The eternal struggle

Published by Vlasta on March 29th 2011.

Simple or powerful. Trivial or bloated. Should each new version of a software have more features than the previous one? There is no definite answer. Some say, simplicity itself is a feature. How would the upcoming version of RealWorld Photos deal with this dilemma?

RealWorld Photos answer

First impressions count. If an application is too complex, some users may feel lost. If it is too simple, other users would consider it trivial. For RealWorld Photos, I have decided to use something in between. The application starts in Simplified mode, but it is very easy to switch it to the Full mode.

Simplified controls.

Extended controls.

A little clickable text in the upper right corner of the window allows users to switch between the modes. Each mode is a standalone window layout. Experienced users may modify these layouts or add another one.