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Best option is to provide choice. Icons with Labels by default, show keyboard shortcut on hover. Want just icons? There’s a config option for that. Want just la

by jakear 5y ago

Best option is to provide choice. Icons with Labels by default, show keyboard shortcut on hover. Want just icons? There’s a config option for that. Want just labels? Also an option. Want no toolbar at all, and only use shortcuts? Also an option.

skeeter2020 5y ago
It ebbs and flows but I feel like we're coming to the end of a long period of "convention over configuration" that prioritized consistent, predictable behaviour across systems at the cost of powerful options & custom configurations. I understand what you're saying but there's also cost to implement and maintain all those options you want, plus a huge set of testing combinations for QA
AussieWog93 5y ago
I clicked your profile to see exactly who would come up with such an odd take, and then it made sense. I actually agree with you that this type of deep customisation is great for a "productivity tool" like VS Code. For something that people don't spend hours of every day in, though (say, a weather app), you don't need or want this level of customisation.
- jakear 5y ago
  Hah, such a sleuth :) Though I was actually thinking of SketchUp when writing that. VS Code does not provide always-visible labels for icons (tooltip only), though it’s something we’ve discussed and I’m in favor of. I believe Teams recently adopted them.
fnord77 5y ago
abundance of choice is inversely correlated with satisfaction https://www.swarthmore.edu/SocSci/bschwar1/Sci.Amer.pdf https://www.swarthmore.edu/SocSci/bschwar1/Sci.Amer.pdf
- wizzwizz4 5y ago
  When the extra choices are useless, and the few choices are genuinely the best ones, sure. That's not what we're seeing.
- jakear 5y ago
  That applies to when a choice must be made before the user can proceed, or when making once choice has an associated opportunity cost that prevents/discourages the user from making other choices. If the user is presented with sane defaults from the start and can also try toggling a checkbox in a settings UI to instantly test alternatives, the study does not apply.
- Jach 5y ago
  As the siblings mention it doesn't really apply here because the choices aren't one-shot, you aren't stuck with one, you have time to consider, choices can differ a lot, etc. But really any supposed psychological phenomenon should be looked at skeptically absent overwhelming evidence like IQ or the Big 5 personality traits. Here are three links on "choice overload": https://www.researchgate.net/publication/48210291_Can_There_Ever_be_Too_Many_Options_A_Meta-analytic_Review_of_Choice_Overload https://www.researchgate.net/publication/48210291_Can_There_... 2010 meta-analysis, "we found a mean effect size of virtually zero but considerable variance between studies" https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8426193 https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8426193 2018, "...where they could compare them one another anytime with relatively low cognitive load, the choice overload did not occur (Experiment 1). ... where participants had to compare them based on memory representations with relatively high cognitive load, the choice overload did occur (Experiment 2). These results suggest that the choice overload is actually replicable when cognitive load is sufficiently boosted." http://psychbrief.com/choice-paradox/ http://psychbrief.com/choice-paradox/ Nice overview of some actual studies and the underlying experiments, as well as common flaws in the mathematical methods used for analysis that apply to many psychology studies.

by jakear 5y ago

skeeter2020 5y ago

It ebbs and flows but I feel like we're coming to the end of a long period of "convention over configuration" that prioritized consistent, predictable behaviour across systems at the cost of powerful options & custom configurations. I understand what you're saying but there's also cost to implement and maintain all those options you want, plus a huge set of testing combinations for QA

AussieWog93 5y ago

I clicked your profile to see exactly who would come up with such an odd take, and then it made sense. I actually agree with you that this type of deep customisation is great for a "productivity tool" like VS Code. For something that people don't spend hours of every day in, though (say, a weather app), you don't need or want this level of customisation.

jakear 5y ago
Hah, such a sleuth :) Though I was actually thinking of SketchUp when writing that. VS Code does not provide always-visible labels for icons (tooltip only), though it’s something we’ve discussed and I’m in favor of. I believe Teams recently adopted them.

fnord77 5y ago

abundance of choice is inversely correlated with satisfaction https://www.swarthmore.edu/SocSci/bschwar1/Sci.Amer.pdf https://www.swarthmore.edu/SocSci/bschwar1/Sci.Amer.pdf

wizzwizz4 5y ago
When the extra choices are useless, and the few choices are genuinely the best ones, sure. That's not what we're seeing.
jakear 5y ago
That applies to when a choice must be made before the user can proceed, or when making once choice has an associated opportunity cost that prevents/discourages the user from making other choices. If the user is presented with sane defaults from the start and can also try toggling a checkbox in a settings UI to instantly test alternatives, the study does not apply.
Jach 5y ago
As the siblings mention it doesn't really apply here because the choices aren't one-shot, you aren't stuck with one, you have time to consider, choices can differ a lot, etc. But really any supposed psychological phenomenon should be looked at skeptically absent overwhelming evidence like IQ or the Big 5 personality traits. Here are three links on "choice overload": https://www.researchgate.net/publication/48210291_Can_There_Ever_be_Too_Many_Options_A_Meta-analytic_Review_of_Choice_Overload https://www.researchgate.net/publication/48210291_Can_There_... 2010 meta-analysis, "we found a mean effect size of virtually zero but considerable variance between studies" https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8426193 https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8426193 2018, "...where they could compare them one another anytime with relatively low cognitive load, the choice overload did not occur (Experiment 1). ... where participants had to compare them based on memory representations with relatively high cognitive load, the choice overload did occur (Experiment 2). These results suggest that the choice overload is actually replicable when cognitive load is sufficiently boosted." http://psychbrief.com/choice-paradox/ http://psychbrief.com/choice-paradox/ Nice overview of some actual studies and the underlying experiments, as well as common flaws in the mathematical methods used for analysis that apply to many psychology studies.