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The Decline of Usability

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Re: The Decline of Usability

#71

Post by xg15 »

jimmaswell wrote: post #62
kristopolous wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Gimp is a great example. If you look up screenshots from the late 90s of gimp 1.0 you think "Hey wow, that looks pretty great! I know where the buttons are, I can quickly scan them and it's clear what they do! It isn't a grey on grey tiny soup, they are distinct and clear, this is great. When is this version shipping? It fixes everything!" Apparently almost everyone agrees but somehow we're still going the wrong way,…

You can change the UI skin in the options. I've been using GIMP for years and I don't have any major complaints.

This is about usability, so I don't think referring to a setting buried in the options (that you have to know about first) is a valid point.

> I've been using GIMP for years

I think usability to users experienced in the software and to new users are two different things. I believe an important part of usability is discoverability which is probably better judged by new users than by experienced users.

Re: The Decline of Usability

#72

Post by _y5hn »

rags2riches wrote: post #54
Animats wrote: post #10

Ubuntu got worse at 18.04. Logging in on desktop now requires "swiping up" with the mouse to get the password box. The "swiping" thing is to avoid problems with unwanted activation when the device is in your pocket. It's totally inappropriate to desktops. Then there's icon mania. I've recently converted from Blender 2.79 to Blender 2.82. Lots of new icons. They dim, they change color, they disappear as modes change,…

Icon mania... and pretty much every single icon is only possible to understand after you have learned what it means.

Even worse: You have to try out each icon. Next version replaces many of them and entire design again. Rinse & repeat.

Re: The Decline of Usability

#73

Post by frenchy »

virgil_disgr4ce wrote: post #46

1) The examples cited are valid UX/UI design criticisms. 2) The author makes quite a few important points about UI problems (I especially appreciate the point about the importance of maintaining high standards for free software). 3) Concluding that "usability" is "in decline" from a handful of anecdata is an irritating, insincere, clickbaity absurdity that serves only to make the author and those who agree feel more…

I missed the part in the article where he was praising the usability of the CLI.

Re: The Decline of Usability

#74

Post by Kaibeezy »

I finally switched from Win7 to 10 about a month ago. Couldn’t put it off any longer once lockdown started. I’m tech management, so it’s office, mail, browser and graphics mainly. Illustrator 4 runs fine on an X220.

Win10. I just absolutely hate it. Every day I have to relearn something obvious. I can’t find the corners of windows to grab them, and when I do, it’s one damn pixel wide and I get jitters. Why is Candy Crush on the Start list when I never use it, but where the hell is Notepad? Bla bla bla.

Would someone please make a Win7 skin so I can get back to work?

Re: The Decline of Usability

#75

Post by msla »

Animats wrote: post #10

Ubuntu got worse at 18.04. Logging in on desktop now requires "swiping up" with the mouse to get the password box. The "swiping" thing is to avoid problems with unwanted activation when the device is in your pocket. It's totally inappropriate to desktops. Then there's icon mania. I've recently converted from Blender 2.79 to Blender 2.82. Lots of new icons. They dim, they change color, they disappear as modes change,…

> Ubuntu got worse at 18.04.

Only if you use the default UI, which I think is an important distinction to make: I use Window Maker and had no regressions.

The ability to choose your own UI is an important strength of Unix, and one which distinguishes it from macOS and Windows.

Re: The Decline of Usability

#76

Post by worik »

the_af wrote: post #14
Animats wrote: post #10

Ubuntu got worse at 18.04. Logging in on desktop now requires "swiping up" with the mouse to get the password box. The "swiping" thing is to avoid problems with unwanted activation when the device is in your pocket. It's totally inappropriate to desktops. Then there's icon mania. I've recently converted from Blender 2.79 to Blender 2.82. Lots of new icons. They dim, they change color, they disappear as modes change,…

Is there a sane mode or config for vanilla Ubuntu 18.04? I'm considering upgrading from my trusty old 16.04 LTS (both home and office laptops) and I dread the usual pointless UI changes that come with all the reasonable bugfixes/improvements.

Do not upgrade.

Switch.

A lot of Ubuntu software is now (Version 19.xx) only available with "snaps". They make some sense for IoT machinery (the user does not control updates, so they are deploy and forget) but I do not want to loose control.

Final straw for me. I am test driving Arch now....

Re: The Decline of Usability

#78

Post by kristopolous »

jimmaswell wrote: post #62
kristopolous wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Gimp is a great example. If you look up screenshots from the late 90s of gimp 1.0 you think "Hey wow, that looks pretty great! I know where the buttons are, I can quickly scan them and it's clear what they do! It isn't a grey on grey tiny soup, they are distinct and clear, this is great. When is this version shipping? It fixes everything!" Apparently almost everyone agrees but somehow we're still going the wrong way,…

You can change the UI skin in the options. I've been using GIMP for years and I don't have any major complaints.

sure, you can make the icon bar more sensible with some effort, but not as sensible as it was in 1998: https://scorpioncity.com/images/linux/shotgimp.png

Re: The Decline of Usability

#79

Post by imhoguy »

the_af wrote: post #14
Animats wrote: post #10

Ubuntu got worse at 18.04. Logging in on desktop now requires "swiping up" with the mouse to get the password box. The "swiping" thing is to avoid problems with unwanted activation when the device is in your pocket. It's totally inappropriate to desktops. Then there's icon mania. I've recently converted from Blender 2.79 to Blender 2.82. Lots of new icons. They dim, they change color, they disappear as modes change,…

Is there a sane mode or config for vanilla Ubuntu 18.04? I'm considering upgrading from my trusty old 16.04 LTS (both home and office laptops) and I dread the usual pointless UI changes that come with all the reasonable bugfixes/improvements.

I highly recommend trying out other flavours of Ubuntu: Xubuntu (XFCE), Lubuntu (LXDE), Kubuntu (KDE), Ubuntu MATE, Ubuntu Budgie. Next week all should get 20.04 LTS release.

Re: The Decline of Usability

#80

Post by josteink »

Animats wrote: post #10

Ubuntu got worse at 18.04. Logging in on desktop now requires "swiping up" with the mouse to get the password box. The "swiping" thing is to avoid problems with unwanted activation when the device is in your pocket. It's totally inappropriate to desktops. Then there's icon mania. I've recently converted from Blender 2.79 to Blender 2.82. Lots of new icons. They dim, they change color, they disappear as modes change,…

> Ubuntu got worse at 18.04. Logging in on desktop now requires "swiping up" with the mouse to get the password box.

I don’t know about you, but I just start typing on my keyboard.

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