Usability: Why Not Hide Stuff and Use Low Contrast Colors? We Do, We Do!
April 19, 2020
“The Decline of Usability” complains that current user interfaces suck. The main pivot in the write up is the application of mobile design conventions to desktop applications. Yeah, mobile. Doesn’t everyone work with a phone, Franken-tablet, or a game device?
Apparently not.
The author of the article uses screenshots to illustrate the craziness applications favor. The article asserts:
Usability, or as it used to be called, “User Friendliness”, is steadily declining. During the last ten years or so, adhering to basic standard concepts seems to have fallen out of fashion.
The article points out about a stack of title bars that appear to create instant confusion:
Almost all of the title bars contain some kind of UI widget. Some have little tool icons, some have tabs, some have drop-down menus, some have combinations thereof. There is no set behavior and, more importantly, the clickable area for traditional operations (move, focus, raise) on each title bar is now of variable width. If you’re accustomed to a title bar being for handling the window and nothing else, it’s very easy to misclick and activate an application feature you didn’t intend to.
Just a thought: The youngsters who create these difficult-to-use interfaces may want to consider making it possible for users to select a less-jazzy version of an application.
Not everyone wants a black interface with gray highlights. Not everyone wants colors to be low contrast. Not everyone wants weird icons instead of words.
However, the future is clear: Game-type conventions, creating interfaces for young eyes, and removing user control of interface elements is the trend.
The approach is not cute; it is indifferent to the needs of many users.
Stephen E Arnold, April 19, 2020
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