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Software should convey a sense of calm

patrickjuchli.com

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Re: Software should convey a sense of calm

#21

Post by ysavir »

jimmaswell wrote: post #9

> I want to find the same things in the same places How else will designers justify their jobs? I wonder if designer should be reworked to be a seasonal or consultancy job only, to only hire them when you're making a new product/big feature or there's a drastic need to change things but never otherwise. Having them as permanent staff leads to our present usability and accessability nightmare of everything constantly…

Assuming for the sake of argument that this is at all true, is the problem that designers are out to justify their jobs, and making changes as a consequence, or that designers are being put in a position where they have to justify their jobs, and are making changes to satisfy their managers?

If anything, the problem in this scenario is that culturally we need everyone to be contributing all of the time, even for positions that may experience occasional downtime. Let's not assign blame to a particular group when they're simply responding to the pressures put on them.

Re: Software should convey a sense of calm

#23

Post by bitwize »

dtjb wrote: post #19
jimmaswell wrote: post #9

> I want to find the same things in the same places How else will designers justify their jobs? I wonder if designer should be reworked to be a seasonal or consultancy job only, to only hire them when you're making a new product/big feature or there's a drastic need to change things but never otherwise. Having them as permanent staff leads to our present usability and accessability nightmare of everything constantly…

I'm sure there are designers making parallel arguments about developers :)

Indeed, this is how game developers work: hired in legion strength to push a game to release, then laid off once it's released.

Re: Software should convey a sense of calm

#24

Post by rustybolt »

I don't know if I'm old and bitter, or that software becomes harder to use, but so many software seems to degrade in user experience.

HTTP is a relatively easy thing, let's replace it by an overengineered clusterfuck called HTTPS. Good luck implementing THAT on your homebrew OS. (don't get me wrong, it's good thing that it exists, I just don't see why all the sites have to use it)

Well, git+github seems to work nicely, lets disable logins using your password! Took me about an hour to take care of this (there is a nice guide for it, but that doesn't mention what your 'github email' is -- there is no such thing, and it doesn't mention that you have to change your remote to an ssh connection, and it also teaches you to copy-paste commands from the browser to your terminal).

Re: Software should convey a sense of calm

#25

Post by grey_earthling »

I'm not sure “software” is useful as a category in this context.

If you're trying to make a useful tool these principles apply, but if you're trying to farm users for ad money they don't.

People will say they want the former, but in practice they often choose the latter (and then grumble about it not being more like the former).

Re: Software should convey a sense of calm

#26

Post by varikin »

throwaway09223 wrote: post #17

I remember decades ago building a menu system for a homebrew media center to launch game emulators and so on. I wanted it to have a loud arcade style feel. All menu text was rendered in 3d and would bounce and vibrate. Lots of flashing lights, noise, music and high energy. Functionally, it was just a simplified file explorer. It was very fun to use. I agree with most of the opinions in this article, but I don't like…

> Video games are a great example of simplified, intuitive interfaces which are often the polar opposite of calm.

Video games are interesting in terms of usability. I thought a lot about this the past couple years after a UX course. A lot of UX principles are about making things easier, like large clickable areas, not moving clickable areas, contrasting colors, proving plenty of time to react or undo, and making things obvious and as easy as possible. But in a game, many of those principles are flipped. In a shooter, the enemies are smaller and move. They may be difficult to see. Solutions are not always obvious, especially if they are extras or hidden power ups.

But at the same time, a lot of the UX principles are very important. An enemy about to attack should telegraph that attack so you have time to react. Menus should be very clear and obvious. Inventory management should not be a chore, the map and HUD should be easy to use.

