ui LaunchBox Tools Menu Overhaul — Proposal for a Cleaner, Smarter UX

[Glauco Fox]

Hey everyone,

After spending a good amount of time navigating the current Tools menu in LaunchBox, I noticed a recurring problem: cluttered options, repetitive wording, and unclear groupings. This makes the interface harder to use, especially for new users.

With UX principles like YAGNI, Separation of Concerns, and SOLID in mind, I put together a proposed overhaul of the Tools and related menus — without changing functionality (which we know is not currently possible), but focusing on grouping and naming.

  

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Restructured Sections

Here are the new top-level categories:

• 🎮 Collection → Import, Add Game, Achievements, Audit, Platforms

• 🧠 Metadata & Media → Update metadata/images, image packs, community ratings

• 🧩 Emulators & Scripts → Emulators, Plugins, DOSBox, AutoHotKey

• 🛠️ Tools → Scan, File operations, Cloud

• ⚙️ Settings & Help → System options, tutorials, support

• 🖥️ View → Interface layout, media options, filters, sorting

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Core Ideas

• No removed features — everything remains available.

• Better grouping by context: Collection, Metadata, Media, Emulators, Tools, Cloud, etc.

• Remove redundant verbs: e.g., “Update Metadata” → Update → Metadata

• Two-level max depth, easy to scan.

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Before & After Examples

Current Label	Proposed
Import ROM Files → Single Platform	Import → ROMs
Update All Images	Update → All Images
Update All Missing Media	Update → Missing Media
Search for Achievements	Collection → Achievements
Consolidate ROMs	Files → Consolidate
Edit AutoHotKey Script for DOSBox Games	AutoHotKey Scripts → DOSBox

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This is 100% backwards-compatible and purely an interface/UX suggestion. I believe this cleanup would make a huge difference in usability without compromising power users or existing workflows.
I have attached an MD file containing the full menu overhaul proposal along with the mappings from the current version.

Would love to hear your thoughts, feedback, or support to make this proposal more visible. 

Cheers!
 

menu-refactor.md

Edited April 3 by Glauco Fox

[AstroBob]

Hey @Glauco Fox 

So sorry for the delayed reply here—I’d been meaning to reach out, especially since your proposal sparked a lot of internal discussion on our end.

First off, thank you for the incredible thought and effort that went into structuring this. We completely agree that, over time, the menus have become a bit unruly, with overlapping items and a structure that doesn’t fully reflect all the new features we’ve added.

UI changes are always tricky, and something like this would likely need to be tackled all at once—better to rip the bandage off than slowly shift things around and cause ongoing confusion. That said, while we don’t have any immediate plans in this area, I’d hate for your proposal to go to waste. So, I’ve gone ahead and fleshed out a request on our new feature request forum, using your examples as inspiration.

You can view the request below:

Reorganize Tools Menu for Improved Usability

It’d be great if you could give it an upvote, and feel free to add any additional use cases or suggestions there too! Hopefully the community can chime in too

Thanks again for the incredible write-up!

[Glauco Fox]

Thanks for the update, really appreciate you taking the time to review it and push it forward. I’ll definitely upvote the request and add any extra context there.

Glad to hear it sparked discussion internally. Let’s hope the community gets behind it too.