4 ms·

How is this meaningful at all? Of course people knew how to do stuff in Windows 7 because it had, except for some minor and cosmetic changes, basically the same

by x3ro 12y ago

How is this meaningful at all? Of course people knew how to do stuff in Windows 7 because it had, except for some minor and cosmetic changes, basically the same UI as Windows 95. Now with Windows 8 the actually re-designed stuff completely. Is that bad? Well, I myself had to Google a few basic things in the beginning as well, but once you know these basics everything else is rather straight forward. PS: I'm not a full-time windows user. I use OS X and Linux mostly.

cyphax 12y ago
It's a clear sign the UX of Windows 8 is _different_ from Windows 7, but whether that's bad or not would have to depend on what your expectations are. If you want things to remain the same between Windows 7 and Windows 8, you're going to be disappointed. If you don't mind getting used to changes, it's probably not so bad. That said, my personal experience with Windows 8.1 isn't great. It feels like a mix of 2 entirely different environments, one of which (modern UI) has no business on a desktop computer in my opinion. It makes for a confusing experience. I also strongly dislike the magic corners that allow you to switch between full-screen "apps" and the desktop, as well as the "charms bar". There's a lot to like as well, to be honest, but overall I wish they had stuck with the UX of Windows 7.
- smacktoward 12y ago
  All other things being equal, a different UI is a worse UI, since it forces users to discard what they've learned -- sometimes painfully, over many years -- and start back at square one. This is true of even terrible UIs, since those are the ones that force people to endure the greatest pain to learn them, and once people have gone through that pain they will do almost anything to avoid doing it again. Users feel about UIs the way programmers feel about programming languages. Imagine if Matz announced tomorrow that he was throwing out all the syntax of Ruby as it is known today and redesigning it from scratch. Rubyists would be freaking out! And in the case of UIs it's worse, because at least the Rubyists could stick with their old interpreters; in the world of online apps, when an app changes its UI, the old UI just falls off the face of the earth. You have no choice but to deal with it. This isn't to say that UIs should never change, just that in general they shouldn't change without a lot of thought and contemplation; smart designers should be biased towards continuity over novelty; and when change has to happen, it should happen incrementally rather than in the Windows 8 "big bang" style.
  - chrismcb 12y ago
    A different UI is not necessarily a worse UI. You are right in a different UI forces users to discard what they've learned. That means that the new UI has to a whole lot better than the old UI, to make it worth the pain of the learning process. Case in point, the mouse was a much different UI than what we had before, but it has been proven to be far superior, and worth the change. changing the UI just for the sake of change, that is bad for the user. Change it because it will be better (and not just marginally better)
chrismcb 12y ago
Yes it is bad... Different design is ok. But if you are going to break with a paradigm, it better be for a good reason. And "its different" isn't good enough. Certain things in your UI should be obvious, intuitive, easy to find. You shouldn't have to go look them up in Google. IF you are going to change things so drastically, then do something to teach the user (or do you think they will read your mind?) You shouldn't be forcing your user to use Google to figure out how to use your UI, for simple things. I realize Microsoft wanted to make closing apps more difficult, but the third item on the list is "how to find programs" You've done something horribly wrong if you have THIS many people asking that question.

by x3ro 12y ago

cyphax 12y ago

It's a clear sign the UX of Windows 8 is _different_ from Windows 7, but whether that's bad or not would have to depend on what your expectations are. If you want things to remain the same between Windows 7 and Windows 8, you're going to be disappointed. If you don't mind getting used to changes, it's probably not so bad. That said, my personal experience with Windows 8.1 isn't great. It feels like a mix of 2 entirely different environments, one of which (modern UI) has no business on a desktop computer in my opinion. It makes for a confusing experience. I also strongly dislike the magic corners that allow you to switch between full-screen "apps" and the desktop, as well as the "charms bar". There's a lot to like as well, to be honest, but overall I wish they had stuck with the UX of Windows 7.

smacktoward 12y ago
All other things being equal, a different UI is a worse UI, since it forces users to discard what they've learned -- sometimes painfully, over many years -- and start back at square one. This is true of even terrible UIs, since those are the ones that force people to endure the greatest pain to learn them, and once people have gone through that pain they will do almost anything to avoid doing it again. Users feel about UIs the way programmers feel about programming languages. Imagine if Matz announced tomorrow that he was throwing out all the syntax of Ruby as it is known today and redesigning it from scratch. Rubyists would be freaking out! And in the case of UIs it's worse, because at least the Rubyists could stick with their old interpreters; in the world of online apps, when an app changes its UI, the old UI just falls off the face of the earth. You have no choice but to deal with it. This isn't to say that UIs should never change, just that in general they shouldn't change without a lot of thought and contemplation; smart designers should be biased towards continuity over novelty; and when change has to happen, it should happen incrementally rather than in the Windows 8 "big bang" style.
- chrismcb 12y ago
  A different UI is not necessarily a worse UI. You are right in a different UI forces users to discard what they've learned. That means that the new UI has to a whole lot better than the old UI, to make it worth the pain of the learning process. Case in point, the mouse was a much different UI than what we had before, but it has been proven to be far superior, and worth the change. changing the UI just for the sake of change, that is bad for the user. Change it because it will be better (and not just marginally better)

chrismcb 12y ago

Yes it is bad... Different design is ok. But if you are going to break with a paradigm, it better be for a good reason. And "its different" isn't good enough. Certain things in your UI should be obvious, intuitive, easy to find. You shouldn't have to go look them up in Google. IF you are going to change things so drastically, then do something to teach the user (or do you think they will read your mind?) You shouldn't be forcing your user to use Google to figure out how to use your UI, for simple things. I realize Microsoft wanted to make closing apps more difficult, but the third item on the list is "how to find programs" You've done something horribly wrong if you have THIS many people asking that question.