I really like the general workflow of Ableton Live, but I think its weakpoint really is the browser. The window is relatively small, and navigating through all the sub devices/folders just to find the right one to drag n drop can be a bit wearisome sometimes.
Looking at application launchers like for example Quicksilver (OSX) and Launchy (Win/Linux), I realized that there could be an efficient alternative to drag n drop from the browser.
Wouldn't it be great to move your mouse just where you want to drop a device or a certain sound, hit a special key command, and get a textfield for instant, INDEXED search? There you start to type "delay" and it instantly shows you every device that has to do with delay. If you select the device, it will be dropped just in place, without ever having to touch your browser.
Of course the same could be applied to sounds and samples, with the option to define predefined favourite folders etc... and also do nested, multiple searches (just look at the launchers and how they work with multiple commands) And maybe even include the sound-preview there...
It would also be nice to have an additional keyword-field for every device and sound, just like having the notepad. So you could for example mark all pads, or snares, etc., even if they have a different name. (look for example at the Attributes-Browser of NI-Products).
Also, the search should be intelligent, and for example not offer audio effects in a midi section, or samples where a device is expected.
This would also help immensely in live situations.
Well, just an idea towards workflow-perfection!
cheers,
agentC