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I think people underestimate how UI aesthetics actually improve user experience. I remember when I was younger it was a lot easier to be more productive and cr

I think people underestimate how UI aesthetics actually improve user experience. I remember when I was younger it was a lot easier to be more productive and creative with Pages, Numbers, Keynote than their competitors (this was when they were still skeuomorphic). The pretty UI genuinely motivated and inspired me, to an extent that I actually noticed. I really believe it helped start projects easier and work on them longer. Still, you should never have flashiness sacrifice usability. Pages was a good example because Apple understood usability. I’m not arguing for excess animations, ugly contrasts, etc. In fact, plenty of minimalist design is pretty while also being usable. Google Docs/Slides/Sheets in the browser, for example, are actually well designed. Material design without the shadows would still have all the usability with less flare, but nobody would build their website off of that. I think a lot of graphic designers who make minimalist designs, strive to make them pretty without even realizing

zinglersen 5y ago
Another example of this is the investment app Robinhood. They make it so easy for beginners to start investing because they have removed all the cutter from their UI and UX - granted some would argue that it's too simple for the user's own good.
spython 5y ago
Material design is like the design of a typical hotel room. It aims to accommodate everyone. It aims to be a temporary home for everyone and a permanent home for no-one. Hardly anyone would actively choose to make such a clinical, impersonal, unopinionated environment their home. That's what happened with user interfaces when software ate the world – once the UI designers tried to reach everyone, be the place for everyone, the hotel room design took over. The call to bring artistic view into designing interfaces only makes sense if you are brave enough or lucky enough to allow your product to be opinionated, to not be for everyone. As a trained artist in the technology field, actively working on speculative HCI designs, I don't often see companies that are open to opinionated designs. Most expect the designer to produce decoration, whereas the actual strength of a good designer lies in creating a space, a choreography, an interaction that fits the needs of the customer exactly right. That solves the actual, human need in a way that is true to the medium. don't turn your project into a hotel room, I beg you!
- nexuist 5y ago
  I really enjoyed this comment. I wish new software was weird, I want software that looks bizarre, stuff that is almost nonsensical until you try to use it and realize it makes you feel good. Everything feels the same today because of hotel room design.
  - ace2358 5y ago
    Interestingly enough, this is one of the aspects of being a music producer I enjoy! Every plug-in feels like it’s designed to be inspire you. Let’s be honest, an EQ plugin is super basic in what it does to the sound yet we are blessed with dozens of different designs. It’s the same with any other effect or instrument! The designer's get to have a field day! It’s my biggest criticism of Ableton - they’re built in modules (not really plugins) are as bland as the whole DAW and don’t act like 3rd party plugins.
    - httpsterio 5y ago
      basically all DAWs have a stock look and some plugins even ship without an UI and defaults to how that DAW visualizes them. I'm not a Live user, but I'm actually a bit envious because I like how the rack effects look and behave.
    - meowface 5y ago
      >It’s my biggest criticism of Ableton - they’re built in modules (not really plugins) are as bland as the whole DAW and don’t act like 3rd party plugins. This is one reason why I like Bitwig. It has fewer/inferior native devices compared to Ableton, but I like the UI/UX a lot more, and I almost exclusively use third-party plugins, anyway. Plus it has plugin isolation so a plugin crash won't crash the whole application.
      - atoav 5y ago
        As a long time ableton user that awitched to Bitwig I think you are doing them a disservice by labeling their native devices as inferior. They are different, they are somewhat reduced, but every single internal plugin is incredibly versatile, especially in combination with the insane modulation capabilities Bitwig has. Granted: I still like my Fabfilter Q3 over Bitwigs EQ+, but I also earn money using just that tool for days at a time. If I had to use just Bitwigs internal devices for the rest of my days I wouldn't feel limited at all, something that I wouldn't be able to say about any other DAW I used (except maybe Renoise, which is a totally different concept however).
arcticbull 5y ago
Square is one of my favorite examples. Square was always beautiful and elegant (if skeuomorphic, boy am I glad that trend is over - remember when iCal looked like "an ugly wild west" [1]) Compare Square to a classic point of sale device. Night and day. It really opened up payment acceptance in a way that I don't think it could have without the aesthetic/UI/UX. Design and usability matter! [1] https://gizmodo.com/ugh-god-why-is-apple-making-everything-look-like-an-u-5849940 https://gizmodo.com/ugh-god-why-is-apple-making-everything-l...
httpsterio 5y ago
There has been some research into how visual aesthetic affect the perceived user experience. If I don't misremember, the subjects found those applications that were more aesthetic (to them) to function better and easier than a barebones version that did the exact same thing.
adminscoffee 5y ago
missing the geocities eye cancer pages, with the star spinning backgrounds, just kidding, but definitely, the internet has come a long way but there is still a ton of room left for growth

zinglersen 5y ago

Another example of this is the investment app Robinhood. They make it so easy for beginners to start investing because they have removed all the cutter from their UI and UX - granted some would argue that it's too simple for the user's own good.

