jes!Oct 15, 2023

ease of use devours the soul!  

i want software i use to feel like my mom’s iron pan. the pan requires skill, care, and understanding. it says “if you learn to use me, i’ll serve you forever. but you have to care.”

the opposite is something like an air fryer. it’s immediately easy to use, but it can never feel as real and human as an iron pan.

i want my tools to require _effort_ from me. i want to have to invest in them a little. otherwise they feel like ghosts.

Show threadOrnella 🍉Oct 18, 2023
@j3s funny, I relate but disagree. IMO difficulty of use should be reserved to the things you actually want to spend time and effort on. The average restaurant owner wants to put their menu online, not learn to build websites... Also IMO the risk is that if you invest a lot of time in a tool, you start to use that tool for everything instead of learning others that are better suited - you might end up cooking rice in your skillet, bc you've never learned to use a pot or pressure cooker. Ya know?
Show threadSu-SheeOct 18, 2023
@being @j3s "oh I want my household items to require more effort so that I can feel even more human" - no women doing all the chores and cooking and handling of heavy iron pans, ever. a short reminder that "ease of use" has a serious history of safety and liberation and this is really a luxury position to say "I want my software to require more effort" meanwhile excel made it possible for regular people to do very advanced business stuff. I want super smooth stuff that I can DO things with it
Show threadjes!Oct 18, 2023

@sushee @being thx for pointing this out. i recognize how ease of use is tied to accessibility, and making things more accessible is a good thing.

for example, tiktok has made it opened up whole worlds of creativity to people who never would have made videos otherwise. i think that more people being creative is good - lowering the accessibility barrier is important & helps with inclusivity. there are many other problems with tiktok, but there’s value too.

Show threadjes!

@sushee @being the funny thing is, i care a lot about ease of use for the software i use.

i think im chiefly against optimizing for ease of use _always_. i like kneading dough by hand, chopping with a knife, cutting wood with an axe - especially around other people. the activity helps create a sort of warmth and connection i can’t squeeze out of a breadmaker, or a woodsplitter

that’s the idea i’m trying to convey, but about software. it’s not fully formed.

Oct 18, 2023 at 1:39pmWeb
Show threadjes!Oct 18, 2023

@sushee @being and i’m sorry if it came off as “everyone should always do everything the hard way” - that is very much not what i believe.

i want my acts of software creation to feel like knitting my friend a sweater, not industrially pressing a sweater from a mold. that’s the sort of “soul” or “realness” i’m getting at.

Show threadOrnella 🍉Oct 18, 2023
@j3s @sushee I appreciate you clarifying and I totally relate esp. with the metaphor of making bread by hand vs. using a breadmaker. It's the act of craftsmanship, really. Makes me think of the IKEA model and how even with industrially-produced furniture, we feel more attachment to the things we had to put together ourselves (even if it's 5% of the work)
Show threadjes!Oct 18, 2023
@being @sushee that’s funny, i never thought about that part of ikea’s business model but it makes total sense, thank you for that imagery!
Show threadSu-SheeOct 18, 2023
@j3s marx points out precisely that as a mark of capitalism the disenfranchised worker, disconnected from the whole etc. at the same time though thoreau got food delivered from mom while praising the simplicity of life in the woods
Show threadSu-SheeOct 18, 2023
@j3s @being Oh I got you - I'm mainly pointing out that being able to have the time and aquire the skill to knit a sweater, bake a bread etc is a question of privilege because you don't have to. your bread and your sweater isn't a necessity you have to perform cheap and fast to eg feed and cloth a family. you aren't a maid who has to make a living on the our romanticized notion of scrubbing wooden floors on our knees with handmade soap so we can afford to view this as a craft and labour of love
Show threadjes!Oct 18, 2023
@sushee @being thanks for pointing that out, i wonder if the term “luxury simplicity” makes sense, it reminds me of millionaires who have the time/budget/life exp to travel the world, but treat the travel as a romanticized adventure & not an enormous privilege. thx for helping ground me, lots to think about.