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I feel like Gmail went from being Photoshop to Draw Something

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Re: I feel like Gmail went from being Photoshop to Draw Something

#141

Post by DanBC »

gcr wrote: post #128
DanBC wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Uh, [tab] usually switches focus to next control, and shift-tab switches focus to previous control. Thus, when I hit [tab] now focus is taken out of this text box and to the reply button.

HN discourages formatting. We don't indent posts, we don't have nested lists. Gmail and email encourage formatting. You're writing a letter, not a twitter post.

That's irrelevant to the point in the parent that I was responding to - that every app uses tab to format text. Most apps don't. There are a limited section of apps that use tab for text formatting. I'm pretty sure most web browsers never have, although I welcome examples of web browsers that do.

If people want to write real email they can use a real client, not a web interface.

Re: I feel like Gmail went from being Photoshop to Draw Something

#142

Post by DanBC »

rza wrote: post #103
mixmax wrote: post #74

Here's another total usability fail: Tab sends the e-mail you're currently writing instead of indenting text. Everywhere else tab indents text, and when you write an e-mail in gmail you'd expect it to act consistently with how it's used everywhere else. Start writing in gmail, hit tab to indent some text. Congratulations you've now sent half an e-mail to you boss.... I can't fathom who thought this was a good idea.

I wouldn't call it a total fail. Tab moves focus to the next input element on almost all web forms, in this case the send button. It allows you to send the message without moving your mouse in a fashion consistent with how we use web forms, much like how I can submit this comment with tab+enter.

> Tab moves focus to the next input element on almost all web forms,

In almost all software, not just web forms. It's only text editors that don't use this.

Re: I feel like Gmail went from being Photoshop to Draw Something

#143

Post by pbreit »

richardjs wrote: post #101
cmircea wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nitpicker's corner: it doesn't actually send the email, it focuses the send button.

I don't think it's nitpicking. It's the difference between the standard way web forms work and Gmail overriding a known behavior to do something else. That said, after you hit tab, you'll probably type a word and hit space, which will then click the button and send off the message.

The standard way that web forms have worked forever is that tab moves focus to the next element.

Re: I feel like Gmail went from being Photoshop to Draw Something

#144

Post by motters »

I was once a big Gmail fan and have had a Gmail account since 2005. However, in recent years I think they screwed with the user interface too much, turning something which was once very simple and elegant into a confusing mess. There's always the temptation to add more and more features. Now I just use Gmail as a glorified spam filter and forward mail to my own local server.

Re: I feel like Gmail went from being Photoshop to Draw Something

#145

Post by lostlogin »

motters wrote: post #144

I was once a big Gmail fan and have had a Gmail account since 2005. However, in recent years I think they screwed with the user interface too much, turning something which was once very simple and elegant into a confusing mess. There's always the temptation to add more and more features. Now I just use Gmail as a glorified spam filter and forward mail to my own local server.

This. And mine is a backup dump too - if all else fails, its in gmail.

Re: I feel like Gmail went from being Photoshop to Draw Something

#146

Post by spqr »

ebbv wrote: post #67

I can't remember the last Gmail change that was actually an improvement. In general Google's changes since the Google+ rollout have been 90% terrible. There's been a couple of changes to Youtube that are better (like the really big mode), but overall changes to all Google services have been bad. I feel like they've really lost the plot.

How about multi-factor authentication? That is the one reason I still use gmail. I wish Exchange Online had that feature - I'd switch in a heartbeat but it doesn't so I'm stuck with Gmail.

Re: I feel like Gmail went from being Photoshop to Draw Something

#148

Post by hawkharris »

Every UI designer knows the backstory of the QWERTY keyboard, how the designers arranged the keys to intentionally slow down the users, to prevent typing errors.

Well, Gmail's new pop-up Compose window makes me wonder if designers sometimes need to create interfaces that slow down users' cognitive processes as well.

In theory, it's more efficient to write emails using the pop-up window because you can easily reference other messages. But in practice it makes me less productive because I feel distracted by seeing all of the other messages.

Re: I feel like Gmail went from being Photoshop to Draw Something

#149

Post by enneff »

cmircea wrote: post #75
tomkarlo wrote: post #70

Does anyone really think Photoshop is a good UX for mass consumption (which is obviously the target for Gmail)? I've been using it since version 2, and I think it's a great product, but for new users it's a miserably difficult product to learn, especially for any kind of casual use. There's a reason why users love apps like Draw Something or (more relevantly) Instagram or Paper. They're able to easily achieve the res…

Nobody thinks Photoshop has a good UX, but that's not the point; the point is it's been consistent, with only small, helpful changes. If Adobe redesigned the Photoshop interface they'd instantly love half their market share, as people using software professionally don't like or have the time to learn something new just because it's better in some odd way. Microsoft did that with Office, the whole Ribbon fiasco, but t…

But the Photoshop interface did change dramatically with CS, Au least more substantially than gmail ever has.

Re: I feel like Gmail went from being Photoshop to Draw Something

#150

Post by joering2 »

The biggest disappointment was to kill drag and drop attachments. Now you have to click the paper clip and pick the picture (one by one!) form your PC.

In my opinion that's an indication that Google wants to discourage you from adding a lot of attachments to your mail because they don't make money off the bandwidth you are using. To me its another indication that Gmail at some point in near future may be doomed to sunset.

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