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I disagree that Google sets a good example with their "clings" that pop up and point out UI changes. (That's what they're called internally.) Clings are annoyin

by sowbug 3y ago

I disagree that Google sets a good example with their "clings" that pop up and point out UI changes. (That's what they're called internally.) Clings are annoying and disruptive, and nearly all of them alert the user to an unwanted new feature. Visualize them as a pop-up ad placed for free by a promotion candidate who needs usage numbers artificially spiked to demonstrate impact, and you'll share my negative feelings about clings. While I'm here, will the person at Spotify who writes the Tesla app's frontend please get the networking code reviewed by the app's backend team? The backend code reconnects immediately when the network changes (for example, when a car backs out of a driveway and switches from WiFi to cell), so the current song keeps playing and can sometimes even skip to the next song. But the UX is frozen, except for the spinning circle, for minutes, until it says something went wrong and waits for me to press play again. Every other part of the car handles network changes gracefully, except the Spotify app, and it's had this problem since the very first version. How can this be so broken for so many years?

coldpie 3y ago
> I disagree that Google sets a good example with their "clings" that pop up and point out UI changes. I strongly agree with you. When I open an app I'm very familiar with, I'm usually on "autopilot" so I just muscle-memory mash whatever it is I wanted to accomplish by opening the app. Often I'll see one of those little popup things appear and then disappear since I already hit the button I wanted to do. I wonder if the popup thing had something important to say? Who knows! It's gone now. Additionally, when I open an app, my goal is to accomplish a task, not fiddle around with your shiny new UI. I'm here to do a thing, please stop getting in my way. Garbage UI paradigm.
- ananddtyagi 3y ago
  > Often I'll see one of those little popup things appear and then disappear since I already hit the button I wanted to do. I wonder if the popup thing had something important to say? Who knows! It's gone now. I thought I was the only one who got annoyed by this. I wish they had some kind of history or in app place to view the updates all together.
ananddtyagi 3y ago
Interesting view! I hadn't thought about them as pop-up ads. Probably the ideal version of an update is that it works and adds to your existing flow seamlessly, but I wonder what the best way is to intro new features that are separate from your existing workflow... not sure.
- sowbug 3y ago
  Every day, thousands of people use a given app for the first time. We don't bombard them with pop-ups for every single feature. Yet they manage to become proficient. There's this wonderful expression that people don't buy a half-inch drill bit; rather, they buy a half-inch hole. Every team thinking of adding another cling should ask whether they're selling bits, or helping people drill holes.

by sowbug 3y ago

coldpie 3y ago

> I disagree that Google sets a good example with their "clings" that pop up and point out UI changes. I strongly agree with you. When I open an app I'm very familiar with, I'm usually on "autopilot" so I just muscle-memory mash whatever it is I wanted to accomplish by opening the app. Often I'll see one of those little popup things appear and then disappear since I already hit the button I wanted to do. I wonder if the popup thing had something important to say? Who knows! It's gone now. Additionally, when I open an app, my goal is to accomplish a task, not fiddle around with your shiny new UI. I'm here to do a thing, please stop getting in my way. Garbage UI paradigm.

ananddtyagi 3y ago
> Often I'll see one of those little popup things appear and then disappear since I already hit the button I wanted to do. I wonder if the popup thing had something important to say? Who knows! It's gone now. I thought I was the only one who got annoyed by this. I wish they had some kind of history or in app place to view the updates all together.

ananddtyagi 3y ago

Interesting view! I hadn't thought about them as pop-up ads. Probably the ideal version of an update is that it works and adds to your existing flow seamlessly, but I wonder what the best way is to intro new features that are separate from your existing workflow... not sure.

sowbug 3y ago
Every day, thousands of people use a given app for the first time. We don't bombard them with pop-ups for every single feature. Yet they manage to become proficient. There's this wonderful expression that people don't buy a half-inch drill bit; rather, they buy a half-inch hole. Every team thinking of adding another cling should ask whether they're selling bits, or helping people drill holes.