4 ms·

I am a little surprised to see no one question the author's description or assumption of "Gen Z". As someone presumably from Gen Z, I find both interfaces eith

I am a little surprised to see no one question the author's description or assumption of "Gen Z". As someone presumably from Gen Z, I find both interfaces either bad or terrible. The partiful design is outright tacky and looks terrible (nothing homogeneous, questionable design choices etc) but Filteroff has so much whitespace it feels like it was designed by soulless corps at Uber or Facebook who just studied from Pinterest. And as a GenZ who's immersed in tech (news), the fact that this is the first time I'm hearing of Gen Z design definitely raised my eyebrows.

whimsicalism 5y ago
Eh. I agree with what you are saying, but also think the general trends they are pointing out do seem to sort of be preferred by Gen Z.. more "maximalist." Look at Depop, for example. --fellow gen Z-er
- ghaff 5y ago
  I can't speak to the Gen Z angle but... Design is somewhat of a fashion business and we've seen a period where simplicity and spareness has been the fashion. Apple's aesthetic by way of Jony Ive post-skeuomorphism is probably the most familiar example. But whether influenced by or part of the same fashion trend it's extremely widespread. It wouldn't surprise me in the least to find something of a backlash.
- josefx 5y ago
  The samples on HN might be a bit skewed, its design is after all a bit on the boring side.
  - oblio 5y ago
    A bit boring? It's as dry as a bone :-))
  - echelon 5y ago
    > its design is after all a bit on the boring side. Web 1.0 utilitarian design You could even say it has fans.
- dwmbt 5y ago
  i agree with the rest of the comments in the thread. there are certainly generational stereotypes, i guess in the world of design ours are an overdose of gradients and rounded corners lol. personally, i'm a fan of a little bit of the maximalist vibe and some brutalist elements mixed in. everyone should try to cultivate their own "aura", that's why i make a shit ton of personal websites (at least one every year) and experiment with trends that i like. i'll go ahead and also point out where i see these trends are popping up all the time: web3 and crypto. notably, zora and the rainbow wallet do them well, i feel. i think you'll find that the design teams for these companies are pretty young. i even know of some high-schoolers that are part time employees for web3 companies (as designers). i guess it's a little tangential but it's something i rarely see talked about with web3 -> they will succeed not because of the legitimacy of the technology but largely because of their appeals to the young*. young people love anything with hints of counter-culture and feeling like we're a part of a revolution; it's a thing, i think. though, decentralized stuff isn't really all that punk anymore... --(another) fellow gen Z-er * s/o Kropotkin
paulcole 5y ago
Reminds me of the Girls quote, "I think that I may be the voice of my generation. Or at least a voice. Of a generation."
PragmaticPulp 5y ago
Welcome to what millennials have experienced for a couple decades: Older generations who think they know exactly what the younger generations want based on little more than a stereotype or maybe the feedback from one young person they spoke to once.
- jorvi 5y ago
  But he didn’t ask just one person, he checked with multiple. Obviously that is still too small a sample size, but who says he isn’t on to something?
- api 5y ago
  That's not new. Gen-Xers got the same thing. Boomers got the same thing. Lazy stereotyping wasn't invented yesterday. I don't think this blog post means to stereotype all of gen-Z though. I think they're just using it as a foil to talk about the counter-trend to early-21st-century minimalism. That was in turn a counter-trend to late-1990s / early-2000s eclecticism like old Geocities.
  - deltarholamda 5y ago
    >Gen-Xers got the same thing GenX got ignored. The baton was passed from Boomers to Millennials. I guess we were all taking a bathroom break or something. GenX UI, at least on the Web, was TABLE layouts with spacer GIFs dictated to us by Boomers who wanted brochures. Our crowning design achievement still lives on in WiFi router Web management tools and phpBB. Yo, anybody going to the Phish concert? I need a ride.
    - mostlysimilar 5y ago
      In my opinion phpBB remains a more usable interface than many modern software applications, especially the web. Dense with information, tools that empower the user to sort, search, and filter. Ability to express yourself via avatars and signatures, multiple color schemes and interface options.
      - 5y ago
HNHatesUsers 5y ago
shreyamurthy 5y ago
sounds like u need to go to more parties friend
mbesto 5y ago
> the fact that this is the first time I'm hearing of Gen Z design definitely raised my eyebrows. Isn't the author's description of GenZ essentially "Snap's UI"?
andrewzah 5y ago
I'm pretty sure it's just intentional flamebait to promote their product.

