5 ms·

Dark mode is a "gateway feature" to more useless stuff.

by nallo 5y ago

rPlayer6554 5y ago
How is dark mode less useful than being able to change the color of the top bar (which is already a feature)?
enlyth 5y ago
It's gated behind a CSS "prefers-color-scheme" media query, so it will not affect people like you in any way, who haven't opted-in to dark mode in your operating system. Some people suffer from things like eye strain and this would improve the accessibility of the website.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
mrzool 5y ago
Dark mode is an accessibility feature.
antihero 5y ago
No it isn't, what evidence do you have to support that?
- Rochus 5y ago
  A lot of literature available, e.g. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28166901/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28166901/ https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0018720813515509?journalCode=hfsa& https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/001872081351550... https://www.nngroup.com/articles/dark-mode/ https://www.nngroup.com/articles/dark-mode/
  - krapp 5y ago
    These all appear to be studies on the effectiveness of dark mode on legibility. Where are the studies about dark mode being a "gateway" to "useless stuff?"
    - Rochus 5y ago
      “dark characters on light background lead to better legibility and are strongly recommended independent of observer’s age.” “the typically higher luminance of positive polarity displays leads to an improved perception of detail.” "in users with normal vision, light mode leads to better performance most of the time." So why go for dark mode if legibility, detail perception and performance is lower? EDIT: please note that "dark characters on light background" is the contrary of dark mode; in dark mode there are light characters on dark background.
      - krapp 5y ago
        >So why go for dark mode if legibility, detail perception and performance is lower? Ok you're arguing that dark mode itself is useless. I don't know enough about it to have an opinion on it one way or another, I can find sources on the web going either way. What I'm asking for is the evidence for the slippery slope implied by "gateway" whereby Hacker News staff will be more likely to add further "useless" features simply by having added one. Assuming for the sake of argument that it is useless.
        Rochus 5y ago
        > Ok you're arguing that dark mode itself is useless I didn't say it's useless; there are use cases where dark mode is useful, e.g. "people with cataract and related disorders may perform better with dark mode" (from the Nielsen study). But it doesn't make much sense to add a feature just because it is fashionable, and not because it has a true advantage. If the people in charge of HN decided to change their site, there would be far more useful features than dark mode. I think that was the OP was referring to with "gateway to more useless stuff": if fashion and not usefulness is the number one priority, then a good product could render useless and development resources are wasted.

Dark mode is a "gateway feature" to more useless stuff.

by nallo 5y ago

Dark mode is a "gateway feature" to more useless stuff.

rPlayer6554 5y ago

How is dark mode less useful than being able to change the color of the top bar (which is already a feature)?

enlyth 5y ago

It's gated behind a CSS "prefers-color-scheme" media query, so it will not affect people like you in any way, who haven't opted-in to dark mode in your operating system. Some people suffer from things like eye strain and this would improve the accessibility of the website.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

mrzool 5y ago

Dark mode is an accessibility feature.

antihero 5y ago

No it isn't, what evidence do you have to support that?

Rochus 5y ago
A lot of literature available, e.g. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28166901/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28166901/ https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0018720813515509?journalCode=hfsa& https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/001872081351550... https://www.nngroup.com/articles/dark-mode/ https://www.nngroup.com/articles/dark-mode/
- krapp 5y ago
  These all appear to be studies on the effectiveness of dark mode on legibility. Where are the studies about dark mode being a "gateway" to "useless stuff?"
  - Rochus 5y ago
    “dark characters on light background lead to better legibility and are strongly recommended independent of observer’s age.” “the typically higher luminance of positive polarity displays leads to an improved perception of detail.” "in users with normal vision, light mode leads to better performance most of the time." So why go for dark mode if legibility, detail perception and performance is lower? EDIT: please note that "dark characters on light background" is the contrary of dark mode; in dark mode there are light characters on dark background.
    - krapp 5y ago
      >So why go for dark mode if legibility, detail perception and performance is lower? Ok you're arguing that dark mode itself is useless. I don't know enough about it to have an opinion on it one way or another, I can find sources on the web going either way. What I'm asking for is the evidence for the slippery slope implied by "gateway" whereby Hacker News staff will be more likely to add further "useless" features simply by having added one. Assuming for the sake of argument that it is useless.
      - Rochus 5y ago
        > Ok you're arguing that dark mode itself is useless I didn't say it's useless; there are use cases where dark mode is useful, e.g. "people with cataract and related disorders may perform better with dark mode" (from the Nielsen study). But it doesn't make much sense to add a feature just because it is fashionable, and not because it has a true advantage. If the people in charge of HN decided to change their site, there would be far more useful features than dark mode. I think that was the OP was referring to with "gateway to more useless stuff": if fashion and not usefulness is the number one priority, then a good product could render useless and development resources are wasted.