3 ms·

As a "tech person" I feel like we've all been told for 20+ years that we can't have UX that makes any sense to us, or lets us do simple things we want to do, be

As a "tech person" I feel like we've all been told for 20+ years that we can't have UX that makes any sense to us, or lets us do simple things we want to do, because we are power users and software has to cater to some imagined demographic of incredibly dumb people who can't understand basic computing metaphors. It can get frustrating.

jimbokun 2y ago
Which would be fine if they easily allowed us to write software and scripts for our own devices.
- evilduck 2y ago
  Shortcuts.app exists, you can even tie those scripts to a hardware button now or ask Siri to execute them or place them as app-like icons or as interactive widgets on your home screen or Lock Screen, or tie them to automation events (schedules, but even more fine grained like "when I get a message from this person, send them an email", or "when I get home, log the current weather to a new line in a table on a spreadsheet". A script gallery even exists where scripts can easily be shared and ran by anyone or shared across iMessages. Not everything is available like on a rooted Android of course, but I can at least create a Shortcut script and give it to any iOS user regardless of their technical expertise and they can utilize it, which is leagues ahead of the situation amongst non-rooted Android and non-technical Android users.
kridsdale3 2y ago
I'm a Growth Engineer. What that actually means is "make the UI so incredibly simple people who are functionally illiterate somehow make their way to the place you want them to be so you can eventually monetize them". I view users moving through interfaces in a mass abstracted form like electrical or hydrological currents. My job is to widen the pipes.
- awfulneutral 2y ago
  Well, cynically that fits with my own experience. :) But I don't know if I'd say it's simpler, just that you don't have any choices. For me Apple UX often feels complicated and I can't figure out how to do what I want, or figure out what is going to happen when I accept some dialog they want me to accept. But I guess I end up going through the pipe eventually, out of frustration. My impression of my non-tech friends is that they aren't too dumb to follow instructions, they just don't enjoy operating a computer like I do, so they are more okay with their choices being restricted if they don't have to waste time doing something they find boring.

jimbokun 2y ago

Which would be fine if they easily allowed us to write software and scripts for our own devices.

evilduck 2y ago
Shortcuts.app exists, you can even tie those scripts to a hardware button now or ask Siri to execute them or place them as app-like icons or as interactive widgets on your home screen or Lock Screen, or tie them to automation events (schedules, but even more fine grained like "when I get a message from this person, send them an email", or "when I get home, log the current weather to a new line in a table on a spreadsheet". A script gallery even exists where scripts can easily be shared and ran by anyone or shared across iMessages. Not everything is available like on a rooted Android of course, but I can at least create a Shortcut script and give it to any iOS user regardless of their technical expertise and they can utilize it, which is leagues ahead of the situation amongst non-rooted Android and non-technical Android users.

kridsdale3 2y ago

I'm a Growth Engineer. What that actually means is "make the UI so incredibly simple people who are functionally illiterate somehow make their way to the place you want them to be so you can eventually monetize them". I view users moving through interfaces in a mass abstracted form like electrical or hydrological currents. My job is to widen the pipes.

awfulneutral 2y ago
Well, cynically that fits with my own experience. :) But I don't know if I'd say it's simpler, just that you don't have any choices. For me Apple UX often feels complicated and I can't figure out how to do what I want, or figure out what is going to happen when I accept some dialog they want me to accept. But I guess I end up going through the pipe eventually, out of frustration. My impression of my non-tech friends is that they aren't too dumb to follow instructions, they just don't enjoy operating a computer like I do, so they are more okay with their choices being restricted if they don't have to waste time doing something they find boring.