
Welcome to the eighth instalment of Meet Your Maker with Tim Harbour, Calrec's UI/UX Designer. So, what is GUI design, and why should we care?
1. What is GUI design, and how do you approach it?
The starting point for everything we design is to focus on our customers' needs: how they use our products and what they need to do with them. Our products should help them do a better job.
Context is important, so when someone is setting up a show or configuring a system, we focus on what they need at that point. When someone is in the middle of mixing a sports event or a news broadcast, we think about what they need at that moment, so the things they need are close to hand and easy to access at the right time.
We try to balance the needs of our different users, their different business needs and varying requirements at different times.
There are also ergonomic factors like the sizes of buttons, visibility of text, and ensuring there's consistency with the design of our physical products and with the DNA of our older products.
Our aim is to make everything as simple, clear and easy to use as we can, without losing any of the flexibility and power that Calrec products are known for.
2. We read a lot about the User Interface (UI) and the User Experience (UX). Which one is more relevant to Calrec, or is it not that simple?
It's not that simple. UI and UX are really closely related.
User interface (UI) design tends to be about the things we display on screen, and the finer detail of what those things look like and how they behave. Keeping everything intuitive and consistent across all Calrec products is important, but the UI design is just one part of the overall user experience (UX).
UX design encompasses much more. It's about listening to the people who use our products and finding elegant solutions to address their needs and producing products that live up to our values.
It's said that when design is really good, you hardly notice it at all. A good UX helps people do what they need to do. A great UX vanishes while doing it.
So it's both - you can't have a great UX without a great UI. They are both critical to provide our customers with the best possible experience when they use a Calrec product.
3. How does colour affect the user experience? Do you account for colour-blind or otherwise visually impaired people?
We use colour very intentionally at Calrec. We use colour to reflect different areas of functionality and that helps people quickly identify where they are and what different parts of the UI do.
This can create a challenge for some people because it can be difficult to tell the difference between things. Between five and 10% of people that use Calrec products will have some sort of colour vision deficiency, so one of the ways we continue to improve is by not relying solely on colour to communicate meaning.
A common example is to use red or green to represent on and off. It might seem logical to show off in red, and on in green. One small change, such as displaying a check mark in the on state, will help communicate on without relying only on colour. This example would be particularly helpful for people with a red/green colour impairment, but it actually helps everyone.
A lot of our work to improve accessibility is like that. Making sure that text is readable and understandable helps everybody that uses our products, not just people with accessibility needs. We are continually improving the accessibility of our UI design, so you'll be seeing more of these improvements come through.
4. How has the way Calrec users interact with mixing consoles changed? Where do you see this going in the future?
The adoption of AoIP has prompted many changes, but it has made the patching and configuration side of things a lot more flexible, more powerful, and much more complex. In the past, we would have a finite and carefully managed number of connections. The advent of IP has created effectively infinite and infinitely flexible connectivity, so our customers now have a whole new set of needs that come along with that.
Finding things easily becomes much more important. Making sense of large and complicated networks and managing that complexity becomes much more important, and all the while we need to maintain the key things that make Calrec products easy to use in operation.
We're working hard to bring that trademark Calrec sense and ease-of-use to increasingly complex and powerful environments.
More from Calrec
29/04/2025
Calrec has been putting sound in the picture for more than six decades and is still pushing the boundaries of audio broadcasting with a full range of connected ...
16/04/2025
Calrec's True Control 2.0 is a Remote Production winner in the 2025 NAB Show Product of the Year Awards. This official awards program recognises some of the...
14/04/2025
As Calrec continues to lead a new era of technical innovation with its portfolio of complimentary broadcast audio solutions, the company has today announced the...
10/04/2025
Book a meeting or demonstration at NAB 2025! Please enter the following details. (Tick the relevant box for a meeting or demo):
--
Meeting / Demo*
Meeting...
02/04/2025
Calrec's Argo S ramps up Raycom's output for OTT, FAST and OTA channels North Carolina's Raycom Sports has upgraded its flagship RHD1 mobile product...
02/04/2025
Calrec expands ecosystem at NAB 2025 giving broadcasters access to dynamic workflows and ultimate flexibility Helping broadcasters meet the shifting needs of me...
01/04/2025
Calrec Craft Interview: Aston Fearon, Sound Supervisor In this craft interview, Aston Fearon speaks to us about how his career in sound started, projects he'...
27/03/2025
Join Calrec at MPTS 2025 | May 14 -15 | Stand A40 | Olympia, London We're looking forward to meeting up with customers and partners at this year's Media...
19/03/2025
Calrec's Argo Q helps NEP Denali go for Gold with complete audio overhaul NEP Denali has doubled its surface real estate with the installation of a 144-fad...
13/03/2025
Sunday February 9 saw the annual return of the US' biggest television event, the Super Bowl LIX. Jamie McCombs, Fox Sports Audio Consultant / Sr. Audio capt...
13/03/2025
On Sunday March 2, stars across the film industry gathered at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles for the 97th Academy Awards. Production Sound Mixer Paul Sandweis...
06/03/2025
Sunday February 9 saw the annual return of the US' biggest television event, the Super Bowl LIX. Jamie McCombs, Fox Sports Audio Consultant / Sr. Audio capt...
14/02/2025
Here are 5 reasons why you should attend ISE 2025
Discover more about Calrec: Learn more about Calrec's legacy of innovation in broadcast audio solutions ...
14/02/2025
World Radio Day: On the same wavelength
By Graham Murray, International Sales Manager at Calrec
To mark World Radio Day, Calrec's International Sales Ma...
04/02/2025
The shift from analogue to IP was driven by a desire for greater flexibility in our operations. IP simplifies connectivity, reduces the physical footprint of th...
