I loved/love Muse and was a happily paid user (still am).
It ticked a lot of boxes that no other tool did or does, and for that reason it retains a place in my toolbox of thinking/ideation instruments.
But there are a couple of fairly minor things (compared to the scope of the rest of the project) that stop me from reaching for it more often. They come down to factors that make the tool feel satisfying to use, and chief among them: does using this tool produce aesthetically pleasing output that I want to keep looking at, and want to make more of?
For me the answer was no, or at least I can get better results elsewhere.
One problem was the limited colour support. I understand their reasoning behind this - too much customisability can lead you to fiddle with your tools, so by limiting your options, you have no choice but to start putting pencil to (virtual) paper and get your work done. But I didn't like the colours, so the end result didn't look as nice to me as output I made elsewhere, which discouraged me from using it.
Another problem was handwriting ink. My digital handwriting always seems to look worse than on real paper and ink but for whatever reason, Muse is one of the least forgiving tools in this regard. Looking at my handwriting in my Muse boards made me want to use the text tools instead, which then meant I was giving up the benefits of mixing freeform note taking with sketching, and the other benefits that brings one to Muse in the first place.
It's hard for me to shake the feeling that with a little more attention to some otherwise neglected lower hanging fruit, the retention of a whole class of users would be rather significantly boosted. But at the same time, it's hard for me to imagine that my idle thoughts on the matter would bear out more successfully than those of the dedicated user research team originally behind the project.
It ticked a lot of boxes that no other tool did or does, and for that reason it retains a place in my toolbox of thinking/ideation instruments.
But there are a couple of fairly minor things (compared to the scope of the rest of the project) that stop me from reaching for it more often. They come down to factors that make the tool feel satisfying to use, and chief among them: does using this tool produce aesthetically pleasing output that I want to keep looking at, and want to make more of?
For me the answer was no, or at least I can get better results elsewhere.
One problem was the limited colour support. I understand their reasoning behind this - too much customisability can lead you to fiddle with your tools, so by limiting your options, you have no choice but to start putting pencil to (virtual) paper and get your work done. But I didn't like the colours, so the end result didn't look as nice to me as output I made elsewhere, which discouraged me from using it.
Another problem was handwriting ink. My digital handwriting always seems to look worse than on real paper and ink but for whatever reason, Muse is one of the least forgiving tools in this regard. Looking at my handwriting in my Muse boards made me want to use the text tools instead, which then meant I was giving up the benefits of mixing freeform note taking with sketching, and the other benefits that brings one to Muse in the first place.
It's hard for me to shake the feeling that with a little more attention to some otherwise neglected lower hanging fruit, the retention of a whole class of users would be rather significantly boosted. But at the same time, it's hard for me to imagine that my idle thoughts on the matter would bear out more successfully than those of the dedicated user research team originally behind the project.