Popular Linux video editor OpenShot has many, many fans but despite its UI trying to remain as simple as possible it sometimes seems to work against the user rather than with them.

Speaking on a bug report opened against OpenShot suggesting a UI redesign, OpenShot’s creator  Jonathan Thomas does note that one UI concern above all else aggrieves users – that of the default shiny blue icon theme.

This certainly annoys many OMG! Ubuntu! readers as our poll back in May this year proved; a whopping 91.72% (1,163) of you said you’d prefer OpenShot to use your default theme.

But what else could be improved?

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As someone with an interest in making best  use of OpenShot’s selection of effects and transitions it does miff me that the per-effect settings are tucked away under a maze of right-click opens rather than, as with PiTiVi video editor, sitting within reach. Solving this would score one usability goal right away.

The main layout of OpenShot by default is well laid out – it is not intimidating, over-run with features or buttons and beyond a quick glance is readily accessible by even the most novice of novices! For this reason I’m hesitant about the notion of  foisting more window panes into the frame, as the mock-up above by Jan Hofmann suggests.

“It would be cool if a theme (or some preferences) could affect where each panel is attached. Maybe the user could quickly change a few preferences and have a screen very similar to this mock-up, with some panels always visible, no menu bar, etc… “

How do you think OpenShot could help improve and refine its UI to remain both easy to use and adequate for the needs of users? Let us know in the comments below.

Thanks to Jay-M

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