advice. And then create issues on the project GitHub, the more the better. Afterwards, shoot the developer a private message or email and explain that you’re a UX designer and you’re hoping that you can contribute in a meaningful ongoing manner.
This is actively looking for UI help https://github.com/thetwom/toc2/discussions/74
ah perfect, and yes material design was the foundation of my education as a designer! thanks for sharing
This is actively looking for material design UI help https://github.com/thetwom/toc2/discussions/74
This is a great project as well that could use some guidance on UI https://github.com/nightscout/AndroidAPS
Not sure if it helps but https://lemmy.tf/comment/1086993
The biggest problem you will run into isn’t your skills but the willingness of the people who run various projects to even entertain or accept your ideas or input at all, regardless of your credentials or anything else. You could have the best, most logical UI design for an app and they often won’t even entertain the thought of it what-so-ever. This goes double if you lack the ability to actually code it yourself using whatever frameworks and things the project itself uses.
I’ve worked extensively with various open source projects over the last 30 or so years and that’s always the biggest barrier of them all.
