5 ms·

But why. Why that hate for every new UI nowadays.

zichy 9y ago
For example, there is a reason[1] why round avatars are a bad idea. Although I must say that twitter.com seems to have improved in terms of keyboard navigation and the visible keyboard focus. [1]: https://twitter.com/MattNavarra/status/875389431372533760 https://twitter.com/MattNavarra/status/875389431372533760
- Sirikon 9y ago
  Avatars thought to be in a squared container looking bad in a round container... it's logical.
- rjeli 9y ago
  Another important reason circle avatars are bad: https://twitter.com/chordbug/status/875348114160459776 https://twitter.com/chordbug/status/875348114160459776
Karunamon 9y ago
Perhaps if the new UI's actually improved presentation of information rather than being an exercise in aesthetic wankery that makes the site less usable?
- Sirikon 9y ago
  I can see some improvements on font and icon rendering, though.
- accountyaccount 9y ago
  I know someone on the design team and they actually did user testing against the changes, and it's a mix of usability improvements and aesthetics. You can't really say something is less usable without some evidence.
  - Karunamon 9y ago
    Ah, so that's why they broke everyone's avatars overnight. Much usability. So aesthetic. Wow. ..Snark aside, given that this is the company that won't even let people see their tweets in reverse chronological order, I don't put a whole lot of stock in their testing. Were actual users involved, or was it a tiny focus group?
    - pavanky 9y ago
      You can disable the modified timeline if you wish to: https://support.twitter.com/articles/164083 https://support.twitter.com/articles/164083
      - Karunamon 9y ago
        That still isn't a proper reverse chronological sort (tweets still display out of order according to some magical backend fuckery), and that's before the constant injection of the "What you might have missed.." into my timeline no matter how many times I click the "I don't want to see this" button. New stuff top, old stuff bottom. This is the simplest concept in computer science.
        pmontra 9y ago
        I'm thinking about exceptions. These comments in HN, probably sorted by upvotes or activity. FB replies, last one at the bottom, which I think is pretty natural. Thunderbird's default of last email at the bottom, which I reverse in every folder. But the last at bottom conversation view is ok. WordPress comments. *nix mail's list of messages. Probably many others.
    - accountyaccount 9y ago
      Tested on samples of actual users. Unsure of size because I don't work there. If you think making avatars round is a usability issue this conversation isn't even worth having. You seem bent on deriding change regardless of what I say.
badthingfactory 9y ago
Resistance to change has no boundaries.
- Spivak 9y ago
  And the desire to needlessly overdesign UIs has a similar bound. All change is good change, right?
  - badthingfactory 9y ago
    Nope, I happen to think the round images are a bad change.
- Angostura 9y ago
  ... but it does have rounded corners.
romanovcode 9y ago
Because they cannot even align button text in vertically? - https://i.imgur.com/532Mdva.png https://i.imgur.com/532Mdva.png
ungzd 9y ago
New Twitter UI is not as bad as their other new features (algorithmic rearranging of timeline, likes sometimes shown as retweets, autoplay video of sports broadcasts) but still looks like trolling by designers. It's too retro, too much Raygun Gothic aesthetic. It does not fit to rough and casual nature of Twitter.
s_kilk 9y ago
Because the new UI is trash.
throwaway91111 9y ago
Well, a lot of it is designed to show ads and disguise lack of quality content.
runn1ng 9y ago
It happens every time popular service does a redesign. People will eventually get used to it and will want it back as "the old twitter" when they inevitably do another redesign. Usability is exactly the same (for better or worse), it just looks a bit different.
et-al 9y ago
Because oftentimes the new UI is designed by someone who read too much on whitespace and aesthetics and sacrifices information density. AmEx recently redesigned their site. Before, I could easily see all my credit card transactions with minimal clicks and scrolling. Now, everything is enlarged by 1.25x (probably a poorly done responsive design) and I find myself scrolling a lot more. The Gmail iOS app redesign from last autumn was poorly done, too. They waste precious horizontal space on your phone to display a circle with an avatar or the person's initials. I don't need that shit for email. I just need the sender's name. If designers focused on providing the information a user wants with a minimal number of interactions, I think there'd be less hate.
- bpicolo 9y ago
  People jump on the social media hate train every time a major app redesigns literally anything (logo, website, whatever). It's bandwaggoning that people promptly get over
- AlexandrB 9y ago
  I agree completely and it's super-ironic that many of these designs claim to focus on "content" while filling the screen with useless chrome (of the whitespace variety).
wingerlang 9y ago
It is not nowadays, it's been like this forever. I remember even myself loudly complaining about some service(s) some decade ago when they changed. I have since come to the realisation that I'll get used to whatever is changed at some point, and that makes me not care anymore. Usually, anyway.

