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> I remember using Blender when everyone was saying how terrible of a UX it was. I remember those days too, and I also remember that once I actually adapted to

> I remember using Blender when everyone was saying how terrible of a UX it was. I remember those days too, and I also remember that once I actually adapted to how Blender worked, it turned out it was superior in many ways to other 3D software of that time period. The workflow was just too different for a lotta folks to adapt to. Fast forward a couple major version numbers, and Blender's mostly kept everything that was great about how it worked, and managed to cater in many ways to those who could not adapt to how different it was. It's been so much ongoing massive improvement without all the usual destruction of everything that it was already doing right that we so often see.

whstl 2y ago
IMO doing a redesign that improves things without pissing off old users is probably the hardest thing those projects can do. I've seen FAANG companies messing this up so much that it makes it 10x more impressive that an open source project managed to do it.
- abustamam 2y ago
  I still have trouble creating issues in Jira because it's never where I expect it to be. I know it's at the top bar somewhere, but even after years of it being there, I don't expect it to be there because it feels so unnatural.
- blooalien 2y ago
  > IMO doing a redesign that improves things without pissing off old users is probably the hardest thing those projects can do. I feel that the way that Blender has succeeded so brilliantly at exactly that is their master-stroke. The software was already an amazing tool, but the way they've managed to actually improve it without destroying it in the process... Wow. Truly amazing.
danielbln 2y ago
I used it heavily in 2006 and the UX learning curve was certainly a steep wall, but once broken through it became quite intuitive, even back then where everything looked like a Space Shuttle cockpit.
- blooalien 2y ago
  Oh yeah, absolutely it was. Steepest learning curve of any software I've learned, but as you say, there comes a point where it suddenly "clicks" in your mind somewhere along the way, and then you find yourself actually using the tool as it was intended and it's glorious. The workflow of one hand on the mouse and one on the keyboard tapping hotkeys really just works for 3D modeling. I'm so very happy that they kept most all of that goodness through all their improvements over the years. Didn't brutally murder what made it good. Only improved and expanded upon it, and rearranged a few bits here and there for added convenience.

whstl 2y ago

IMO doing a redesign that improves things without pissing off old users is probably the hardest thing those projects can do. I've seen FAANG companies messing this up so much that it makes it 10x more impressive that an open source project managed to do it.

abustamam 2y ago
I still have trouble creating issues in Jira because it's never where I expect it to be. I know it's at the top bar somewhere, but even after years of it being there, I don't expect it to be there because it feels so unnatural.
blooalien 2y ago
> IMO doing a redesign that improves things without pissing off old users is probably the hardest thing those projects can do. I feel that the way that Blender has succeeded so brilliantly at exactly that is their master-stroke. The software was already an amazing tool, but the way they've managed to actually improve it without destroying it in the process... Wow. Truly amazing.

danielbln 2y ago

I used it heavily in 2006 and the UX learning curve was certainly a steep wall, but once broken through it became quite intuitive, even back then where everything looked like a Space Shuttle cockpit.

blooalien 2y ago
Oh yeah, absolutely it was. Steepest learning curve of any software I've learned, but as you say, there comes a point where it suddenly "clicks" in your mind somewhere along the way, and then you find yourself actually using the tool as it was intended and it's glorious. The workflow of one hand on the mouse and one on the keyboard tapping hotkeys really just works for 3D modeling. I'm so very happy that they kept most all of that goodness through all their improvements over the years. Didn't brutally murder what made it good. Only improved and expanded upon it, and rearranged a few bits here and there for added convenience.