4 ms·

A quick rule of thumb: if the title or the opening of the article for any technique do not contain some form of the phrase "when to use" or "under these circums

by HNJohnC 12y ago

A quick rule of thumb: if the title or the opening of the article for any technique do not contain some form of the phrase "when to use" or "under these circumstances" and instead contain absolutes like this title then you automatically know you are in for a slog to get any kind of general benefit from reading the article. People these days seem incredibly quick to publish articles without considering how limited their perspective might be and thus the responsible way to present the information.

themodelplumber 12y ago
A quick rule of thumb: When a headline appears on the front page at HN, that headline alone is enough of a signal for 99% of HN users. It says, "a number of people are thinking about this. We need to talk about this." Forget what the article says, just read what the headline is shouting from its highly-upvoted position. If you don't like the article, fine. But "let's talk about hamburger menus and practically invisible navigation" is a worthwhile signal.
- personZ 12y ago
  A very small minority of HN readers can propel something to the front-page with ease, with relatively few votes: Right now, two hours in, this has earned the arrows of a miserly 59 users. Undoubted thousands of others have browsed it and moved on, with by most measures is the opposite of the up arrow. I'm not speaking to the specifics of this submission, but the "it's on the front page therefore it has merit" argument is not reasonable. Topics that are particularly contentious (and feelings about UI is one of them, particularly when people are motivated by disagreements with co-workers about UI direction) tend to make the front-page with ease. Tomorrow - Why "hamburger" menus are the bestest. Also, TDD is the best, and so is NoSQL.
  - themodelplumber 12y ago
    > "it's on the front page therefore it has merit" I didn't say that. Why the quotes?
    - personZ 12y ago
      It is an accurate paraphrasing of what you did say. Do you disagree with that? The paraphrasing is necessary for discussion. EDIT: I would love to see what an accurate paraphrasing is, then. I've re-read your post and what I stated is dead on with what you claimed, which is a common misunderstanding of the importance or common-agreement of a front-page appearance.
      - themodelplumber 12y ago
        Nope, not accurate. Yes, I do disagree. No, the paraphrasing is not necessary for discussion (???). Not a biggie in the broader scheme of things though.
        Retric 12y ago
        As a third party "we need to talk about this" and the topic "has merit" are equivalent statements. Granted you may have intended something else, but that's not how it comes across. Anyway, as you did not clarify what did you mean?
- Jacqued 12y ago
  I actually submitted the article to initiate such a talk. The article failed to convince me completely, but it did make me think about the place of slide-in menus, since I consider hiding UI elements to be generally bad practice.
  - pistle 12y ago
    I've seen the doppleganger of this article a number of days ago and both drag out some form of nav bar as the alt. Really??? A nav bar, let alone a sliding nav bar, is tabs or an obese hamburger. We have been around this before. Tabbed desktop apps and tabbed web interfaces a la Amazon of the 90's. You know what this UI need? MORE TABS! The great unbundling will continue as small screens and human eyes can only deal with so much info per inch. I don't want to artificially engage with your A/B-optimized application. I want it to get the one or very few small things done that I need done. I don't want time sinks. I don't want to aimlessly dig through ambiguous icons looking for digital delight that you decided was unworthy of special treatment. If you are playing games with tricking humans into using your app, I question the value you are creating with your app. There's a thing in my hand and it should be about the size of half a banana. If I want to see another half a banana, I'll put this one down and pick the other one up. I have one hand, two eyes, and a hankering for bananas! Show me pretty bananas!
    - ulisesrmzroche 12y ago
      I honestly have no clue what you said and I don't think anyone else did either.
      - pistle 12y ago
        3 other people may have. Let me simplify for you. Hamburger hate is silly and a waste of time. The "better" alternatives have been done multiple times and keep getting ousted for their fundamental flaws. The value being espoused is "how to waste the user's time in your app." That's doubly wasteful. Stop creating artificial engagement and stop fighting the burger.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
ulisesrmzroche 12y ago
You forgot to mention that people these days are also incredibly petty. I don't see what's such a big deal about the title. Your quick rule of thumb is precisely the behavior you're pissed about.
frostmatthew 12y ago
The article contains a section titled "When Should I Use It?" as well as one titled "What Should I Use Instead?" Also, your rule of thumb knocking the use of absolutes sounds like an absolute.....

