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1. Mobile needs to have somewhat spacious UIs to deal with touch targets needing to be finger sized. 2. Companies don't want to design two very different UIs a

by Spivak 2y ago

1. Mobile needs to have somewhat spacious UIs to deal with touch targets needing to be finger sized. 2. Companies don't want to design two very different UIs and by-in-large users prefer their skills transfer across platforms. 3. Accessibility is easier if the design leaves room for bigger font sizes and doesn't require fine motor control. Watching my dad start to noticeably age I'm realizing that even spacious spacious apps don't go far enough in this regard. I'm not sure how we get to information dense design without something changing the forces that pushed us that way in the first place.

Bluestein 2y ago
I see and understand your well placed and valid examination.- True. Mobile (and the path from "responsive" to "mobile native" - ergo, pre conditioned by everything you well mention ...) ... has led us to a what I think is today's sorry state of things.-
- Spivak 2y ago
  I think the best we're going to get is some law or other that requires services not block 3rd party clients so that folks that want hacker-ui-theme, like me, have the ability.
wruza 2y ago
>1. This is not true. Mobile platforms do help with tapping on small elements. E.g. HN isn't mobile friendly "as is", but I have no issues with tapping any of the links. I've also used Exante mobile trading terminal for some time and had no issues with it either. I agree that accessibility still is the concern, but watching my grandma struggle with her tablet, it's mostly the fact that buttons aren't buttons and everything jumps around like clowns in circus and cannot stop, instead of being a proper user interface. I bet she'd have similar issues with appliances if their design was just random flat symbols on white surfaces that randomly disappear.
- Aeolun 2y ago
  > I bet she'd have similar issues with appliances if their design was just random flat symbols on white surfaces that randomly disappear. That sounds like the control panel for my fridge :)
- g15jv2dp 2y ago
  > This is not true. Mobile platforms do help with tapping on small elements. E.g. HN isn't mobile friendly "as is", but I have no issues with tapping any of the links. I've also used Exante mobile trading terminal for some time and had no issues with it either. Good for you, maybe your phone screen is huge. I routinely tap on the wrong element when using HN on mobile. Even on desktop I have to set the zoom level to 125%.
  - wruza 2y ago
    4.7" iphone. They enlarge tap regions for tappable elements since forever, so you can’t miss.
    - prometheon1 2y ago
      You can miss quite easily if there is another tappable element right next to the one you are trying to click
    - mrgoldenbrown 2y ago
      If you have 3 tap regions already adjacent before enlargement, how does enlarging them help? Like the w, a and s keys on a keyboard. Making the regions larger will just make them overlap.
      - wruza 2y ago
        Idk how apple does that exactly. I’d just voronoi it if they intersect and tap outside-ish, just like I do with hn vote arrows. Anyway my point is that you can design interfaces denser than three buttons per screen and they will work. Not that a 5mm block with 8 links in it is a good button bar.

by Spivak 2y ago

Bluestein 2y ago

I see and understand your well placed and valid examination.- True. Mobile (and the path from "responsive" to "mobile native" - ergo, pre conditioned by everything you well mention ...) ... has led us to a what I think is today's sorry state of things.-

Spivak 2y ago
I think the best we're going to get is some law or other that requires services not block 3rd party clients so that folks that want hacker-ui-theme, like me, have the ability.

wruza 2y ago

>1. This is not true. Mobile platforms do help with tapping on small elements. E.g. HN isn't mobile friendly "as is", but I have no issues with tapping any of the links. I've also used Exante mobile trading terminal for some time and had no issues with it either. I agree that accessibility still is the concern, but watching my grandma struggle with her tablet, it's mostly the fact that buttons aren't buttons and everything jumps around like clowns in circus and cannot stop, instead of being a proper user interface. I bet she'd have similar issues with appliances if their design was just random flat symbols on white surfaces that randomly disappear.

Aeolun 2y ago
> I bet she'd have similar issues with appliances if their design was just random flat symbols on white surfaces that randomly disappear. That sounds like the control panel for my fridge :)
g15jv2dp 2y ago
> This is not true. Mobile platforms do help with tapping on small elements. E.g. HN isn't mobile friendly "as is", but I have no issues with tapping any of the links. I've also used Exante mobile trading terminal for some time and had no issues with it either. Good for you, maybe your phone screen is huge. I routinely tap on the wrong element when using HN on mobile. Even on desktop I have to set the zoom level to 125%.
- wruza 2y ago
  4.7" iphone. They enlarge tap regions for tappable elements since forever, so you can’t miss.
  - prometheon1 2y ago
    You can miss quite easily if there is another tappable element right next to the one you are trying to click
  - mrgoldenbrown 2y ago
    If you have 3 tap regions already adjacent before enlargement, how does enlarging them help? Like the w, a and s keys on a keyboard. Making the regions larger will just make them overlap.
    - wruza 2y ago
      Idk how apple does that exactly. I’d just voronoi it if they intersect and tap outside-ish, just like I do with hn vote arrows. Anyway my point is that you can design interfaces denser than three buttons per screen and they will work. Not that a 5mm block with 8 links in it is a good button bar.