User interface paradigms in digital audio workstations : examining and modernising established models

Abstract

This thesis describes a project examining the status of established user interface paradigms in digital audio workstations. The description proceeds in two stages. Firstly, the interfaces of prominent digital audio workstations are examined, and the fundamental interface structure is abstracted from the observations. Secondly, a modernised user interface concept is proposed.

Technological frameworks and the background of the current digital audio workstation designs provide frames of reference for the examination of user interfaces. An important attribute of this thesis is the standpoint of the present day: the optimality of the established interface paradigms is assessed in connection with modern personal computing technology and today's music production. On this basis, improvements on the established paradigms are framed, and the resulting design is prosed as an abstract, highly scalable interface concept.

The proposed interface concept offers a modernised approach to mixing in digital audio workstations and demonstrates several benefits of re-evaluating the established interface paradigms. Current interfaces are highly analogous to traditional, specific hardware audio devices. This poses inherent restrictions on the flexibility of the interfaces. Discarding some of these analogies allows the design of an up-to-date user interface that offers flexibility and scalability superior to the established approach.