Difference between revisions of "1770: UI Change"
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And, just as young people like to complain about petty changes to websites, old people complain about the way their body starts to break down as they age. Muscle weakness makes tasks like opening doors and jars more difficult, the senses such as sight and hearing deteriorate, and mental processes such as memory and rationalization can become slower and less reliable. These have a far bigger impact on one's day-to-day ability to do tasks than a simple UI change. | And, just as young people like to complain about petty changes to websites, old people complain about the way their body starts to break down as they age. Muscle weakness makes tasks like opening doors and jars more difficult, the senses such as sight and hearing deteriorate, and mental processes such as memory and rationalization can become slower and less reliable. These have a far bigger impact on one's day-to-day ability to do tasks than a simple UI change. | ||
| − | When big websites make unpopular changes, users sometimes start petition to have them reverted - for example, [http://www.pcworld.com/article/161752/facebook_users_against_redesign.html 1.7 million Facebook users] joined "Petition Against the New Facebook". Of course, they didn't get their way, and nowadays few will even remember the old Facebook layout. As for aging, well, there's no-one you could even try petitioning. | + | When big websites make unpopular changes, users sometimes start petition to have them reverted - for example, [http://www.pcworld.com/article/161752/facebook_users_against_redesign.html 1.7 million Facebook users] joined "Petition Against the New Facebook". Of course, they didn't get their way, and nowadays few will even remember the old Facebook layout. As for aging, well, there's no-one you could even try petitioning{{Citation needed}}. |
==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
Revision as of 13:16, 9 December 2016
| UI Change |
 Title text: I know they said this change is permanent, but surely when they hear how much we're complaining someone will find a way to change things back. |
Explanation
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This explanation may be incomplete or incorrect: First draft. If you can address this issue, please edit the page! Thanks. |
When websites and apps are updated, menu functions are often shifted around either to make space for new features, or simply to make the app feel tidier. Whether or not these changes are good in the long term, users often complain because all the workflows they're familiar with have been changed, and often the software never tells you where buttons and other options have been moved to.
And, just as young people like to complain about petty changes to websites, old people complain about the way their body starts to break down as they age. Muscle weakness makes tasks like opening doors and jars more difficult, the senses such as sight and hearing deteriorate, and mental processes such as memory and rationalization can become slower and less reliable. These have a far bigger impact on one's day-to-day ability to do tasks than a simple UI change.
When big websites make unpopular changes, users sometimes start petition to have them reverted - for example, 1.7 million Facebook users joined "Petition Against the New Facebook". Of course, they didn't get their way, and nowadays few will even remember the old Facebook layout. As for aging, well, there's no-one you could even try petitioning[citation needed].
Transcript
[Cueball is doing something on his phone]
Cueball: Ugh, I hate when apps make arbitrary changes to their UI.
Cueball: Stuff I do all the time just got harder for no reason!
Off-Screen Voice: Man.
Off-Screen Voice: You are not gonna like getting old.
add a comment! ⋅ add a topic (use sparingly)! ⋅ 
refresh comments!Discussion
Man, Facebook Android App did this just this morning! Comments are broken!Seebert (talk) 14:01, 9 December 2016 (UTC)
Pretty funny how the explainer so far focused on physical deterioration (old people's bodies beginning to fail) with respect to the offscreen comment. Randall is an environmentalist like everyone else, but even he clearly acknowledges in this comic that the point is mental deterioration and intelligence decrease with age -- failure to grasp things such as interfaces as fast as before. It's not about motor performance at all. ~~~~ 162.158.203.145 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)
- That's somewhat right, but I think that getting old means that you find it much harder to understand new things, but the things you could always do well you still can, except into much older ages. But I have no proof of this, it's just my experience. I'm open to being proved wrong by a study. Also, please don't nowiki your "~~~~" at the end of your comment, it defeats the purpose. 162.158.2.60 11:12, 10 December 2016 (UTC)
Title text scenario: the Windows 8 removed START button was reintroduced first via community hacks ("classic shell"), then officially with version 8.1 (ref.WIKI) and is still there now (W10 - but, how long for?): sometimes it just makes sense to go back, IF/WHEN possible 162.158.150.218 15:07, 9 December 2016 (UTC)
- I think one of the best examples would be the removal of the Context-Menu key on Android devices. Previously, menus could be accessed in any app by pressing the same key on nearly any Android device. (The Running-Apps screen could be accessed by holding the Home key.) When the Menu key was removed, many apps took a long time to implement an on-screen Menu button (making many features unavailable on those newer devices until all apps were updated to add an on-screen Menu button), & there is STILL no consistent standard for where this button is placed on the screen. In addition, the icon representing the Menu button often varies, with some apps using a "hamburger" icon (a stack of 3 horizontal lines) & others using a "dots" icon (a stack of 3 dots). Some apps even have TWO menus, using each of the icons on opposite sides of the screen. The Context-Menu key has been replaced with a dedicated Running-Apps key. (Presumably in an effort to get users to "close" their apps more often? Ironically, many apps will relaunch their background processes unless Exit/Quit is selected from their internal menus.) Context-Menus are used with great frequency in many apps, especially when toggling a setting is desired. Given the frequency with which Context-Menus are needed, & the relative infrequency with which the Running-Apps screen is needed, this could be seen as an arbitrary, nonsensical, & annoying UI alteration.
