Matt CampbellNov 16, 2023

Came across this article on the decline of usability which, among other things, puts GNOME 3 in the same category as the notorious Windows 8. https://datagubbe.se/usab2/

I know that classic Mac/Windows conventions like menu bars and title bars aren't sacred forever. But this article does make a convincing case that the industry at large, including GNOME, has gone backward. And, at least for me, that's uncomfortable to contemplate.

Show threadAndreas Nilsson
@matt One thing the article doesn’t touch on or has any curiosity about is the contexts that these UIs were/are being used in and how that drives how they behave. “Classic” UIs operated in very specific contexts and on hardware with certain limitations. Modern UIs tries to solve the problems that arise from the devices and wider world they operate in.
Nov 17, 2023 at 9:51pmMammoth
Show threadAndreas NilssonNov 17, 2023
@matt and principles is great and all but only takes you so far. I really wish more software developers would get up from their desks and go out in the world to understand what problems their users are having and how software is being used to solve those problems. If that is best answered by a traditional menubar or a hamburger menu? I don’t know! We should go and find out! Chances are we might find out that this isn’t even the biggest problem with the software in the first place.