spython 5y ago

Material design is like the design of a typical hotel room. It aims to accommodate everyone. It aims to be a temporary home for everyone and a permanent home for no-one. Hardly anyone would actively choose to make such a clinical, impersonal, unopinionated environment their home. That's what happened with user interfaces when software ate the world – once the UI designers tried to reach everyone, be the place for everyone, the hotel room design took over. The call to bring artistic view into designing interfaces only makes sense if you are brave enough or lucky enough to allow your product to be opinionated, to not be for everyone. As a trained artist in the technology field, actively working on speculative HCI designs, I don't often see companies that are open to opinionated designs. Most expect the designer to produce decoration, whereas the actual strength of a good designer lies in creating a space, a choreography, an interaction that fits the needs of the customer exactly right. That solves the actual, human need in a way that is true to the medium. don't turn your project into a hotel room, I beg you!

nexuist 5y ago
I really enjoyed this comment. I wish new software was weird, I want software that looks bizarre, stuff that is almost nonsensical until you try to use it and realize it makes you feel good. Everything feels the same today because of hotel room design.
- ace2358 5y ago
  Interestingly enough, this is one of the aspects of being a music producer I enjoy! Every plug-in feels like it’s designed to be inspire you. Let’s be honest, an EQ plugin is super basic in what it does to the sound yet we are blessed with dozens of different designs. It’s the same with any other effect or instrument! The designer's get to have a field day! It’s my biggest criticism of Ableton - they’re built in modules (not really plugins) are as bland as the whole DAW and don’t act like 3rd party plugins.
  - httpsterio 5y ago
    basically all DAWs have a stock look and some plugins even ship without an UI and defaults to how that DAW visualizes them. I'm not a Live user, but I'm actually a bit envious because I like how the rack effects look and behave.
  - meowface 5y ago
    >It’s my biggest criticism of Ableton - they’re built in modules (not really plugins) are as bland as the whole DAW and don’t act like 3rd party plugins. This is one reason why I like Bitwig. It has fewer/inferior native devices compared to Ableton, but I like the UI/UX a lot more, and I almost exclusively use third-party plugins, anyway. Plus it has plugin isolation so a plugin crash won't crash the whole application.
    - atoav 5y ago
      As a long time ableton user that awitched to Bitwig I think you are doing them a disservice by labeling their native devices as inferior. They are different, they are somewhat reduced, but every single internal plugin is incredibly versatile, especially in combination with the insane modulation capabilities Bitwig has. Granted: I still like my Fabfilter Q3 over Bitwigs EQ+, but I also earn money using just that tool for days at a time. If I had to use just Bitwigs internal devices for the rest of my days I wouldn't feel limited at all, something that I wouldn't be able to say about any other DAW I used (except maybe Renoise, which is a totally different concept however).

arcticbull 5y ago

Square is one of my favorite examples. Square was always beautiful and elegant (if skeuomorphic, boy am I glad that trend is over - remember when iCal looked like "an ugly wild west" [1]) Compare Square to a classic point of sale device. Night and day. It really opened up payment acceptance in a way that I don't think it could have without the aesthetic/UI/UX. Design and usability matter! [1] https://gizmodo.com/ugh-god-why-is-apple-making-everything-look-like-an-u-5849940 https://gizmodo.com/ugh-god-why-is-apple-making-everything-l...

httpsterio 5y ago

There has been some research into how visual aesthetic affect the perceived user experience. If I don't misremember, the subjects found those applications that were more aesthetic (to them) to function better and easier than a barebones version that did the exact same thing.

adminscoffee 5y ago

missing the geocities eye cancer pages, with the star spinning backgrounds, just kidding, but definitely, the internet has come a long way but there is still a ton of room left for growth