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I usually struggle with GUIs and I find the concept of discoverability awful. Having to randomly click through tons of menus until you discover the right place
by aaplok 3y ago
I usually struggle with GUIs and I find the concept of discoverability awful. Having to randomly click through tons of menus until you discover the right place is frustrating. I use MS Word maybe twice a month, and every time I go through that ritual of clicking through several tabs just to be able to discover how to save a file. If I used it more often I certainly would remember, but then it's no longer about discovering.
Oh and if you're lucky you have the option to hover for a second to find what the icons mean through a tooltip. Having to do that with every icon until you find the right one is not pleasant.
I just find typing "help" or "man" a lot more intuitive than the random clicking on icons.
I'm sure that I'm a rare specimen and most people would prefer clicking to reading, but personally I find discoverability a bad user experience.
- calfuris 3y agoThere's nothing wrong with the concept of discoverability. Having the capability of discovering how to do thing X without referring to documentation is fine. The problem is when users are forced to rely on it because the documentation is trash or nonexistent. That does seem to be a trend and I share your frustration with it, but discoverability and good documentation can (and should) coexist.
- aaplok 3y agoYes, you are right that discoverability isn't detrimental unless it becomes an expectation that this is how one must engage with software. I assume that it is also the preferred way to engage with software for some people .