4 ms·

c'mon now, they aren't even about to fix the simple 'comment layout on mobile' problem. You really think they're going to go through the trouble of adding a wh

by lwhalen 11y ago

c'mon now, they aren't even about to fix the simple 'comment layout on mobile' problem. You really think they're going to go through the trouble of adding a whole new ranking system? :-)

dang 11y ago
> they aren't even about to fix the simple 'comment layout on mobile' problem Why do you say that? We've put a ton of work into that problem, which is not quite as simple as you'd think.
- zajd 11y ago
  How about say... collapsable threads? It is the year 2015 after all.
- stephengillie 11y ago
  Why do comments change font size when I tap their Reply link?
- hobs 11y ago
  Hey dang! Just wanted to first say that I absolutely have enjoyed your work and time on HN, but from my experience as a user (important distinction here), the mobile interface hasn't changed much in the last few years. The only thing I see is a slightly bigger triangle button and a whole lot of tiny tiny text. I completely understand that my phone isn't the target audience (S3), and so I use an Android app to make up the difference, but when I saw your comment I reopened HN on my phone to see if had improved since I had last checked a year ago. Here's what I saw: http://i.imgur.com/CRonP5c.png http://i.imgur.com/CRonP5c.png I am NOT a UX expert (or even novitiate) but if you would, compare the size of the refresh button to the size of the upvote or comments buttons and notice the vast difference in area. I took the liberty of coloring in the comment link in red, and comparing it to the refresh button: http://i.imgur.com/GZEs7cN.png http://i.imgur.com/GZEs7cN.png and that it is less than 1/10th of the same clickable area. Now, I am 100% not saying you should be targeting this button size or that specifically, but that would be a reason I would make this type of comment. Hopefully that isnt too frustrating of a response, I assume there are a lot of factors going on that I am not aware of. Thanks.
  - dang 11y ago
    Sorry! I see now that my comment was far from clear. You're right that there haven't been major changes to the interface, but that's not because we haven't been working hard on it. It's because we haven't released that work yet. We did make a couple attempts at quick fixes for HN on mobile that provoked howls of protest, so we rolled those back and have been working instead on rewriting HN's markup entirely. This is not a small project, and everyone working on it has other responsibilities, so it has taken a long time. It is, however, getting closer to being ready. That's why I objected to the statement that we "aren't even about to fix" it (and also that it's a "simple" problem)! When we do have something ready, we'll release it for a while as a different set of URLs and start taking everyone's feedback about what still doesn't work right. I imagine there will be a long process of tweaking it, and we'll be happy to do that over time. (Also, that was very nice of you to be so friendly even though it sounded like I was saying something silly.)
    - hobs 11y ago
      That sounds great dang, thanks for continuing to work on it even if there was a backlash. I will be interested to see what shows up in the next few months (hopefully) :)

by lwhalen 11y ago

c'mon now, they aren't even about to fix the simple 'comment layout on mobile' problem. You really think they're going to go through the trouble of adding a whole new ranking system? :-)

dang 11y ago

> they aren't even about to fix the simple 'comment layout on mobile' problem Why do you say that? We've put a ton of work into that problem, which is not quite as simple as you'd think.

zajd 11y ago
How about say... collapsable threads? It is the year 2015 after all.
stephengillie 11y ago
Why do comments change font size when I tap their Reply link?
hobs 11y ago
Hey dang! Just wanted to first say that I absolutely have enjoyed your work and time on HN, but from my experience as a user (important distinction here), the mobile interface hasn't changed much in the last few years. The only thing I see is a slightly bigger triangle button and a whole lot of tiny tiny text. I completely understand that my phone isn't the target audience (S3), and so I use an Android app to make up the difference, but when I saw your comment I reopened HN on my phone to see if had improved since I had last checked a year ago. Here's what I saw: http://i.imgur.com/CRonP5c.png http://i.imgur.com/CRonP5c.png I am NOT a UX expert (or even novitiate) but if you would, compare the size of the refresh button to the size of the upvote or comments buttons and notice the vast difference in area. I took the liberty of coloring in the comment link in red, and comparing it to the refresh button: http://i.imgur.com/GZEs7cN.png http://i.imgur.com/GZEs7cN.png and that it is less than 1/10th of the same clickable area. Now, I am 100% not saying you should be targeting this button size or that specifically, but that would be a reason I would make this type of comment. Hopefully that isnt too frustrating of a response, I assume there are a lot of factors going on that I am not aware of. Thanks.
- dang 11y ago
  Sorry! I see now that my comment was far from clear. You're right that there haven't been major changes to the interface, but that's not because we haven't been working hard on it. It's because we haven't released that work yet. We did make a couple attempts at quick fixes for HN on mobile that provoked howls of protest, so we rolled those back and have been working instead on rewriting HN's markup entirely. This is not a small project, and everyone working on it has other responsibilities, so it has taken a long time. It is, however, getting closer to being ready. That's why I objected to the statement that we "aren't even about to fix" it (and also that it's a "simple" problem)! When we do have something ready, we'll release it for a while as a different set of URLs and start taking everyone's feedback about what still doesn't work right. I imagine there will be a long process of tweaking it, and we'll be happy to do that over time. (Also, that was very nice of you to be so friendly even though it sounded like I was saying something silly.)
  - hobs 11y ago
    That sounds great dang, thanks for continuing to work on it even if there was a backlash. I will be interested to see what shows up in the next few months (hopefully) :)