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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

#151

Post by lostlogin »

ebbv wrote: post #88
jlarocco wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

GMail changes can be mitigated by using a normal mail client via IMAP. Obviously not an option for everybody, and not a 100% solution, but it helps a lot. I'm also not liking recent changes at Google, so I'm in the process of transitioning away from GMail and the rest of their services for most stuff. Before too long I'll only be using it to login to sites using the "Login with GMail" buttons, and all my real email w…

Except that using a mail client kills the main advantage of Gmail and why I started using it in the first place; consistent, clean interface and ubiquitous presence on all my devices. Yeah I can install mail clients on all of my computers for Gmail, but if I'm gonna bother with a mail client I'd just use mail set up through one of my own domains on one of my own servers.

The gmail interface is so very far from clean in my experience. Apples offering stands in stark contrast, such that the irritations with it (I'm not blind, massive buttons, huge click areas, low information density, missing features) are bearable.

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

#152

Post by sharjeel »

Gmail is the application which has made me realize a big weakness of web applications. The web was supposed to make "application upgrades" painless and instant. After GMail's recent changes, I would really love to "download old version of Gmail"; however its web, I can't do that!

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

#153

Post by pkamb »

w1ntermute wrote: post #93
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.

One easy solution to this (and many other general email mishaps) is to enable Gmail's undo button for sending email: https://support.google.com/mail/answer/1284885?hl=en

I don't understand why 15-second "undo send" isn't default behavior.

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

#154

Post by maximz »

My major gripe is that some formatting is completely hidden, making it impossible to deal with.

I've often tried to copy-paste from an email thread to a new compose window, which looks like it works. But then the resulting email has a line break after each word!

The clear-formatting button doesn't reveal this, nor does plain-text mode - this has led to a number of embarrassing emails.

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

#155

Post by notatoad »

I feel like a lot of people are mistaking gmail's opinionated UI design for a design failure. Changing the subject isn't difficult because the designers failed at making it easy, it's difficult because the designers succeeded at making it difficult. They really, really don't want you to change the subject because consistent subject lines are essential to gmail's conversation threading functionality, so they've made it as difficult as possible.

similarly, the hiding of all the formatting options: they have all that space available, and they've quite deliberately chosen to hide things anyways. there's no way they just did it to make the compose window prettier, they want you to stop using so much formatting in your emails. Read the interview[1] with gmail's designer, they are trying to use a simpler UI to encourage faster and smaller responses and lower friction conversations. By and large, people are using email as a messaging tool, not to sit down and spend half an hour composing a letter, and they are adapting gmail to cater to this behaviour. you might disagree with their goals, but don't mistake your disagreement with their direction for a failure to advance their direction.

[1]http://www.fastcodesign.com/1672250/how-a-tiny-new-compose-w...

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

#156

Post by lostlogin »

jl6 wrote: post #49

Am I the only one who finds email signatures entirely obsolete nowadays?

When were they not?

And what about the legal disclaimer that is stupidly long at the bottom - which has supposedly never stood up in court anyway. http://www.economist.com/node/18529895

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

#157

Post by eropple »

rayiner wrote: post #61
imjared wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably the same team that has usage data for hundreds of millions of users.

I'm gonna quote @kevingadd from down below because I can't say it better myself: "The new gmail is streamlined for particular purposes and not for others. You'd think that one of the biggest data companies in the universe would be able to gather actual data about how people use their software and ensure they aren't making it significantly worse to use for subsets of the customer base. Maybe this is what Google actual…

Guess I'm a kid, then? I find it faster to write an email on it than I did before and I like the ability to compose with another email in the background.

GMail has some bits I don't like, but by and large I'm a pretty big fan.

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

#158

Post by recoiledsnake »

tomkarlo wrote: post #90
cmircea wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Yes, but Photoshop has a totally different target market from Gmail, which is why the article's comparison is nonsensical if not entirely wrong. Gmail is designed for everyone and has to support the full spectrum of users, in particular the new ones (because they're the ones picking new email accounts - consider that they're partially trying to target people who still don't have email). Photoshop is designed for a ve…

>Gmail is designed for everyone and has to support the full spectrum of users, in particular the new ones (because they're the ones picking new email accounts - consider that they're partially trying to target people who still don't have email).

If anything, the new Gmail with all the hiding and obfuscation going on is going affect the new users the most. The other users atleast know that something is possible and will hunt around for an option, but the new folks automatically assume that some things are just not possible. For example, editing subject when replying or forwarding.

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

#159

Post by nollidge »

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.

Does any web mail not do this? And did Gmail ever not do this?

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

#160

Post by ebbv »

lostlogin wrote: post #151
ebbv wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except that using a mail client kills the main advantage of Gmail and why I started using it in the first place; consistent, clean interface and ubiquitous presence on all my devices. Yeah I can install mail clients on all of my computers for Gmail, but if I'm gonna bother with a mail client I'd just use mail set up through one of my own domains on one of my own servers.

The gmail interface is so very far from clean in my experience. Apples offering stands in stark contrast, such that the irritations with it (I'm not blind, massive buttons, huge click areas, low information density, missing features) are bearable.

I was referring to the reasons I started using Gmail.

I started using Gmail when it was still invite only. At the time Gmail's interface was refreshingly clean.

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