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I don't use Discord but apparently there was some pretty drama a couple of weeks ago because they made a bunch of changes to the UI of the client that apparentl

by simias 5y ago

I don't use Discord but apparently there was some pretty drama a couple of weeks ago because they made a bunch of changes to the UI of the client that apparently the community didn't like. If you want to have control of your platform then don't use closed source, proprietary solutions!

ziml77 5y ago
While I do hate that Discord is being used for all chat needs instead of just sticking to being a replacement for Ventrilo or Skype for gaming groups, I want to point out that the drama is a massive overreaction. Discord made very minor style changes and slightly modified their logo, wordmark, and brand color scheme (with the logo being the only one of those you really end up seeing inside the application).
- xbar 5y ago
  Thank you for the clear description of the change. It seemed like this was a teapot typhoon, but I was not quite interested enough to lift the lid myself.
- jeltz 5y ago
  Yeah, I did not like the change but it was a tiny change so I agree with that it was an overreaction.
- simias 5y ago
  I thought they seemed like trivial changes as well, although not being a user myself I couldn't really form an opinion. Still, it should serve as a wakeup call that the users really aren't in charge and that it can potentially suck. It's a taste of things to come whenever Discord decides to more aggressively monetize themselves for instance. But apparently the conclusion was more that they should insult the devs on twitter and reddit instead.
  - IntelMiner 5y ago
    I use Discord (grudgingly) and I have to admit I did not, and do not, give a single shit about the change. It's a god damn icon for like 99% of people I guess some people just want to sit and gawk at their start menu for hours on end and Discords change has broken that zen-like meditation for them or something
    - Zancarius 5y ago
      I feel it's a classic example of bikeshedding. Except this is 2021, so the obvious solution is apparently harassment, anger, and vitriol. Someone up-thread made mention of the stylistic changes being problematic for people with visual impairment or low vision, which would seem to me to be a much more serious issue than a stupid icon. But, what do I know? When they announced the change, I had an incredibly difficult time feeling anything other than indifference. Why people would be upset is beyond me.
- dharmab 5y ago
  As a colorblind user, the redesign decreased the accessibility of the application. Other users with visual impairments have reported similar issues.
  - judge2020 5y ago
    It's just the logo though, no? The actual UI is still the same and no color changes have occurred within the app (for both light mode and dark mode).
    - nulld3v 5y ago
      There were a couple color changes made. I'm on the dark theme and this is what I saw: They made the blue on some buttons more saturated. I don't really have a problem with this. They made the highlight color of user and channel mentions more brighter. This hurt readability as the text is white. Making the background of the text brighter decreases contrast.
- teawrecks 5y ago
  I use discord almost daily and didn't even notice any changes. The UI is still garbage and it still makes random notification sounds with no indication as to why.
  - Zarel 5y ago
    The random notification sounds are because default server notification settings are set by the server owner. So when you join a server, its notification setting could be "all messages" or "mentions only" depending on what the server owner set. This setting only affects the notification sound (it doesn't badge the server or anything), so it's easy to misunderstand.
    - trulyme 5y ago
      If it's easy to misunderstand then it's bad UX. Discord's chat could learn a lot from Slack and Mattermost (but then again, so could Signal, Skype and Teams). Their videoconf however is top notch.
      - Zarel 5y ago
        Oh, yeah, I agree it's bad UX. I just wanted to explain what you as a user can do about it.
- rezic 5y ago
  You also forget to mention they changed the font of certain UI elements to the same as the wordmark, namely the server name. The legibility of the new font is objectively worse than the previous one, though as long as it remains exclusive to the server name I agree, it's not that big of a deal.
bytematic 5y ago
They just changed their logo and primary brand color slightly. Although I agree it is worse, hardly can call that "UI changes"
- dustyharddrive 5y ago
  also fonts were replaced and the background colors of mentions/reactions made less prominent

by simias 5y ago

ziml77 5y ago

While I do hate that Discord is being used for all chat needs instead of just sticking to being a replacement for Ventrilo or Skype for gaming groups, I want to point out that the drama is a massive overreaction. Discord made very minor style changes and slightly modified their logo, wordmark, and brand color scheme (with the logo being the only one of those you really end up seeing inside the application).

xbar 5y ago
Thank you for the clear description of the change. It seemed like this was a teapot typhoon, but I was not quite interested enough to lift the lid myself.
jeltz 5y ago
Yeah, I did not like the change but it was a tiny change so I agree with that it was an overreaction.
simias 5y ago
I thought they seemed like trivial changes as well, although not being a user myself I couldn't really form an opinion. Still, it should serve as a wakeup call that the users really aren't in charge and that it can potentially suck. It's a taste of things to come whenever Discord decides to more aggressively monetize themselves for instance. But apparently the conclusion was more that they should insult the devs on twitter and reddit instead.
- IntelMiner 5y ago
  I use Discord (grudgingly) and I have to admit I did not, and do not, give a single shit about the change. It's a god damn icon for like 99% of people I guess some people just want to sit and gawk at their start menu for hours on end and Discords change has broken that zen-like meditation for them or something
  - Zancarius 5y ago
    I feel it's a classic example of bikeshedding. Except this is 2021, so the obvious solution is apparently harassment, anger, and vitriol. Someone up-thread made mention of the stylistic changes being problematic for people with visual impairment or low vision, which would seem to me to be a much more serious issue than a stupid icon. But, what do I know? When they announced the change, I had an incredibly difficult time feeling anything other than indifference. Why people would be upset is beyond me.
dharmab 5y ago
As a colorblind user, the redesign decreased the accessibility of the application. Other users with visual impairments have reported similar issues.
- judge2020 5y ago
  It's just the logo though, no? The actual UI is still the same and no color changes have occurred within the app (for both light mode and dark mode).
  - nulld3v 5y ago
    There were a couple color changes made. I'm on the dark theme and this is what I saw: They made the blue on some buttons more saturated. I don't really have a problem with this. They made the highlight color of user and channel mentions more brighter. This hurt readability as the text is white. Making the background of the text brighter decreases contrast.
teawrecks 5y ago
I use discord almost daily and didn't even notice any changes. The UI is still garbage and it still makes random notification sounds with no indication as to why.
- Zarel 5y ago
  The random notification sounds are because default server notification settings are set by the server owner. So when you join a server, its notification setting could be "all messages" or "mentions only" depending on what the server owner set. This setting only affects the notification sound (it doesn't badge the server or anything), so it's easy to misunderstand.
  - trulyme 5y ago
    If it's easy to misunderstand then it's bad UX. Discord's chat could learn a lot from Slack and Mattermost (but then again, so could Signal, Skype and Teams). Their videoconf however is top notch.
    - Zarel 5y ago
      Oh, yeah, I agree it's bad UX. I just wanted to explain what you as a user can do about it.
rezic 5y ago
You also forget to mention they changed the font of certain UI elements to the same as the wordmark, namely the server name. The legibility of the new font is objectively worse than the previous one, though as long as it remains exclusive to the server name I agree, it's not that big of a deal.

bytematic 5y ago

They just changed their logo and primary brand color slightly. Although I agree it is worse, hardly can call that "UI changes"

dustyharddrive 5y ago
also fonts were replaced and the background colors of mentions/reactions made less prominent