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Apps Getting Worse

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Re: Apps Getting Worse

#71

Post by zozbot234 »

dmitriid wrote: post #56
flenserboy wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here is where OSS could really shine - make clones of old programs and give them modern features while keeping the old-school, actually-working interfaces . Rather than cloning the current (or near-current) iteration of Office, make a file-compatible version that's a snap to use and avoids as much interface fluff as possible. Applications are for work, and should facilitate work. Imagine a Word 5-equivalent WP (and n…

OSS doesn't have money for good design, because good design costs money and commitment. Both are the things OSS projects struggle with.

OSS has the best designs, at least on the desktop. And it's becoming quite competitive in mobile and touch interfaces, too.

Re: Apps Getting Worse

#72

Post by amanaplanacanal »

samb1729 wrote: post #24
eplanit wrote: post #4

One of the reasons I don't buy any online versions of movies from Amazon anymore is because of their UI (the other reason is that I just don't trust them). Their web UI for videos lets me scroll through cumbersome graphical tiles of my movies in A-Z, Z-A, or oldest-newest -- that's all. On the firestick, I can't search them except via Alexa, which tries to sell me a different copy of the same movie, or to sell me oth…

My Prime Video experience on Apple TV in the UK mirrors this. I knew exactly what I wanted to watch but I simply could not figure out how to get the app to show it to me. The search feature returned and endless feed of results, none of which matched. Let's take a live example tested while writing this comment. I searched for "Stand-up comedy", and I see 9 results on my TV right now: - The Grand Tour - The Grand Tour…

Amazon search has always been terrible. It’s very frustrating.

Re: Apps Getting Worse

#73

Post by Orou »

simonw wrote: post #18

I think another thing that affects this is staff churn. It's common for PMs and product designers to move company after about 3 years. Many of the apps I use have been around for more than a decade now. That means I've likely been using them for significantly longer than the people who are making design decisions about them! Changes that are "obviously bad" to me - based on my very specific patterns of using the app…

This is right on the money. Everyone wants to do new and interesting work on a product, which naturally means changing things even if it isn't really an improvement. No one is going to put "maintained system that wasn't broken" on their resume.

One thing that has likely exacerbated this issue in recent years is "data-driven" product design. While I'm fanatical about evidence-based decision making, so many of these products are designed around a vague concept of "engagement" which is all about getting users to interact with the app as much as possible. While this is the natural end state for ad-driven companies, I find it very frustrating that a subscription-based service like Spotify feels the need to take as much control away from the user as possible.

Re: Apps Getting Worse

#74

Post by ApolloFortyNine »

gambiting wrote: post #15

>>As for iPhoto, I never used it much, but my eighty-something mother did, and took lots of great photos with the Sony RX100 I gave her when I gave up on pocket cams. She’s not geeky but has a Bachelor’s in the sciences and is really smart. At some point they broke iPhoto so she couldn’t figure out how to do anything, and when she asked me for help she had tears in her eyes. I tried to get her fixed up, but she doesn…

Just to add another viewpoint, I think Google photos is their best product, and my grandparents both are able to use it without issue. They haven't even contacted me about it.

I wish they still did unlimited storage, but the app is quality, with some pretty smart search built in (you can search things like "sunset" with great accuracy). The editor is pretty easy to use as well.

Re: Apps Getting Worse

#75

Post by thaumasiotes »

mattmanser wrote: post #70
thaumasiotes wrote: post #36

I just started reading a Kindle ebook on my phone and on a Kindle device. The process of switching from one to the other used to be that you open the one, read your location number in the book, and jump to that location in the other. At some point Amazon introduced "real page numbers" for their ebooks. Those are supplemental numbers intended to synch up with the page numbering of physical books. You could display you…

Err, no, the process for switching from one to the other is that they sync last page read automatically. You shouldn't be doing anything. It works auto-magically for me all the time. I read a lot of books, and I often switch between my Kindle and my phone several times a book. Maybe you don't have your Kindle connect to your network or whatever, but the reason you're struggling is because you're following the less tr…

> Maybe you don't have your Kindle connect to your network

Correct.

> the reason your struggling is because you're following the less trodden path.

No. Did you read what I wrote? I'm following a path that existed and is being intentionally removed.

Re: Apps Getting Worse

#76

Post by donatzsky »

kowlo wrote: post #22
j-pb wrote: post #9

The ecosystem has also lost its mojo, and Apple is the one that killed it. The good old days of really good, dedicated mac software studios are over. Made by Sofa, Delicious Monster, SubEthaEdit, TextMate, Panic Inc, Rogue Amoeba, Strange Flavour. These were really great software studios that really upheld a standard of excellence for Mac software. But how are you supposed to keep that up when apple forces you into a…

What was wrong with VSCode?

That it's an Electron app, mostly.

Re: Apps Getting Worse

#77

Post by Spooky23 »

Laforet wrote: post #31

Back in the skeuomorphism era, Twitter offered an awesome and innovative iPad app (version 4.x) that had a UX design based on three overlapping layers with navigation tabs on the side. One could effortlessly switch between your own timeline, another user's timeline and a series of tweet threads. With the amount of visual elments on screen it was very information dense and easy to follow. I had just bought a retina Ge…

I blame the self-anointed “designers” who watch a few YouTube videos and declare themselves experts.

Everyone is focused on the journey of the 80% user.

Re: Apps Getting Worse

#78

Post by chha »

Spooky23 wrote: post #32
samb1729 wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My Prime Video experience on Apple TV in the UK mirrors this. I knew exactly what I wanted to watch but I simply could not figure out how to get the app to show it to me. The search feature returned and endless feed of results, none of which matched. Let's take a live example tested while writing this comment. I searched for "Stand-up comedy", and I see 9 results on my TV right now: - The Grand Tour - The Grand Tour…

The ranking is probably influenced by the cost to Amazon and likelihood that you get hooked.

Not so sure. I accidentally forgot to unsubscribe from the Prime emails way back, so once a week I get an email recommending shows I've already seen. Such as TGT, South Park, the individual presenters from TGT and so on. Oh, and they're also kind enough to remind me about their app...which is the one I'm already using to see their shows...

I'm leaning more towards laziness and lack of creativity.

Re: Apps Getting Worse

#79

Post by coldtea »

j-pb wrote: post #9

The ecosystem has also lost its mojo, and Apple is the one that killed it. The good old days of really good, dedicated mac software studios are over. Made by Sofa, Delicious Monster, SubEthaEdit, TextMate, Panic Inc, Rogue Amoeba, Strange Flavour. These were really great software studios that really upheld a standard of excellence for Mac software. But how are you supposed to keep that up when apple forces you into a…

>But how are you supposed to keep that up when apple forces you into a marketplace that basically relies on customer handouts, where your only way to make profit on your 99ct app is to hit it so big, that your have several million customers.

Never saw it being a problem for Panic, the OmniGroup, Procreate, Things, and others. There are tons of apps that are not 99ct and do just fine...

Re: Apps Getting Worse

#80

Post by oakfr »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #52

> It’s obvious. Every high-tech company has people called “Product Managers” (PMs) whose job it is to work with customers and management and engineers to define what products should do. No PM in history has ever said “This seems to be working pretty well, let’s leave it the way it is.” Because that’s not bold. That’s not visionary. That doesn’t get you promoted This mentality isn't unique to product managers. Mobile…

Fait point. I would also add: blame the AB test culture that has creeped in everywhere. I am pretty confident that the current layout of the Spotify UI is not the result of a design team but the outcome of hundreds of back-to-back AB tests (some of them coming out positive, to the benefit of the career of the ideator)
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