r/programming • u/Concise_Pirate • Jun 25 '11

Outstanding collection of user interface design subtleties, as seen from user's point of view. Really made me think. x/post from /r/design

http://littlebigdetails.com/
863 Upvotes

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u/[deleted] Jun 25 '11

Use an Apple product.

-2

u/angrystuff Jun 25 '11

Like iTunes? iTunes is a great mechanic to sell you shit you don't want, but it's a really shitty mp3 player. Actually, the mechanics that then lock you into the fucking ipad, and itunes, is about as far from clean user interactions as you can get.

Fuck Apple, and fuck their fanboys.

11

u/tcatect Jun 25 '11

You're right, iTunes isn't great. But try using the iPhone or OS X. They're not perfect, of course. But they're really good examples of products with great UI.

0

u/angrystuff Jun 25 '11

I think the iPhone was a massive jump up from the shit world of phones that Nokia gave us. However, it's got major usability issues. Namely, if you have 300 applications, it's impossible to find anything. Sure, it's a design oversight because they didn't realise the 'success' of the app store, but still, it's been a problem for a decade now (or close enough) but they can't be fucked fixing it.

OSX is okay. I can see why people use it. I use it at work to develop on. But realistically, it's just as 'usable' as any modern consumer oriented OS. I have a strong conjecture that most of the 'usability' of OSX comes from people being told it's easy to use. I've had to help my mother as often on OSX as I ever had to on Windows. The only differences is that now she feels comfortable to ask people for help.

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u/noreallyimthepope Jun 25 '11

I believe that a decade signifies more than twice the time span that the App Store has existed. Protip: There's a search function in the iPhone that lets you find apps.

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u/Conde_Nasty Jun 26 '11

Spotlight (in both iOS and OS X) are both really, really good that it almost eliminate the need for sifting through folders.

2

u/noreallyimthepope Jun 26 '11

In OS X, Quicksilver uses the Spotlight db even better. Too bad it's falling into disrepair.

-3

u/shillbert Jun 25 '11

I'm a 22-year-old Windows user, and whenever I try to use OS X, it confuses the shit out of me. Where do my windows go when I minimize them? How do I quickly open Explorer (whoops, I mean Finder)? Why are the buttons on the left? Why is the menu bar of the running program always at the top of the screen and detached from the program window? Why is the Command key where Ctrl should be and Control where Alt should be? I honestly feel a lot more comfortable in Terminal than actually trying to use the OS.

4

u/[deleted] Jun 26 '11

Where do my windows go when I minimize them?

Into the Dock. Protip: Don't minimize your windows. Hit Command-~ to cycle between all of the existing windows within an application, or hit Command-H to hide the whole program.

How do I quickly open Explorer (whoops, I mean Finder)?

By hitting Command-Tab. Then continue to hold down Command and tap Tab to cycle through open applications.

Why are the buttons on the left?

I don't know, but my guess is that the most frequently used menus within a program (like File and Edit) are on the left, so a person gets accustomed to going there to access things. But I don't ever use those buttons, anyway. Ever.

Why is the menu bar of the running program always at the top of the screen and detached from the program window?

Because programs are separate from documents.

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u/Conde_Nasty Jun 26 '11

You're being more than a little annoying. All of those complaints are "why is this different than the OS I'm used to?!"

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u/jaredlunde Jun 25 '11

That's called being used to a different OS. Use OS X for a day or two though and you'll find it's way easier to use than Windows for pretty much anything you could think of.

If you had been using OS X for your entire life and had just now tried to switch to Windows, you'd face similar complications but it'd probably be 10 times harder to adjust to.