04/02/2025
Streamline, standardise and save: how Gray Media has simplified news operations At TVNewsCheck's News Tech Forum 2024, Gray Media's Peter Gogas and Calr...
16/01/2025
It means we can provide on air experience for our radio students, who use Type R to broadcast content in the local area and across the internet, while its ver...
20/12/2024
FEED Honours List | Calrec recognised by FEED for outstanding contribution to sports broadcast
FEED's sports broadcast segment Xtreme is taking this opport...
20/12/2024
If you're IP and you know it, clap your hands (First published by TVB Europe)
By Sid Stanley, General Manager at Calrec
To mark World Television Day, Calr...
18/12/2024
Calrec's Regional Sales Manager for Brazil, Mike Reddick says, The transition from baseband networks to more flexible and scalable IP infrastructures is de...
11/12/2024
alt=Calrec will be at MPTS 2025 stand A40 width=2560 height=452 data-lazy-srcset=https://calrec.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/MPTS_preview_2025-03.png 2560w, h...
05/11/2024
Calrec's Regional Sales Manager Dave Lewty says that Calrec's close relationships with its customers are a key factor in the company's success.
Ca...
26/09/2024
NAB New York 2024 Preview | October 9 -10 | Booth 1213 | Javits Center, New York We're looking forward to meeting up with customers and partners at the NAB ...
04/09/2024
Slovenia's OB provider DVB Production is the first European customer to deploy Calrec's all-IP Argo S and ImPulse1...
04/09/2024
Calrec scoops third Argo win with NAB Show Product of the Year 2024 Award for tailored version of Argo S...
24/07/2024
Join Calrec at IBC 2024 | September 13 -16 | Hall 8 Stand C47 | RAI Amsterdam We're looking forward to meeting up with customers and partners at this year...
12/07/2024
My Byte-size week at Calrec By Erin Crowther My name is Erin, and I am a student at Ryburn Sixth Form. This week I completed my work experience at Calrec Audi...
09/05/2024
Join Calrec at MPTS 2024 | May 15 -16 | Booth A40 | Olympia, London We're looking forward to meeting up with customers and partners at this year's Media...
25/03/2024
NEP Australia expands its IP and remote production capabilities with first install of Calrec Argo consoles NEP Australia, a division of NEP Group and a prominen...
25/03/2024
NAB 2024 Preview | April 14 -17 | Booth C6307 | Las Vegas Convention Center We're looking forward to meeting up with customers and partners at the 2024 NAB ...
11/12/2023
The show must go on: How I won a Sports Emmy Award for Calrec's work supporting FOX Sports' presentation of FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022
By Elliot Rober...
16/11/2023
Calrec's Argo Wins 2023 NAB Show Product of the Year Award
Calrec has won the 2023 NAB Show Product of the Year Award for its configurable Argo audio contr...
27/10/2023
An Insightful Look into the World of Calrec By Will Wayman Before going to Calrec I was excited and looking forward to the many experiences I would be able to...
08/10/2023
Calrec finds new zeal and expertise with Protel...
08/10/2023
Group One extends its relationship with Puerto Rico's AVL Group Calrec distribution partner Group One has teamed up with supply and service specialists AVL ...
08/10/2023
Expanding on its already robust technical support team and further investing in IP, Group One, professional audio and lighting distributor of Audiotonix brands ...
08/10/2023
Group One expands its Support team with IP specialist Tim Casey Group One has hired Tim Casey to join its growing team of Calrec Customer Support Technicians in...
08/10/2023
EMG UK flexes with Calrec for its Stratford Remote Operations Centre Expanding on its 30-year relationship with Calrec to satisfy its complex audio needs, OB an...
08/10/2023
IBC 2023 Preview | 15 18 September | Hall 8, Booth D60 | RAI, Amsterdam We're looking forward to meeting up with friends, customers and partners at the I...
08/10/2023
IBC 2023 sees Calrec announce its launching into German market for the first time via a new partnership with Cerberus Media Solutions At IBC 2023, Calrec, a lea...
07/10/2023
EMG UK flexes with Calrec for its Stratford Remote Operations Centre Expanding on its 30-year relationship with Calrec to satisfy its complex audio needs, OB an...
07/10/2023
NEP flexes its remote capabilities with Calrec's IP ImPulse engine NEP Group, the leading media technology partner for content creators around the globe, is...
07/10/2023
Greece-based INA TV used Calrec's Summa console and Hydra2 networking technology to satisfy the complex UEFA technical specifications to broadcast European ...
07/10/2023
Calrec partners with AV Worx to expand its presence in South Africa Calrec, a leading designer and supplier of broadcast audio mixing consoles and equipment, a...
05/10/2023
NAB New York 2023 Preview |October 25 -26 | Level 3, Booth 217 | Javits Center, New York We're looking forward to meeting up with customers and partners at...
04/10/2023
Inside Broadcast Hungary's 4k Outside Broadcast Truck Last month at IBC, KitPlus sat down with Calrec's International Sales Manager, Michael Reddick to ...
03/08/2023
We have big news! Calrec has always been on a quest to solve tomorrow's audio challenges, and we have some big news to share on the Calrec booth in Hall 8, ...
03/08/2023
NAB 2023 Preview | April 16 -19 | Booth C6107 | Las Vegas Convention Center We're looking forward to meeting up with customers and partners at the 2023 NAB ...
01/06/2023
Inside SuperSport's New 4K Outside Broadcast Truck Take a look inside one of the most advanced outside broadcast (OB) trucks in the world!
SuperSport's...
28/04/2023
Join Calrec at MPTS 2023 | May 10-11 | Stand A40 | Olympia, London We're looking forward to meeting up with customers and partners at this year's Media ...