For example, there is a reason[1] why round avatars are a bad idea. Although I must say that twitter.com seems to have improved in terms of keyboard navigation and the visible keyboard focus. [1]: https://twitter.com/MattNavarra/status/875389431372533760 https://twitter.com/MattNavarra/status/875389431372533760

Sirikon 9y ago
Avatars thought to be in a squared container looking bad in a round container... it's logical.
rjeli 9y ago
Another important reason circle avatars are bad: https://twitter.com/chordbug/status/875348114160459776 https://twitter.com/chordbug/status/875348114160459776

Karunamon 9y ago

Perhaps if the new UI's actually improved presentation of information rather than being an exercise in aesthetic wankery that makes the site less usable?

Sirikon 9y ago
I can see some improvements on font and icon rendering, though.
accountyaccount 9y ago
I know someone on the design team and they actually did user testing against the changes, and it's a mix of usability improvements and aesthetics. You can't really say something is less usable without some evidence.
- Karunamon 9y ago
  Ah, so that's why they broke everyone's avatars overnight. Much usability. So aesthetic. Wow. ..Snark aside, given that this is the company that won't even let people see their tweets in reverse chronological order, I don't put a whole lot of stock in their testing. Were actual users involved, or was it a tiny focus group?
  - pavanky 9y ago
    You can disable the modified timeline if you wish to: https://support.twitter.com/articles/164083 https://support.twitter.com/articles/164083
    - Karunamon 9y ago
      That still isn't a proper reverse chronological sort (tweets still display out of order according to some magical backend fuckery), and that's before the constant injection of the "What you might have missed.." into my timeline no matter how many times I click the "I don't want to see this" button. New stuff top, old stuff bottom. This is the simplest concept in computer science.
      - pmontra 9y ago
        I'm thinking about exceptions. These comments in HN, probably sorted by upvotes or activity. FB replies, last one at the bottom, which I think is pretty natural. Thunderbird's default of last email at the bottom, which I reverse in every folder. But the last at bottom conversation view is ok. WordPress comments. *nix mail's list of messages. Probably many others.
  - accountyaccount 9y ago
    Tested on samples of actual users. Unsure of size because I don't work there. If you think making avatars round is a usability issue this conversation isn't even worth having. You seem bent on deriding change regardless of what I say.

badthingfactory 9y ago

Resistance to change has no boundaries.

Spivak 9y ago
And the desire to needlessly overdesign UIs has a similar bound. All change is good change, right?
- badthingfactory 9y ago
  Nope, I happen to think the round images are a bad change.
Angostura 9y ago
... but it does have rounded corners.

romanovcode 9y ago

Because they cannot even align button text in vertically? - https://i.imgur.com/532Mdva.png https://i.imgur.com/532Mdva.png

ungzd 9y ago

New Twitter UI is not as bad as their other new features (algorithmic rearranging of timeline, likes sometimes shown as retweets, autoplay video of sports broadcasts) but still looks like trolling by designers. It's too retro, too much Raygun Gothic aesthetic. It does not fit to rough and casual nature of Twitter.

s_kilk 9y ago

Because the new UI is trash.

throwaway91111 9y ago

Well, a lot of it is designed to show ads and disguise lack of quality content.

runn1ng 9y ago

It happens every time popular service does a redesign. People will eventually get used to it and will want it back as "the old twitter" when they inevitably do another redesign. Usability is exactly the same (for better or worse), it just looks a bit different.

et-al 9y ago

Because oftentimes the new UI is designed by someone who read too much on whitespace and aesthetics and sacrifices information density. AmEx recently redesigned their site. Before, I could easily see all my credit card transactions with minimal clicks and scrolling. Now, everything is enlarged by 1.25x (probably a poorly done responsive design) and I find myself scrolling a lot more. The Gmail iOS app redesign from last autumn was poorly done, too. They waste precious horizontal space on your phone to display a circle with an avatar or the person's initials. I don't need that shit for email. I just need the sender's name. If designers focused on providing the information a user wants with a minimal number of interactions, I think there'd be less hate.

bpicolo 9y ago
People jump on the social media hate train every time a major app redesigns literally anything (logo, website, whatever). It's bandwaggoning that people promptly get over
AlexandrB 9y ago
I agree completely and it's super-ironic that many of these designs claim to focus on "content" while filling the screen with useless chrome (of the whitespace variety).

wingerlang 9y ago

It is not nowadays, it's been like this forever. I remember even myself loudly complaining about some service(s) some decade ago when they changed. I have since come to the realisation that I'll get used to whatever is changed at some point, and that makes me not care anymore. Usually, anyway.