by HNJohnC 12y ago

themodelplumber 12y ago

A quick rule of thumb: When a headline appears on the front page at HN, that headline alone is enough of a signal for 99% of HN users. It says, "a number of people are thinking about this. We need to talk about this." Forget what the article says, just read what the headline is shouting from its highly-upvoted position. If you don't like the article, fine. But "let's talk about hamburger menus and practically invisible navigation" is a worthwhile signal.

personZ 12y ago
A very small minority of HN readers can propel something to the front-page with ease, with relatively few votes: Right now, two hours in, this has earned the arrows of a miserly 59 users. Undoubted thousands of others have browsed it and moved on, with by most measures is the opposite of the up arrow. I'm not speaking to the specifics of this submission, but the "it's on the front page therefore it has merit" argument is not reasonable. Topics that are particularly contentious (and feelings about UI is one of them, particularly when people are motivated by disagreements with co-workers about UI direction) tend to make the front-page with ease. Tomorrow - Why "hamburger" menus are the bestest. Also, TDD is the best, and so is NoSQL.
- themodelplumber 12y ago
  > "it's on the front page therefore it has merit" I didn't say that. Why the quotes?
  - personZ 12y ago
    It is an accurate paraphrasing of what you did say. Do you disagree with that? The paraphrasing is necessary for discussion. EDIT: I would love to see what an accurate paraphrasing is, then. I've re-read your post and what I stated is dead on with what you claimed, which is a common misunderstanding of the importance or common-agreement of a front-page appearance.
    - themodelplumber 12y ago
      Nope, not accurate. Yes, I do disagree. No, the paraphrasing is not necessary for discussion (???). Not a biggie in the broader scheme of things though.
      - Retric 12y ago
        As a third party "we need to talk about this" and the topic "has merit" are equivalent statements. Granted you may have intended something else, but that's not how it comes across. Anyway, as you did not clarify what did you mean?
Jacqued 12y ago
I actually submitted the article to initiate such a talk. The article failed to convince me completely, but it did make me think about the place of slide-in menus, since I consider hiding UI elements to be generally bad practice.
- pistle 12y ago
  I've seen the doppleganger of this article a number of days ago and both drag out some form of nav bar as the alt. Really??? A nav bar, let alone a sliding nav bar, is tabs or an obese hamburger. We have been around this before. Tabbed desktop apps and tabbed web interfaces a la Amazon of the 90's. You know what this UI need? MORE TABS! The great unbundling will continue as small screens and human eyes can only deal with so much info per inch. I don't want to artificially engage with your A/B-optimized application. I want it to get the one or very few small things done that I need done. I don't want time sinks. I don't want to aimlessly dig through ambiguous icons looking for digital delight that you decided was unworthy of special treatment. If you are playing games with tricking humans into using your app, I question the value you are creating with your app. There's a thing in my hand and it should be about the size of half a banana. If I want to see another half a banana, I'll put this one down and pick the other one up. I have one hand, two eyes, and a hankering for bananas! Show me pretty bananas!
  - ulisesrmzroche 12y ago
    I honestly have no clue what you said and I don't think anyone else did either.
    - pistle 12y ago
      3 other people may have. Let me simplify for you. Hamburger hate is silly and a waste of time. The "better" alternatives have been done multiple times and keep getting ousted for their fundamental flaws. The value being espoused is "how to waste the user's time in your app." That's doubly wasteful. Stop creating artificial engagement and stop fighting the burger.
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]

ulisesrmzroche 12y ago

You forgot to mention that people these days are also incredibly petty. I don't see what's such a big deal about the title. Your quick rule of thumb is precisely the behavior you're pissed about.

frostmatthew 12y ago

The article contains a section titled "When Should I Use It?" as well as one titled "What Should I Use Instead?" Also, your rule of thumb knocking the use of absolutes sounds like an absolute.....