Kontrol 2024 outlook: what was, what now, what next?

@Matthew_NI are there plans on the roadmap for Play Assist to have a keyboard split option? Lower octaves with Play Assist and higher octaves without, or vice versa? For how that could work, have a look at Scaler 2.0 and you can see how amazing that can be for creative options otherwise not possible with just two hands!

@LostInFoundation The implementation can be even simpler at first. All you’d have to do is assign a range to Play Assist. That’s all. More advanced functions such as those found in Scaler can be added on in subsequent updates. And this would keep it in line with @Matthew_NI’s approach with not overwhelming the user with options and building forward with simple functional blocks (an approach also seen with the likes of Steve Jobs when the first iPhone was released).

There is instead a computer and software inside the device that is "frozen". A user could choose to keep an external computer system "frozen" and be future-proofed to the same extent.

So it's more about the convenience of having it all contained in one box... but those knobs and buttons are gonna fail... so not really all that "future proof".

And as new creative music production technologies emerge, the on-device CPU/display will be "future proof" in the sense that they will be antiquated in their abilities to do the really cool stuff.

So give users a choice with an equally-enabled desktop environment.

And then measure the usage stats.

Guess what approach will win in user time spent?

Heads-up vs Heads-down?

Amen to that Matthew!!

Of course, who wouldn't want on-device agnosticism? I want it too.

But from future-focused (not historic data of aging users), and a "systems thinking" approach to UX, I strongly believe the reality is that most users will prefer a primarily "heads-up" experience.

If well-designed, it can keep you more in the flow.

One last point on the "Heads-Up vs Heads Down" then I'll try to set it aside (for a few weeks?).

I see some parallels in the recent evolution of car dashboard design. The past 10 years (2014-2024) had been a hodgepodge of old & new, and what is possible with more affordable emerging technologies.

Assuming that most users are using NI keyboards most of the time with a DAW, then that DAW desktop/laptop screen is very much the highway upon which they are driving.

And like a car driver, I want my hands to "magically" know where to go without the need to look down at knobs and buttons.

NI's own Kontrol MK3 hardware design philosophy of "elegant simplicity" is on target with its intentional lack of excessive sliders, knobs, etc. This minimalism is a great foundation for a more successful "Heads-Up" implementation.

The desktop software needs to follow and reinforce this "elegant simplicity" to succeed in the full realization of the "Heads-UP" UX.

This is what future users will flock to and love deeply. They will be more productive and stay in the creative flow.

I'm probably a bit more old school in this regard...because I AM old. I'm not sure I'll ever divorce myself from the computer screen entirely. It's just too efficient in many cases. That being said I am beginning to divorce myself little by little on a track by track basis to operating exclusively on my S88MK3 when I remember I can do it. But that's why I like the concept of shared and coordinated functionality between the computer and the keyboard. I've seen hints of that in the current release and I think I may get more oriented toward more operations being done exclusively on the keyboard over time. My next milestone is managing my presets exclusively from the keyboard.