Productivity software, computer maintenance tools, creative software suites, integrated development environments, habit trackers, language learning apps, video games, video streaming libraries, pretty much anything that involves a screen feels bad. It's so odd that every bit of software's UI/UX feels both overly designed/bloated but also simultaneously barren and empty. Software design seems increasingly unable to fulfill its basic functionality. So many of the bits of software that we interact with feel identical but also somehow feel distinctly bad.
I can't articulate how capitalism is to blame but if any of you could help I would appreciate it.
You’d think that there would be some sort of universal visual/technical language we can all agree upon but it seems that there is no real driving aesthetic philosophy for systems we use every day. Aside from getting users to interact with a payment system/outlet all of the software we use has dreadful UI/UX.
Paying for something is very easy. Simple and intuitive (most of the time), it’s usually one to four clicks/taps but actually using a thing is seemingly more difficult. Using a common feature of a product can be somewhere between two to nine clicks/taps. I don’t think everything should be command-line interfaces (CLI) of course, but I will say that CLI at least usually allow users to get what they want.
I know it’s usually answered with “because money”, but how and why are UI/UX so universally bad for pretty much every bit of software we all use? It feels kind like how every car (fuck cars) had the same weird amorphous shape that is both considered “normal” must also universally unappealing.
What happened?
I keep telling folks I work with, there's a difference between computer literate and digital natives. I was shocked when I learned a lot of college students do all their work on an ipad or worse, an iphone!!!!
Someone just submitted a group discussion in my college course by screenshotting a text message.
I promised myself I wouldn't become a boomer who shits on younger folk for not knowing obscure tech I grew up with but it's gotten so much harder. At least rotary phones were obsolete, desktops are still the standard in 99% of workplaces.
I've realized that I need to go over how to turn on a desktop tower and monitor because they literally can't troubleshoot it on their own.
Do they even use a bluetooth keyboard? Surely this is asking for some kind of RSI.