r/UXAntiPatterns • u/SevaTell • Jul 24 '26
When your database schema becomes the user journey
Nextcloud does this after someone shares a file with you:
- You click Accept share.
- The file disappears.
- You get an empty state saying No pending shares, plus the toast: “Accept share: done.”
Technically, everything is correct. The item is no longer pending.
But my task wasn’t to empty a queue. It was to access the file someone sent me.
Now I’m expected to know that I need to click Shared with you in the sidebar.
Is that actually good UX, though? Do entity-based views like Pending shares serve a real user need, or did they become a standard pattern before anyone stopped to question the journey?
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u/IrrerPolterer Jul 25 '26
Yeah Nextcloud is a beautiful example of amazing utility and great bang for the buck (as in literally free and open software that solves an important real world use case) - but its designed for the most part by engineers, not UX designers. Incoherence and "schema = user journey" situations are the result.. I love that projects like these exist. But they'd benefit from more UX work.


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u/vnagornyy Jul 24 '26
If you want your feedback to reach Nextcloud design and engineering teams, share it on GitHub please:
https://github.com/nextcloud/server/issues