5 ms·

Agreed. Thinking about it, it actually seems like a major achievement that even after so long, Wikipedia's design doesn't feel clunky or unintuitive. I still th

Agreed. Thinking about it, it actually seems like a major achievement that even after so long, Wikipedia's design doesn't feel clunky or unintuitive. I still think of this as the "new" design, and I'm still happy with it.

grishka 6y ago
These changes are driven by actual issues actual end users were having, as opposed to the usual "we want this feature [no one asked for] to be used more so we gave it more exposure [at the expense of the UX]". That's what software development should be like. You serve your users. Not the other way around.
- Tijdreiziger 6y ago
  > as opposed to the usual "we want this feature [no one asked for] to be used more so we gave it more exposure [at the expense of the UX]" This is just how business works, you like to steer users to features that will make them spend more. Wikipedia has been able to side-step this because it's a non-profit.
  - grishka 6y ago
    Yes and I never liked businesses, especially IT ones. Also why I can't find a job for 1.5 years now — can't fathom making someone already rich even richer as opposed to making the world better. Just imagine how amazing the world would be if the creators of most of the things we use every day weren't obsessed with making more money than what they know what to do with but instead with improving the design of said things to serve the people's needs better.
    - Tijdreiziger 6y ago
      > Also why I can't find a job for 1.5 years now — can't fathom making someone already rich even richer as opposed to making the world better. Have you considered working for your government or a non-profit?
      - grishka 6y ago
        > your government I'd rather work for Facebook than get involved with this dictatorship universally hated by at least my entire generation. > a non-profit Thought of it. Don't know of any, sadly, and there aren't many anyway. Someone told me about Mozilla when I left my last job, but that was before covid, they didn't do remote and I don't want to relocate, and now it's in quite a turmoil.
xmprt 6y ago
Maybe I'm wrong but it feels like Wikipedia's layout has very subtly evolved over the last 20 years. It probably feels the same as it did 10 years ago but there are certain UI elements and layout options that I see today that I'm not sure existed 10 years ago. I don't even remember if that table of contents was a thing 10-15 years ago.

grishka 6y ago

These changes are driven by actual issues actual end users were having, as opposed to the usual "we want this feature [no one asked for] to be used more so we gave it more exposure [at the expense of the UX]". That's what software development should be like. You serve your users. Not the other way around.

Tijdreiziger 6y ago
> as opposed to the usual "we want this feature [no one asked for] to be used more so we gave it more exposure [at the expense of the UX]" This is just how business works, you like to steer users to features that will make them spend more. Wikipedia has been able to side-step this because it's a non-profit.
- grishka 6y ago
  Yes and I never liked businesses, especially IT ones. Also why I can't find a job for 1.5 years now — can't fathom making someone already rich even richer as opposed to making the world better. Just imagine how amazing the world would be if the creators of most of the things we use every day weren't obsessed with making more money than what they know what to do with but instead with improving the design of said things to serve the people's needs better.
  - Tijdreiziger 6y ago
    > Also why I can't find a job for 1.5 years now — can't fathom making someone already rich even richer as opposed to making the world better. Have you considered working for your government or a non-profit?
    - grishka 6y ago
      > your government I'd rather work for Facebook than get involved with this dictatorship universally hated by at least my entire generation. > a non-profit Thought of it. Don't know of any, sadly, and there aren't many anyway. Someone told me about Mozilla when I left my last job, but that was before covid, they didn't do remote and I don't want to relocate, and now it's in quite a turmoil.

xmprt 6y ago

Maybe I'm wrong but it feels like Wikipedia's layout has very subtly evolved over the last 20 years. It probably feels the same as it did 10 years ago but there are certain UI elements and layout options that I see today that I'm not sure existed 10 years ago. I don't even remember if that table of contents was a thing 10-15 years ago.