add facebook to that list of anoying websites
the most terrible user interface i have ever seen.
they should hire some real designers
and make it fun again
Open Letter to sites with annoying interfaces
61–70 of 79 posts
Re: Open Letter to sites with annoying interfaces
#62Earlier quoted context omitted.
Your understanding of the term affordance, as inferred from your usage of it, is not the standard use. You use it as if it means the reason for something. Affordance is a clue something gives regarding its use. Doors with handles are pulled, with plates are pushed. Just seeing the interface component intrinsically describes its use. This is not possible for invisible components, therefore they have no affordance at a…
the user is not going to intuit that the function must be invisible because he can't see it User intuition changes over time as familiarity with new interfaces is gained. A system whereby edit/action buttons appear only when the mouse is on the right hand side of the screen seems reasonable -- if users have trained themselves to expect this behaviour and UIs consistently use this pattern in predictable ways. If every…
What you describe works fine in theory; the problem is that in practice it's ridiculously easy to overestimate how likely the average user is to train themselves to expect this behavior. In general, we (power users, developers, etc.) tend to adapt to consistent UI behaviours very quickly and to overestimate how difficult it is for an average user, but when it comes to things that are _invisible_ until you do something, the gap is much greater yet.
Re: Open Letter to sites with annoying interfaces
#63And good luck discovering these with a touch screen interface. People always forget that one.
HN isn't that great on a touch screen either. I guess pg doesn't use a tablet because the comments link is too small and awkwardly placed for a finger.
I've become very adept at zoom&tap. In fact I probably do it about as fast postioning the pointer with my laptop's trackpad. I agree it'd be nice not to have to zoom before tapping.
Re: Open Letter to sites with annoying interfaces
#64Thanks so much for this article. Hidden interface elements that only appear when hovering over a secret spot like it's some kind of easter egg is one of the most frustrating things I have seen. It's not really user interface design so much as it is user interface abject failure and total ignorance of how interfaces work . I refuse to call anything so dysfunctional design! This has been sneaking into desktop applicati…
My work involves designing interfaces and this discussion could help me understand this topic better; but like the author of the article, your post shows some intense frustration towards rollover-only elements, but none made it very evident to me as to why it's so frustrating and why it's so "stupid". We all experience things differently, and I'd love to picture a perspective where it's so frustrating. Here's how I s…
I look at a facebook page of stuff. EG my wall. I want to remove a post. How do I do this? I dunno, there's a menu for that post underneath it, so I look there. It's not there. I hover around there. It's still not there. I maximise the browser window, just in case some element got hidden in a resize. Maximising is slightly tricky on OSX, I don't just clicky the green button. With the window maximised I still can't find it. I have a look around the post for extra items. I can't see anything. I start moving my pointer, and I see a flash of pale blue on a white background. Maybe that's it? Nope, that's some other function, but now I know there might be a hidden button. (Note that I don't know there is a hidden button, just that there might be one somewhere.) Eventually, I find this hidden button, and clicky, and the post is removed.
Can you imagine how frustrating that is?
Now imagine I'm someone who is used to using the keyboard; or I have a motor-function illness which means I find using mice hard or etc etc.
For sure I understand all the points about why some people love this functionality. But please give me an option to turn it off and have all controls exposed on the page.
Re: Open Letter to sites with annoying interfaces
#65"Open letter to sites with annoying interfaces"?!
Maybe I'll write an open letter to traffic. Or an open letter to waiting in line at the post office. Or an open letter to humidity.
Re: Open Letter to sites with annoying interfaces
#66I didn't read this carefully, but it seems that "hidden" interfaces that pop up during a mouse hover and so on are a main objection.
Well, I must say, that often when using a web app, I expect to have to wait 5 seconds for a reload as I am moving my mouse in for a click (for example, imagine if there is a text link "Rate this page" under the current average rating) -- when, instead, as I hover over it it turns to 5 empty stars immediately, so that I have just saved 5 seconds for a page reload, I am immensely delighted.
Basically, I do agree that hidden interface elements are awful. At the same time, every "second page" that you would normally have to wait for is far better as a 'hidden interface' that pops up right away!
I dare say that when you wireframe out the possible pages of your web app, the very best interface might be having most of those pages right in the main page, just hidden. Report feedback, report a bug, reset your password, all these things that would require a page reload and losing your scrolling in the page and so on, can be brought 5000 ms closer to the user but putting them in right at the point of the click.
So, I do agree that there is nothing as frustrating as a hidden user interface element. However, you can also pleasantly delight your user by bring the 'next page' right there.
Re: Open Letter to sites with annoying interfaces
#67Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's just hiding functionality again. MS started doing this by hiding vital functionality in a stupid looking windows logo jewel in the upper left hand corner. I had to ask other experienced people where the file menu was- it was not obvious that thing was anything more than decoration. The solution to clutter isn't to hide functionality. It's to have your software do /less things/. If you need it to do more things…
I liked the first post! The bit you removed: "Now you have two problems" I had just pasted it into my quote file, so it's not gone. I'm going to bring it back because it is a stylish way to say a lot. Ok I'll fiddle with it a bit too, play at being an editor. > When it comes to software design, clutter isn't the worst thing software can do. Hiding things is. So, to paraphrase JWZ: "You have a problem with clutter, so…
"Now you have two problems" is a common meme used to talk about a lot of computer programming decisions. It appears to be originally meant as a comment on regular expressions.
Re: Open Letter to sites with annoying interfaces
#68The iOS interface is full of this behavior. I thought that was part the reason why it was so clutter free and easy to use due to less clutter.
Re: Open Letter to sites with annoying interfaces
#69Please. The first example is for editing the repository description, and becomes visibile when hovering over the description. The second is for clearing the name field, and becomes visible as soon as you are actually editing this field. I agree that hidden interface elements should be used carefully, but if these really are the best examples you've encountered, then it's not really a big problem. I wouldn't even consider the second "example" a hidden interface element.
Re: Open Letter to sites with annoying interfaces
#70Earlier quoted context omitted.
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usability_testing for a description. A quick overview - in usability testing, testers are chosen, given an introduction to the software, and observed while they try to get stuff done with your product. This ideally involves two people aside from the tester - the "greeter", who interacts with the user/tester and guides them through the process, and an observer who focuses completely on…
Usability testing should involve more than just "time taken for a new user to become familiar with the interface". Experienced users also need to be observed to ensure that prolonged use also shows desirable usability results. Pop-ups providing first use advice to users may improve usability results for new users. For experienced users, pop-ups are likely to decrease usability. Placing many buttons on a screen will l…
No dispute with you there - I mentioned some possible metrics, but those you mentioned are also clearly important.
I was commenting on the question about usability testing (which yes, should include testing of experienced users); I don't have the information to make a judgment on the Edit button; I presume Google and Github both saw something in their testing that led them to make their design decisions. However, I am interested to know, in Google's case, what improvement, and what problems, they saw from this particular change. Anyone work on the new Google Contacts?