Compliments for the mockups, they look great. Positive feedback: consider to help out on existing code projects we have to help improving UIs (asset browser, geometry nodes, etc). It’s rewarding to contribute designs to areas that are fleshed out already and will (likely) be accepted.
A radical change as you present with overlays here is not a topic we can quickly decide on. I think it’s overshooting on practical usability and it’s a big step away from core UIX concepts we use in Blender. I think it’s better to first agree on a general direction we should go to with overlays (pie menus, button panels) before going into detail as this. During the upcoming 3.x series there’s plenty of time and space for such discussion and design reviews.
I also want to see more developers/designers to join the team. We need to find people who bring in many years of experience in the 3d tools field, people who fully grasp the history of what we did (what’s good, what to improve) and develop a well supported vision where UIs in Blender will go to in the next years.
For that reason the UI module is kept on a short leash - they should first assist on existing projects and module teams, to work on generally accepted concepts, finish what’s not fully fleshed out, work on quality, do all the essential maintenance.
Thanks.