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This is not true: "The human brain is incredibly plastic and adaptable. Unless the interface is truly absurd, most people can get used to it and never give it a
by pwthornton 7y ago
This is not true: "The human brain is incredibly plastic and adaptable. Unless the interface is truly absurd, most people can get used to it and never give it a second thought again."
I've interviewed and observed enough users to know this is not true. There are a lot of interfaces that are suffer from issues with discoverability and understanding, and even when a user figures this stuff out one time (or is showed it), the interface is not memorable.
I put together a list of guidelines for thoughtful product design. Most products don't meet all of these. Really good design is hard work: https://uxdesign.cc/guidelines-for-thoughtful-product-design-4a1c6e19c125 https://uxdesign.cc/guidelines-for-thoughtful-product-design...
One huge mistake you are making is that you are a power user. You probably use computers more than most people and understand interfaces and paradigms better than most people. I implore you to actually observe real users using real products.
- bsder 7y ago> There are a lot of interfaces that are suffer from issues with discoverability and understanding, and even when a user figures this stuff out one time (or is showed it), the interface is not memorable. Oh, dear, God, yes. The "hamburger menu" is one of the worst travesties of the modern age.
- flukus 7y agoWhat's wrong with the hamburger menu? It seems like a good compromise of quickly accessible functionality for little screen real estate. For desktop apps with plenty of screen real estate it's crazy (looking at you gnome) but on mobiles it's fine, especially when the alternatives seem to be some sort of hidden and undiscovered slide out menu or long button press.
- graphememes 7y agoIt's been proven to be misunderstood globally. Just the word "menu" is more beneficial.
- bsder 7y agoThe problem is that you have no idea what is under that menu. The hamburger menu becomes a default dumping ground substituting for an intelligently design UI.
- kurtisc 7y agoI'm reading this on Firefox with a hamburger menu. It's a hard sell that someone else's supposed damaged discoverability is worth me giving up screen space to replace it with a menu bar for things that are rarely used. If they can't work out to click on it, they're not going to find much use from the things that are in it.
- rileymat2 7y agoMinor Quibble: Power Users are real users. However, they may or may not be worth the cost to support depending on your niche.
- TeMPOraL 7y agoThen again, if your users are using your software many hours a day, day in day out (e.g. in work context), they are power users due to circumstances. If you treat them as regular "common denominator" users, you're actually and directly hurting them.
- Aloha 7y agoNo matter how bad the UI is, the user will eventually either, get used to it, or find another way around the problem.
- ketzo 7y ago...or use another product with a better UI.
- cheeyoonlee 7y agoThis. I may be biased as a designer, but I definitely prefer products with better UI if it performs similarly. I'm a firm believer in no matter how great your product is, always invest in good design.
- username444 7y agoSpeaking of UX mistakes: don't assault me with an email subscription form on page load when I haven't read a single letter of your content. Earn my trust before asking me to get into bed with you.