4 ms·

I'm a developer in his 30s and my time has finally come to be "that guy": We've already gone through this. It's called mystery meat navigation, and it was so p

I'm a developer in his 30s and my time has finally come to be "that guy": We've already gone through this. It's called mystery meat navigation, and it was so prevalent and discouraged that it even has a wikipedia entry[0]. Hopefully it'll go out of fashion again. 0: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystery_meat_navigation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystery_meat_navigation

overcast 8y ago
...and now we have that horrible hamburger menu.
- notriddle 8y ago
  At least the standard "hamburger menu" opens a list of textually labeled options. That's better than icon-only toolbars.
  - oneeyedpigeon 8y ago
    And by the same argument, a traditional menu would be even better.
- ryanwaggoner 8y ago
  I kind of love that Reddit has gone all in and just made it an actual hamburger icon in their redesign: https://www.evernote.com/l/AALYMDHabuxLvLSKPlM6fMyCozTZysM2aNQ https://www.evernote.com/l/AALYMDHabuxLvLSKPlM6fMyCozTZysM2a...
  - TeMPOraL 8y ago
    In 5 years someone will write an article that "explains" how the three vertical dots/bars icons really symbolize a hamburger. This article will get popular. In 10 years, this will be a common misconception taught in professional books.
gitonup 8y ago
As another developer in his 30s, I don't think it's quite the same. Mystery meat navigation is purely opaque, whereas icons like GMail's are at least trying to convey meaning via their imagery. The Wikipedia page for Mystery Meat Navigation actually has an example that is completely opaque as well, as does this example video by the coiner of the term: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=zZ_aaCYCxVQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=zZ... I don't think it's quite fair to call bad iconography "Mystery Meat" because it's not executed well. The difference is that users can (and do) learn what the icons mean and then can find them visually, whereas in true MMN, you'd absolutely have to move your mouse over what you were trying to find. GMail has the challenge of trying to not make their UI busy while at the same time trying to come up with iconography for "Archive", which is not as prevalent in the zeitgeist as "Bold" in a word processor.
- danlugo92 8y ago
  Holy shit that video is like the final form of the final boss of Mystery Meat Navigation.

overcast 8y ago

...and now we have that horrible hamburger menu.

notriddle 8y ago
At least the standard "hamburger menu" opens a list of textually labeled options. That's better than icon-only toolbars.
- oneeyedpigeon 8y ago
  And by the same argument, a traditional menu would be even better.
ryanwaggoner 8y ago
I kind of love that Reddit has gone all in and just made it an actual hamburger icon in their redesign: https://www.evernote.com/l/AALYMDHabuxLvLSKPlM6fMyCozTZysM2aNQ https://www.evernote.com/l/AALYMDHabuxLvLSKPlM6fMyCozTZysM2a...
- TeMPOraL 8y ago
  In 5 years someone will write an article that "explains" how the three vertical dots/bars icons really symbolize a hamburger. This article will get popular. In 10 years, this will be a common misconception taught in professional books.

gitonup 8y ago

As another developer in his 30s, I don't think it's quite the same. Mystery meat navigation is purely opaque, whereas icons like GMail's are at least trying to convey meaning via their imagery. The Wikipedia page for Mystery Meat Navigation actually has an example that is completely opaque as well, as does this example video by the coiner of the term: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=zZ_aaCYCxVQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=zZ... I don't think it's quite fair to call bad iconography "Mystery Meat" because it's not executed well. The difference is that users can (and do) learn what the icons mean and then can find them visually, whereas in true MMN, you'd absolutely have to move your mouse over what you were trying to find. GMail has the challenge of trying to not make their UI busy while at the same time trying to come up with iconography for "Archive", which is not as prevalent in the zeitgeist as "Bold" in a word processor.

danlugo92 8y ago
Holy shit that video is like the final form of the final boss of Mystery Meat Navigation.