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I want to say that this is incredibly important. User interfaces are full of tradeoffs, where you have to make a choice or preferably you find a way to speak to

by dgb23 5y ago

I want to say that this is incredibly important. User interfaces are full of tradeoffs, where you have to make a choice or preferably you find a way to speak to both power users and "level 1" users. I would not have guessed that the statistics are _that_ bad. Even though most of the things I make are used by so called "non-technical" people - ignoring libraries and internal stuff tools. I just recently stopped a feature suggestion because we probed our client about the behavior and technical proficiency of their users. In SMBs it isn't even unusual that there is only a couple of or even just one technically literate person that does most of the computer work. My take on this is as a developer is that we can pretty much ignore the 26% that doesn't use computers and the "below level 1"-ers except with pretty radical R&D. This might be a job for the Alan Kays and Bret Victors. The assumptions about the rest of the users should probably be lowered drastically. Even stuff like the pancake/burger menu icon is on the table here (recently discussed on HN as being an UX-anti pattern). There is a book I want to read called "Calm Technology"[0], which is in part about accessibility but mostly about attention and the mental overhead associated with using computers. [0] https://calmtech.com/ https://calmtech.com/

ilamont 5y ago
I would not have guessed that the statistics are _that_ bad. That's a foundational problem for practically everyone involved in the creation of apps, software, websites, remote controls, ATMs, car consoles, etc. We make assumptions based on a very small sample of friends and peers, or extrapolate from the work of successful devs/designers/creators that a certain interface convention must be the right way to do it. We end up with hipster designs and frustrating interfaces that do a great disservice to a large portion of the population. I posted this in the earlier "hamburger vs sausage icon" thread, but it's worth repeating: I am now my de facto tech support for two families (my own and my parents). I suspect many other HN users are in the same spot. Every week I get calls or emails from my parents requesting help figuring out something that's not obvious from the UI, is accidentally triggered by users, deliberately activated (by the app) during a software update, or buried deep in some settings or submenu. This week's selection includes: - Turning off yet again the annoying computer voice announcing any navigation or volume change on my parents' new Samsung TV (accessibility option, not sure why it turned on, but it required me visiting their home in person again to turn it off) - Trying to help my father disable the "get Outlook for iOS" line that suddenly started to be appended to the bottom of his work emails. - Helping my spouse troubleshoot a Shopify app feature that prevents >1 item being subtracted from inventory at a time - Figuring out how to enable a social media save shared photos to her phone's photo album - Explaining to my spouse that the three dots icon will show the remaining part of a truncated gmail message. Yes, sometimes software is so complicated and feature rich these items have to buried deep in the settings. But often I find that the lack of obvious text labels for basic features and navigation items is the problem. Hamburger menus and the three dots "more actions" icon are a poor substitute for clear text labels and links.

by dgb23 5y ago

ilamont 5y ago

I would not have guessed that the statistics are _that_ bad. That's a foundational problem for practically everyone involved in the creation of apps, software, websites, remote controls, ATMs, car consoles, etc. We make assumptions based on a very small sample of friends and peers, or extrapolate from the work of successful devs/designers/creators that a certain interface convention must be the right way to do it. We end up with hipster designs and frustrating interfaces that do a great disservice to a large portion of the population. I posted this in the earlier "hamburger vs sausage icon" thread, but it's worth repeating: I am now my de facto tech support for two families (my own and my parents). I suspect many other HN users are in the same spot. Every week I get calls or emails from my parents requesting help figuring out something that's not obvious from the UI, is accidentally triggered by users, deliberately activated (by the app) during a software update, or buried deep in some settings or submenu. This week's selection includes: - Turning off yet again the annoying computer voice announcing any navigation or volume change on my parents' new Samsung TV (accessibility option, not sure why it turned on, but it required me visiting their home in person again to turn it off) - Trying to help my father disable the "get Outlook for iOS" line that suddenly started to be appended to the bottom of his work emails. - Helping my spouse troubleshoot a Shopify app feature that prevents >1 item being subtracted from inventory at a time - Figuring out how to enable a social media save shared photos to her phone's photo album - Explaining to my spouse that the three dots icon will show the remaining part of a truncated gmail message. Yes, sometimes software is so complicated and feature rich these items have to buried deep in the settings. But often I find that the lack of obvious text labels for basic features and navigation items is the problem. Hamburger menus and the three dots "more actions" icon are a poor substitute for clear text labels and links.