Skip to content

Integra Live : a New Graphical User Interface for Live Electronic Music

Jamie Bullock, Daniel Beattie, and Jerome Turner

Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression

Abstract

In this paper we describe a new application, Integra Live, designed to address the problems associated with software usability in live electronic music. We begin by outlining the primary usability and user-experience issues relating to the predominance of graphical dataflow languages for the composition and performance of live electronics. We then discuss the specific development methodologies chosen to address these issues, and illustrate how adopting a usercentred approach has resulted in a more usable and humane interface design. The main components and workflows of the user interface are discussed, giving a rationale for key design decisions. User testing processes and results are presented. Finally, a critical evaluation application usability is given based on user-testing processes, with key findings presented for future consideration.

Citation

Jamie Bullock, Daniel Beattie, and Jerome Turner. 2011. Integra Live : a New Graphical User Interface for Live Electronic Music. Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.1177973 [PDF]

BibTeX Entry


@inproceedings{nime2011_Bullock,
author = {Bullock, Jamie and Beattie, Daniel and Turner, Jerome},
title = {Integra Live : a New Graphical User Interface for Live Electronic Music},
pages = {387--392},
booktitle = {Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression},
year = {2011},
address = {Oslo, Norway},
issn = {2220-4806},
doi = {10.5281/zenodo.1177973},
url = {https://nime.org/proceedings/2011/nime2011_387.pdf},
presentation-video = {https://nime.org/proceedings/2011/nime2011_Bullock.mov},
keywords = {live electronics,software,usability,user experience},
abstract = {In this paper we describe a new application, Integra Live, designed to address the problems associated with software usability in live electronic music. We begin by outlining the primary usability and user-experience issues relating to the predominance of graphical dataflow languages for the composition and performance of live electronics. We then discuss the specific development methodologies chosen to address these issues, and illustrate how adopting a usercentred approach has resulted in a more usable and humane interface design. The main components and workflows of the user interface are discussed, giving a rationale for key design decisions. User testing processes and results are presented. Finally, a critical evaluation application usability is given based on user-testing processes, with key findings presented for future consideration.}
}