3 ms·

> they change small things "for productivity", and the majority of people will think it's an improvement I feel like I've never talked to a person, techie or n

by hbn 4y ago

> they change small things "for productivity", and the majority of people will think it's an improvement I feel like I've never talked to a person, techie or not, who didn't agree it was incredibly annoying to have UIs that they're used to change out under their feet.

iLoveOncall 4y ago
I usually don't mind at all, it's a non-issue. Losing features suck, but a new UI, especially for tools that were legitimately dated, is something I like.
- BLKNSLVR 4y ago
  How would you define "legitimately dated"? I'd say something like the "ribbon toolbar" upgrade of MS Office, which I think improved accessibility of functions, is one of the only examples I can think of. But then I'm not sure if that was just a case of getting used to the new layout. Windows "Settings" versus the Control Panel is a counter example. It was a downgrade, it still sucks now, years later, but the Control Panel could be argued as 'dated' by some definitions.
  - iLoveOncall 4y ago
    I'm not saying every UI update will be good, just that in a huge amount of cases, updates that actually do improve the UI will be placed in the same bucket as bad updates, just because "muh me no like change".
  - bombcar 4y ago
    The ribbon can be nice but I love that on macOS we still get the menu items. So much easier to find things.
  - HKH2 4y ago
    > I'd say something like the "ribbon toolbar" upgrade of MS Office, which I think improved accessibility of functions, is one of the only examples I can think of. I don't think it improves accessibility when I keep having to go hunting in different sections for the right button. (The ribbon in the Recycle Bin makes no sense to me either.) I'll admit it can be daunting for a new user to see a lot of buttons, but if there is a tooltip or even a tutorial for each button showing where it can be useful, that shouldn't be much of a problem.
  - lproven 4y ago
    Genuinely astonished For me, the Ribbon is what made Office unusable. I've used MS apps since the MS-DOS and Xenix days. I remember the old MS menus (2 lines, bottom of screen, summoned with Esc) to CUA transition, then the horror of WinWord 1, then the passable WinWord 2, then the actually quite nice WinWord 6. I still run Word 97 on Ubuntu under WINE. Works perfectly. But after Office 2007, it is totally unusable for me.
    - BLKNSLVR 4y ago
      Hehe, It did take a long time to get used to it, by necessity of "where I work upgraded, so no choice but to work with it". So, now it's second nature, and in my brief interludes with LibreOffice I struggle with the layout style and finding where things are. I did say "But then I'm not sure if that was just a case of getting used to the new layout" - still open to that being the case. Maybe it's like 12th edition text books, change for the sake of change. In the case of Office software, we need people to keep needing the 'basic' and 'intermediate' training sessions; we need credentials to justifiably decay with time?
- mixmastamyk 4y ago
  “dated” is not the issue, rather does it continue to be fit for purpose?
makeitdouble 4y ago
I think it's why in the anecdote they change lighting hues, and not for instance swap the machines, or move around the work areas for no reasons. In IT parlance, I guess lighting hues would be equivalent to the changing the window manager theme for a lighter/darker one ?

by hbn 4y ago

iLoveOncall 4y ago

I usually don't mind at all, it's a non-issue. Losing features suck, but a new UI, especially for tools that were legitimately dated, is something I like.

BLKNSLVR 4y ago
How would you define "legitimately dated"? I'd say something like the "ribbon toolbar" upgrade of MS Office, which I think improved accessibility of functions, is one of the only examples I can think of. But then I'm not sure if that was just a case of getting used to the new layout. Windows "Settings" versus the Control Panel is a counter example. It was a downgrade, it still sucks now, years later, but the Control Panel could be argued as 'dated' by some definitions.
- iLoveOncall 4y ago
  I'm not saying every UI update will be good, just that in a huge amount of cases, updates that actually do improve the UI will be placed in the same bucket as bad updates, just because "muh me no like change".
- bombcar 4y ago
  The ribbon can be nice but I love that on macOS we still get the menu items. So much easier to find things.
- HKH2 4y ago
  > I'd say something like the "ribbon toolbar" upgrade of MS Office, which I think improved accessibility of functions, is one of the only examples I can think of. I don't think it improves accessibility when I keep having to go hunting in different sections for the right button. (The ribbon in the Recycle Bin makes no sense to me either.) I'll admit it can be daunting for a new user to see a lot of buttons, but if there is a tooltip or even a tutorial for each button showing where it can be useful, that shouldn't be much of a problem.
- lproven 4y ago
  Genuinely astonished For me, the Ribbon is what made Office unusable. I've used MS apps since the MS-DOS and Xenix days. I remember the old MS menus (2 lines, bottom of screen, summoned with Esc) to CUA transition, then the horror of WinWord 1, then the passable WinWord 2, then the actually quite nice WinWord 6. I still run Word 97 on Ubuntu under WINE. Works perfectly. But after Office 2007, it is totally unusable for me.
  - BLKNSLVR 4y ago
    Hehe, It did take a long time to get used to it, by necessity of "where I work upgraded, so no choice but to work with it". So, now it's second nature, and in my brief interludes with LibreOffice I struggle with the layout style and finding where things are. I did say "But then I'm not sure if that was just a case of getting used to the new layout" - still open to that being the case. Maybe it's like 12th edition text books, change for the sake of change. In the case of Office software, we need people to keep needing the 'basic' and 'intermediate' training sessions; we need credentials to justifiably decay with time?
mixmastamyk 4y ago
“dated” is not the issue, rather does it continue to be fit for purpose?

makeitdouble 4y ago

I think it's why in the anecdote they change lighting hues, and not for instance swap the machines, or move around the work areas for no reasons. In IT parlance, I guess lighting hues would be equivalent to the changing the window manager theme for a lighter/darker one ?