whimsicalism 5y ago

Eh. I agree with what you are saying, but also think the general trends they are pointing out do seem to sort of be preferred by Gen Z.. more "maximalist." Look at Depop, for example. --fellow gen Z-er

ghaff 5y ago
I can't speak to the Gen Z angle but... Design is somewhat of a fashion business and we've seen a period where simplicity and spareness has been the fashion. Apple's aesthetic by way of Jony Ive post-skeuomorphism is probably the most familiar example. But whether influenced by or part of the same fashion trend it's extremely widespread. It wouldn't surprise me in the least to find something of a backlash.
josefx 5y ago
The samples on HN might be a bit skewed, its design is after all a bit on the boring side.
- oblio 5y ago
  A bit boring? It's as dry as a bone :-))
- echelon 5y ago
  > its design is after all a bit on the boring side. Web 1.0 utilitarian design You could even say it has fans.
dwmbt 5y ago
i agree with the rest of the comments in the thread. there are certainly generational stereotypes, i guess in the world of design ours are an overdose of gradients and rounded corners lol. personally, i'm a fan of a little bit of the maximalist vibe and some brutalist elements mixed in. everyone should try to cultivate their own "aura", that's why i make a shit ton of personal websites (at least one every year) and experiment with trends that i like. i'll go ahead and also point out where i see these trends are popping up all the time: web3 and crypto. notably, zora and the rainbow wallet do them well, i feel. i think you'll find that the design teams for these companies are pretty young. i even know of some high-schoolers that are part time employees for web3 companies (as designers). i guess it's a little tangential but it's something i rarely see talked about with web3 -> they will succeed not because of the legitimacy of the technology but largely because of their appeals to the young*. young people love anything with hints of counter-culture and feeling like we're a part of a revolution; it's a thing, i think. though, decentralized stuff isn't really all that punk anymore... --(another) fellow gen Z-er * s/o Kropotkin

paulcole 5y ago

Reminds me of the Girls quote, "I think that I may be the voice of my generation. Or at least a voice. Of a generation."

PragmaticPulp 5y ago

Welcome to what millennials have experienced for a couple decades: Older generations who think they know exactly what the younger generations want based on little more than a stereotype or maybe the feedback from one young person they spoke to once.

jorvi 5y ago
But he didn’t ask just one person, he checked with multiple. Obviously that is still too small a sample size, but who says he isn’t on to something?
api 5y ago
That's not new. Gen-Xers got the same thing. Boomers got the same thing. Lazy stereotyping wasn't invented yesterday. I don't think this blog post means to stereotype all of gen-Z though. I think they're just using it as a foil to talk about the counter-trend to early-21st-century minimalism. That was in turn a counter-trend to late-1990s / early-2000s eclecticism like old Geocities.
- deltarholamda 5y ago
  >Gen-Xers got the same thing GenX got ignored. The baton was passed from Boomers to Millennials. I guess we were all taking a bathroom break or something. GenX UI, at least on the Web, was TABLE layouts with spacer GIFs dictated to us by Boomers who wanted brochures. Our crowning design achievement still lives on in WiFi router Web management tools and phpBB. Yo, anybody going to the Phish concert? I need a ride.
  - mostlysimilar 5y ago
    In my opinion phpBB remains a more usable interface than many modern software applications, especially the web. Dense with information, tools that empower the user to sort, search, and filter. Ability to express yourself via avatars and signatures, multiple color schemes and interface options.
    - 5y ago

HNHatesUsers 5y ago

shreyamurthy 5y ago

sounds like u need to go to more parties friend

mbesto 5y ago

> the fact that this is the first time I'm hearing of Gen Z design definitely raised my eyebrows. Isn't the author's description of GenZ essentially "Snap's UI"?

andrewzah 5y ago

I'm pretty sure it's just intentional flamebait to promote their product.