• The_sleepy_woke_dialectic [he/him]
    ·
    edit-2
    18 days ago

    Right? A computer is a computer. I can theoretically run any arbitrary program on this thing. So why is every phone app so objectively shitass?

    There's momentum on phones to make programs that aren't for the existing user, they're for the new user, the potential next user. They go so far as to define first time users' experience as "user friendly". Well I'm a user too and it certainly isn't very friendly to me when I have to go hunting for a feature you took away last week and hid somewhere.

    Also, any time a UX designer says the word " cluttered" they should be immediately shot because that word means "this app is too useful and it might scare grandma if she sees three too many buttons"

    • SkingradGuard [he/him, comrade/them]
      ·
      17 days ago

      I think with the cluttered thing, it really depends on what the app is trying to do. Sometimes it works sometimes it just results in too many taps to get where you want.

      But you're right, there's this tendency to do minimalist design for minimalism's sake. I think it's mainly to do with the corpo influence on tech, especially with mobile apps.

      • The_sleepy_woke_dialectic [he/him]
        ·
        17 days ago

        A lot of these "apps" would have been tray programs or terminal one liners as well. Making that into a whole app is a form of clutter.

    • KobaCumTribute [she/her]
      ·
      edit-2
      17 days ago

      Clutter is a real thing, but it's something that's present all the time when it really should not be and is so in an obstructive way, such as ads, locked out premium features, reminders of premium features they want you to buy, wasted empty space, etc. In contrast something like a settings menu definitionally cannot be cluttered (at worst it can be disorganized or poorly labeled) because it's something that's rarely touched and which needs to be exhaustive in its contents.

      So apps tend to be actually extremely cluttered in bad ways (because monetization is real clutter), while also being infuriatingly barebones. They're the actual worst thing and should simply stop being a thing.

    • AmericaDelendaEst [comrade/them]
      ·
      17 days ago

      Well I'm a user too and it certainly isn't very friendly to me when I have to go hunting for a feature you took away last week and hid somewhere.

      At some point it should be punishable by law to change shit.

      Like imo someone should hang for the slow steps Reddit is taking to kill old.reddit.com when people CLEARLY FUCKING LIKE IT AND PREFER IT TO THEIR FUCKING APP.

      I've used old.reddit.com for years because the mobile site is just fucking garbage. And it just works, so much better. It's infinitely faster. The app is even worse than the mobile site.

      Like all this fucking time and energy wasted on work making shit nobody wants

      • The_sleepy_woke_dialectic [he/him]
        ·
        edit-2
        17 days ago

        We need to create a new cool af retro sci fi guillotine for the tech companies' CEOs because they ruined computers and the internet. I'm thinking either laser guillotine or like a gigantic Jacob's ladder in reverse. I'm open to suggestions.

            • AmericaDelendaEst [comrade/them]
              ·
              edit-2
              17 days ago

              I think it just uses lasers to heat up the weed but idk I've never used one. But like, what if we make one, but bigger? you've heard of the gas chamber, the bourgeoisie will fear the laser chamber

              • The_sleepy_woke_dialectic [he/him]
                ·
                17 days ago

                Hmm is it like a disco rave inside and they have to jump over the lasers for hours until they can't anymore? Can we televise this?