4 ms·

Personal computing won't be truly "personal" until we, the users (not $BIGCO's lead UX designer) get to decide how things look and behave on an individual level

kevindong 5y ago
One of Apple's core values is delegating very few choices to the end user. But the choices that are present are generally good. There is such a thing as too many choices.
- juancampa 5y ago
  I agreed, but what if I don't like the way something works because it doesn't match my mental model or whatever? Why can't I change it? Or why is it prohibitively expensive to do it? The core issue is cost of course.
- eyelidlessness 5y ago
  Agrees in 2003 KDE
andybak 5y ago
I lived through the days of skinnable apps and I never want to go back there again.
sxg 5y ago
There's a lot of value in NOT having to make those decisions. Most users don't want to think about how their computer or phone should work—they just want it to work out of the box. That requires sensible defaults and slowly introducing changes to adapt to evolving user behavior.
- bellyfullofbac 5y ago
  To point a change I hate, Chrome on mobile now displays tabs as thumbnails instead of stacked like index cards: https://9to5google.com/2019/09/19/chrome-android-tab-grid/ https://9to5google.com/2019/09/19/chrome-android-tab-grid/ , a change I really dislike. I really wonder how that's adapting to evolving user behavior...
  - juancampa 5y ago
    In the current state of affairs everyone gets what's best for the average user. Not what's best for each individual users. Edit: actually, everyone gets what monetizes better, which frequently, but not always, is what works best for the avg user
  - sxg 5y ago
    I would argue that in order to prevent users from leaving your platform or from developing a reputation for being a stagnant platform (e.g. Internet Explorer/Edge, Windows, IBM) you need to be sensitive to new trends. Meaning you'll occasionally need to preemptively try new features before you can be sure they're a move in the right direction. Obviously, not everything you try will be a hit but the constant experimentation is key.
- juancampa 5y ago
  Agreed. My point is that in the current state of affairs, 3rd parties dictate how we use our computers. In an ideal world, users should have the option to customize behavior with relative low effort or cost. The root problem is that software is incredibly expensive to build.
wilg 5y ago
You are welcome to build your own browser or computer or whatever! You can even modify an existing open source one.
supernintendo 5y ago
You can. It’s called Linux.
elzbardico 5y ago
Personal computing is dying and deciding how the UI looks is definitely one of the lesser issues on this
buzzert 5y ago
Free Software.

kevindong 5y ago

One of Apple's core values is delegating very few choices to the end user. But the choices that are present are generally good. There is such a thing as too many choices.

juancampa 5y ago
I agreed, but what if I don't like the way something works because it doesn't match my mental model or whatever? Why can't I change it? Or why is it prohibitively expensive to do it? The core issue is cost of course.
eyelidlessness 5y ago
Agrees in 2003 KDE

andybak 5y ago

I lived through the days of skinnable apps and I never want to go back there again.

sxg 5y ago

There's a lot of value in NOT having to make those decisions. Most users don't want to think about how their computer or phone should work—they just want it to work out of the box. That requires sensible defaults and slowly introducing changes to adapt to evolving user behavior.

bellyfullofbac 5y ago
To point a change I hate, Chrome on mobile now displays tabs as thumbnails instead of stacked like index cards: https://9to5google.com/2019/09/19/chrome-android-tab-grid/ https://9to5google.com/2019/09/19/chrome-android-tab-grid/ , a change I really dislike. I really wonder how that's adapting to evolving user behavior...
- juancampa 5y ago
  In the current state of affairs everyone gets what's best for the average user. Not what's best for each individual users. Edit: actually, everyone gets what monetizes better, which frequently, but not always, is what works best for the avg user
- sxg 5y ago
  I would argue that in order to prevent users from leaving your platform or from developing a reputation for being a stagnant platform (e.g. Internet Explorer/Edge, Windows, IBM) you need to be sensitive to new trends. Meaning you'll occasionally need to preemptively try new features before you can be sure they're a move in the right direction. Obviously, not everything you try will be a hit but the constant experimentation is key.
juancampa 5y ago
Agreed. My point is that in the current state of affairs, 3rd parties dictate how we use our computers. In an ideal world, users should have the option to customize behavior with relative low effort or cost. The root problem is that software is incredibly expensive to build.

wilg 5y ago

You are welcome to build your own browser or computer or whatever! You can even modify an existing open source one.

supernintendo 5y ago

You can. It’s called Linux.

elzbardico 5y ago

Personal computing is dying and deciding how the UI looks is definitely one of the lesser issues on this

buzzert 5y ago

Free Software.