Note that the default share UI in Android 11 (or is that LineageOS specific?) does indeed show more by swiping up. Firefox implements their own sharing UI and does side-swiping as well, but at least they went the Apple route of cutting some options off.
Whatever Happened to UI Affordances?
31–40 of 210 posts
Re: Whatever Happened to UI Affordances?
#32Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don’t think flat design is inherently hostile. The same way I don’t think heavy skeuomorphism is inherently patronising. We went from a violent explosion of visuals to ambiguous interactive elements. Both shite, both a pain to use, both bad design. Both can be avoided within their respective philosophy. As OP shows, iOS hinting at more content by partially showing the next item is a good example. You can very well…
I think it takes a lot of work to ensure that removing depth and shading doesn't remove information, too. I think flat design inherently "wants" to be, if not user hostile, at least less user-friendly than what preceded it. It's a win if the depth and shading was just noise, before. If it was signal, well, now you've got to find something to replace that with, or you're harming UX. And you've got less "bandwidth", if…
Exactly. Flat design removes signals in order to let the UI appear simpler. But the removal of meaningful signals makes the UI more more ambiguous and harder to use. Flat design is an obfuscation, trying to cover up the actual complexity behind a visual semblance of simplicity.
Re: Whatever Happened to UI Affordances?
#33I'm looking for balance, here. Let me provide an example: I have a "left-swipe-to-delete-from-list." That's the standard way that Apple has decreed that items should be deleted. They provide no affordance. You can add an "Edit" button to the navbar, but that means you don't have room for other, more important (and frequently-used) items. In my case, this is a non-starter. I need the room for more important stuff. So…
I get that. But how do you first learn about the standard way? Admittedly, it has been several years since I used an iPhone - but I don't remember it ever telling me that slide-to-delete was a thing. I literally had to ask on Twitter to find out - https://twitter.com/search?q=delete%20podcast%20from%3Aedent... I agree that there are some things which work best hidden - pull to refresh, for example - but it needs to b…
The old Macintosh computers came with a floppy that walked the user through using the computer. How to click. How to drag. Very basic stuff, but it was all new to the world at the time. Now, you are assumed to know all that.
The iPhone/touch paradigm never had such an easy on ramp for consumers. Or if it did, they dismantled it before I got on that ride.
Personally, I think this reflects pure hubris on the part of Apple, and it’s one reason that I have not owned a mac for 20 years.
Re: Whatever Happened to UI Affordances?
#34I'm looking for balance, here. Let me provide an example: I have a "left-swipe-to-delete-from-list." That's the standard way that Apple has decreed that items should be deleted. They provide no affordance. You can add an "Edit" button to the navbar, but that means you don't have room for other, more important (and frequently-used) items. In my case, this is a non-starter. I need the room for more important stuff. So…
I get that. But how do you first learn about the standard way? Admittedly, it has been several years since I used an iPhone - but I don't remember it ever telling me that slide-to-delete was a thing. I literally had to ask on Twitter to find out - https://twitter.com/search?q=delete%20podcast%20from%3Aedent... I agree that there are some things which work best hidden - pull to refresh, for example - but it needs to b…
I think Apple’s argument for why slide to delete is not explained would be that it’s a shortcut — the explicit way to delete is to tap “edit” or “select” in a view, which exposes an explicit delete button on each row, or the ability to select rows and delete multiple. This is all explicit through buttons in the UI, and all of Apple’s apps tend to have this behavior (I can’t speak as to whatever UI you were trying to use 12 years ago). I would call that the “standard” way, whereas slide to delete is the fast way.
Re: Whatever Happened to UI Affordances?
#35I'm looking for balance, here. Let me provide an example: I have a "left-swipe-to-delete-from-list." That's the standard way that Apple has decreed that items should be deleted. They provide no affordance. You can add an "Edit" button to the navbar, but that means you don't have room for other, more important (and frequently-used) items. In my case, this is a non-starter. I need the room for more important stuff. So…
I get that. But how do you first learn about the standard way? Admittedly, it has been several years since I used an iPhone - but I don't remember it ever telling me that slide-to-delete was a thing. I literally had to ask on Twitter to find out - https://twitter.com/search?q=delete%20podcast%20from%3Aedent... I agree that there are some things which work best hidden - pull to refresh, for example - but it needs to b…
Another option is to go to Settings->General->Storage->Podcasts and delete from there.
Re: Whatever Happened to UI Affordances?
#36UI affordances have been going away for a long time. FlatUI was the first nearly universal obviously-user-hostile movement. It happened out of boredom and the slow intrusion of the contempt-for-the-audience attitude of art and architecture into web design. Unfortunately, unlike art, we can't ignore architecture or UI design.
So are those vast swathes of wasted whitespace in modern UI design an attempt to turn a UI into a gallery wall on which to display those intricately crafted icons?
Re: Whatever Happened to UI Affordances?
#37The share sheet on Android is super confusing. It doesn't help that several apps implement their own, and some of them scroll horizontally while others scroll vertically. Edit: apparently they're forcing apps to use the native share sheet in Android 12? https://www.androidpolice.com/2021/06/01/android-12-will-spe...
Only one problem with the Share dialog:
Doesn't "hint" at horizontal scrollability, just shows four apps as if that's all there is.
I've seen this trip up advanced users and parents alike.
Re: Whatever Happened to UI Affordances?
#38I'm looking for balance, here. Let me provide an example: I have a "left-swipe-to-delete-from-list." That's the standard way that Apple has decreed that items should be deleted. They provide no affordance. You can add an "Edit" button to the navbar, but that means you don't have room for other, more important (and frequently-used) items. In my case, this is a non-starter. I need the room for more important stuff. So…
I get that. But how do you first learn about the standard way? Admittedly, it has been several years since I used an iPhone - but I don't remember it ever telling me that slide-to-delete was a thing. I literally had to ask on Twitter to find out - https://twitter.com/search?q=delete%20podcast%20from%3Aedent... I agree that there are some things which work best hidden - pull to refresh, for example - but it needs to b…
One method I’ve seen of introducing the behavior is to have the list element slightly “bounce” sideways on load, giving a peak of the red/green color underneath.
Re: Whatever Happened to UI Affordances?
#39The author links out to a writeup on Safari 15 which I found interesting: https://morrick.me/archives/9368 One of the main bizarre design choices was making the address bar shrink as you add more tabs. It made me wonder if these designs reflect the diminution of sites visited in a modern internet user's session. Seems like we are moving from a mode of research-and-explore to residing in one of a few home bases (reddi…
I disagree with that article on the subject of Safari tab groups. I had already been grouping tabs by subject using separate windows, and now that tab groups let me rotate out sets without them all sitting in memory I’m using grouping more than ever. It’s been very effective at keeping the number of tabs in any given group/window low.
I still do old style internet search-and-explore, and that is also enhanced because I can tuck away my “everyday” tabs and tabs related to other subject and let the topic at hand dominate my browser, with as many tabs and windows as needed being opened with no worries about having to separate them out from the other stuff.
Re: Whatever Happened to UI Affordances?
#40The share sheet on Android is super confusing. It doesn't help that several apps implement their own, and some of them scroll horizontally while others scroll vertically. Edit: apparently they're forcing apps to use the native share sheet in Android 12? https://www.androidpolice.com/2021/06/01/android-12-will-spe...
It’s because apps want to track where you’re sharing links to.