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I like my error messages to eschew anthropomorphisms. Tell me what went wrong so I can figure out how to fix it. I don’t care whose fault it is or how very sor

• whynotmaybe 3y ago
  You are giving an explanation on my feeling on why the "year of the Linux desktop" won't come. Linux is maintained by power users that want to give the same power to every users but nowadays, the vast majority of users don't need and don't want those powers. I guess you never had to deal with the flow of complaints whenever an update was installed and the icon for the app changed. Many users couldn't start "the application". It was even customary in some organizations to create their own shortcut with their own icon to start iexplore or excel. I know that whenever a site "can't be found", it's been blocked by my pihole. But to anyone else connected on my network, it's "the internet is down".
  • jodrellblank 3y ago
    > > I understand that consumer stuff is all about dumbing down the experience so that an idiot can do the thing > Linux is maintained by power users that want to give the same power to every users Look at the assumptions behind "UX is dumbing down" and "idiots". Good UX is about making the same power more consistent to waste less of your finite brain power to use it, leaving more free for other things. Good UX is about keeping the same power but making it easier for intelligent people without experience to come in and pick it up and predict how it will work. Good UX is about making the abstractions cleaner and the tools more extensible to allow the same power to be used in more situations. Good UX is about settling the existing tools to allow even more power to be added, or built on top of them, without them collapsing. Good UX is about making the same power lower activation effort to use so you can focus less on setting up the tooling and more on the problem space. Good UX is about making it easier for idiots to use it, but not at the expense of experts. Good UX is about making a problem go away completely so nobody needs any tooling or to waste any time on it. > "I know that whenever a site "can't be found", it's been blocked by my pihole. But to anyone else connected on my network, it's "the internet is down"." That's a terrible UX. There's nobody helped by you feeling clever for understanding an inaccurate error message and looking down on people who don't understand it. Putting a clear and accurate error isn't "dumbing down". That's the fear that you would feel dumb if you didn't have to work hard and know secret incantations to achieve results.
    • funcDropShadow 3y ago
      > Good UX is about Can we agree that whenever you wrote "Good UX _is_ about ..." you actually meant "Good UX _should be_ about ..."? In practice many things that happened in the name of user friendliness did remove a lot of power from the users. Good counter examples not withstanding.
      • jodrellblank 3y ago
        You want us to agree that "Good UX _could_ be about making things worse"? I can agree that many things actually do get worse, but I'm arguing against the implicit connection "this thing has some power and it is complex. The only way to make it nicer to use - easier, simpler, more approachable, less mental effort - involves removing or restricting the power, always and necessarily". Take a piece of metal, flatten and grind the end, and use it as a flathead screwdriver and a small knife. Now you say "that's my powerful and useful multitool, don't you dare dumb it down for idiots or you'll remove my power!". It makes a poor knife because the blade has to be small enough to fit in a screwhead and keeps being blunted by using it as a screwdriver, and it makes a poor screwdriver because the blade is thin holding a knife edge which makes it weak and brittle, and it's a poor tool because you're trying to grip a small slippery piece of metal. Put a rubberised large grippy handle on it, it's improved - easier to hold, less likely for your grip to slip and end up hurting yourself or damaging what you are working on, and looks more visibly like a tool to someone coming in afresh if they're looking for a screwdriver - and the same power. Split it into a knife and a screwdriver, each can be better at their task - stronger screwdriver blade, bigger sharper knife blade, custom shaped handles for turning vs slicing - that's easier to use, easier to learn, and overall more powerful. Yes someone could round off the end for 'safety for normal people' and that would remove the power, but we can't agree that's ever "good design". Particularly I won't agree "consumer stuff is all about dumbing down the experience so that an idiot can do the thing" --> "any change which improves ease of use or convenience or comfort necessarily rounds off the power" (not necessarily true) or "only idiots want or need tools to be easier to use" (not true).