(Also, why are there so rarely any text labels on icons anymore? High resolution interfaces give plenty of pixels to fit a small line of text under each icon, reading "Menu", "New", "Delete", et cetera. Certainly, multi-lingual development would be slowed by the need to translate text-labels, but the increase in usability may often be worth it. For instance, the "Archive" icon in Gmail doesn't really look enough like anything to give an indication of its purpose until you tap it. The extensive use of pictograms often accompanies other symptoms of a society in decline. If we need pictograms where common labels would go, that's probably not a good sign for our social development.) 108.162.221.213 20:30, 13 December 2016 (UTC)
The title text has two levels: both Application interfaces and getting old. Randall is likely referencing Google's Calico lab which made a minor media buzz in 2013 with headlines like CNN's, "How Google's Calico aims to fight aging and 'solve death'. The MSN feed recently featured one of these stories along with Microsoft trying to "solve" cancer. 162.158.58.52 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)
" products claiming to grant it have all been shams" That is exactly what they want you to believe! Elektrizikekswerk (talk) 15:57, 9 December 2016 (UTC)
Psst!, the title text is politics duh. Old people protest with their vote to change things back. Now if they are angry enough, politicians will change things back, right? 'Cause that's always possible.--162.158.114.148 16:57, 9 December 2016 (UTC)
I'm not sure the "getting old" refers to loss of physical and mental function so much as "arbitrary" changes in society's "user interface": newspapers disappearing, face-to-face socializing being displaced by on-line interactions, job discrimination against older workers (especially those who haven't updated their skills), etc. 162.158.214.64 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)
- I agree, the comment about "getting old" seems more relevant to changes in society than changes in one's body. Many processes which were once relatively simple have been made fully electronic, or deprecated entirely; For instance, customer assistance that was once a phone call away is now often hidden behind an extensive menu system, if it is available at all. "Electronic billing" generally does NOT send you a bill, but rather requires you to go log into a website to retrieve it. Forms & services which were previously relatively straightforward may now be complicated by extensive anti-fraud measures. Devices that once had only basic controls like "Power" & "Play" may now involve multiple steps to perform a single action. "The cloud" (off-site 3rd party service) is now used for many features which previously were performed locally within the device itself, resulting in additional Connection, Login, Buffering, Conversion, (Re-re-re-)Retransmission, & battery considerations. In many ways, our new-gen digital systems are less convenient than in years past. Even YouTube is bloated & over-complicated compared to what it was in 2001. (ProTip: Use the "Embed" links to get a lightweight video page that plays well on older machines, without any of the unnecessary gak around the edges.) 108.162.221.213 20:30, 13 December 2016 (UTC)
Maybe a reference to the reddit iOS app randomly swapping the positions of upvote/downvote and the share button? 162.158.75.30 15:22, 9 December 2016 (UTC)
If the changes only were permanent this time 172.68.51.47 09:36, 10 December 2016 (UTC)
This is an obvious political reference to Trump and the latest Social Justice improvements. Take a step back and you'll see the big picture. --188.114.111.117 20:59, 10 December 2016 (UTC)
- TANJ! (There Ain't No Justice) 108.162.221.213 20:30, 13 December 2016 (UTC)
- No, I don't think so. Nothing in the comic seems to imply politics at all, much less Trump or SJ specifically.172.70.175.209 13:01, 5 March 2024 (UTC)
Just noticed yesterday my fonts in MS Office looked funny. Oh, they designed a brand new font and made it the default for the planet. (Gee, thanks, how about some bug fixes?) 172.70.175.209 13:01, 5 March 2024 (UTC)