Re: Software should convey a sense of calm

#27

Post by handrous »

varikin wrote: post #26
throwaway09223 wrote: post #17

I remember decades ago building a menu system for a homebrew media center to launch game emulators and so on. I wanted it to have a loud arcade style feel. All menu text was rendered in 3d and would bounce and vibrate. Lots of flashing lights, noise, music and high energy. Functionally, it was just a simplified file explorer. It was very fun to use. I agree with most of the opinions in this article, but I don't like…

> Video games are a great example of simplified, intuitive interfaces which are often the polar opposite of calm. Video games are interesting in terms of usability. I thought a lot about this the past couple years after a UX course. A lot of UX principles are about making things easier, like large clickable areas, not moving clickable areas, contrasting colors, proving plenty of time to react or undo, and making thin…

Valve (in particular) even pioneered UX in level design—if it doesn't improve gameplay, why let the player wander around trying to find the way they're supposed to go (a situation common even in relatively on-rails shooters of the past)? And just putting in HUD arrows sucks, and those can be misleading. Instead, they use lighting, color choices, and level layout to direct the player's attention and direction of movement, while maintaining the illusion that the levels are part of a larger space.

Re: Software should convey a sense of calm

#28

Post by varikin »

handrous wrote: post #27
varikin wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Video games are a great example of simplified, intuitive interfaces which are often the polar opposite of calm. Video games are interesting in terms of usability. I thought a lot about this the past couple years after a UX course. A lot of UX principles are about making things easier, like large clickable areas, not moving clickable areas, contrasting colors, proving plenty of time to react or undo, and making thin…

Valve (in particular) even pioneered UX in level design—if it doesn't improve gameplay, why let the player wander around trying to find the way they're supposed to go (a situation common even in relatively on-rails shooters of the past)? And just putting in HUD arrows sucks, and those can be misleading. Instead, they use lighting, color choices, and level layout to direct the player's attention and direction of movem…

I've heard that Ghost of Tsushima does this well with the direction of the wind. But I don't have a PS4/5 to play.

I've also heard about of platformers giving a couple pixels after walking off a platform to jump, like Celeste. It is very small thing to give better feel to the controls and make up lack of precise timing.

Re: Software should convey a sense of calm

#29

Post by handrous »

varikin wrote: post #28
handrous wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Valve (in particular) even pioneered UX in level design—if it doesn't improve gameplay, why let the player wander around trying to find the way they're supposed to go (a situation common even in relatively on-rails shooters of the past)? And just putting in HUD arrows sucks, and those can be misleading. Instead, they use lighting, color choices, and level layout to direct the player's attention and direction of movem…

I've heard that Ghost of Tsushima does this well with the direction of the wind. But I don't have a PS4/5 to play. I've also heard about of platformers giving a couple pixels after walking off a platform to jump, like Celeste. It is very small thing to give better feel to the controls and make up lack of precise timing.

There's also the idea of the tutorial level masquerading as a regular level, so it doesn't feel like a tutorial. Earliest example I know of is Super Mario Brothers 1:1, but it may not be the first. It's distinct from simply ramping up difficulty, because it involves things like deliberately presenting challenges & opportunities in a certain order, and, at first, in isolation.

[EDIT] incidentally, here (many) games have an advantage over other software, because they play linearly rather than presenting a large space of possible actions all at once. Games that are more similar to productivity software (city builders, say, or grand strategy games) have trouble doing this without it being obvious that you're in a tutorial.

Re: Software should convey a sense of calm

#30

Post by Tainnor »

rustybolt wrote: post #24

I don't know if I'm old and bitter, or that software becomes harder to use, but so many software seems to degrade in user experience. HTTP is a relatively easy thing, let's replace it by an overengineered clusterfuck called HTTPS. Good luck implementing THAT on your homebrew OS. (don't get me wrong, it's good thing that it exists, I just don't see why all the sites have to use it) Well, git+github seems to work nicel…

> (don't get me wrong, it's good thing that it exists, I just don't see why all the sites have to use it)

Because regular users don't know how to distinguish between the level of trust they need for visiting "Justin's travel blog" vs. their online banking website. If we don't display red error messages if a site they visit has an invalid certificate, they don't know how to tell it's not safe to enter their credentials there.

The web was once mainly used by academics, programmers and other geeks, now it's used by marketers, scammers, hackers, and a bunch of other malicious actors. I wish we could go back but that ship has sailed.

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