Posted June 26, 2023 by Aquaglock
The "HIDE CHORD" button left me wanting more. It took away the chords without giving anything return. It felt selfish.
This has been remedied. I added a small eyeball icon that becomes visible when the "HIDE CHORD" button is depressed. We lose the chords, but we gain an eyeball—blood for blood, an eye for a chord.
In all seriousness, I think it's important to add responsiveness to a product wherever it can be sneakily added. Prior to this addition, a user would click the "HIDE CHORD" button and see very little visual response (apart from the button being pressed). Now a little eye illuminates, further driving the point home: there's something we're not seeing now. The chord can now be hidden by either clicking the "HIDE CHORD" button or the eyeball icon.
In addition, I've added a few alternate skins that can be accessed by clicking the "DR. BOSSA" text within the program. I'm sort of at odds to make this more obvious—I love tiny "easter eggs", but I also think that the visual appearance of a tool can affect the user's interaction with it. There are definitely musicians out there that will have a more enjoyable experience with a pink Dr. Bossa. But there's a joyous sense of discovery when finding something hidden, too!
I suppose it's all a game of priorities. What matters more, novelty or accessibility? But this is definitely an exercise in both, so it isn't so clear-cut. I'll leave the alternate skins as an undocumented feature for now, but maybe I'll bring more attention to it in the future.
The alternate skins are all a bit gaudy, but I think that's the joy of it. It reminds me of an old digital watch that I used to have. Who needs a golden Dr. Bossa, after all? Someone who needs to feel like they're above the owners of a paltry slate Dr. Bossa, of course!