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0 pointschongli4y ago0 comments

Let's not underestimate neuroplasticity. Children can figure out almost anything. If you want a true test of UI intuitiveness then you ought to give the computer to an elderly parent or grandparent.

Anecdotally, my 70-year-old father and several of my elderly uncles & aunts had a much easier time figuring out Classic Mac OS. Modern macOS and iOS are much more complicated. While they still use these systems, they do so in a much more superficial way and they tend to exhibit what (for lack of a better term) I would call a "fear response." That is, when attempting to do a novel task they refuse to experiment and instead resort to asking for help immediately. Classic Mac OS was much better designed to encourage experimentation and avoided surprising the user (in a negative way) as much as possible.

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chrisseaton4y ago

> If you want a true test of UI intuitiveness then you ought to give the computer to an elderly parent or grandparent.

A second ago the test for intuitiveness was 'a kid'.

chongliOP4y ago

You can take my post as disagreeing with the GP as well on the kid test. Kids have been the ones figuring out computers and doing tech support for their older relatives essentially since the dawn of home computing. If a kid can’t figure out how to use your computer then it’s probably irreparably broken (kids figure out how to fix computers too).

srvmshr4y ago

Here is a screenshot from my MBP which used to run 10.7 until two years ago :). I would anyday prefer these over the flatter icons.

https://imgur.com/a/e6AEdwR

chrisseaton4y ago

But is that just based on what you're used to rather than what is intuitively better?

jjoonathan4y ago

You'll find a lot of people, myself included, that point to the 10.6 era as peak OSX aesthetics. I personally prefer "steel and grass," some people prefer space, the specifics vary person-to-person but a lot of people agree on the trend. Skeuomorphism has an uncomfortably high skill floor, but it has an astronomical skill ceiling. With Apple, it shows. It really shows.

In contrast, flat design has a skill ceiling so low that it can turn the most creatively bankrupt troglodyte of a non-artist into a hunchback.

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labster4y ago

No, the old icons are objectively better. I’ve used iPhones since the iPhone 1 and I still keep the original as a music player. I have to hunt down apps on current iOS but astonishingly they all look somewhat different in the old days, which means they are easier to find. It’s easier to find my way around an old iOS I use once a month than one I use every hour.

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nine_k4y ago

Yes, it refers to well-recognizable imagery from outside the computer world.

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rTX5CMRXIfFG4y ago

I’m not sure that giving the UI to the elderly is a truer test. Whatever difficulty they encounter, it’s just as likely that it could be because a previous experience with a different OS is shaping their expectations, or many other factors. It does seem that “time from 0 to successfully performing a novel task” is a good metric among many.

srvmshr4y ago

Classic designs were touted as "something you could give to a grandma and a professional alike" in magazines of heydays :)

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

0 pointschongli4y ago0 comments

Let's not underestimate neuroplasticity. Children can figure out almost anything. If you want a true test of UI intuitiveness then you ought to give the computer to an elderly parent or grandparent.

0 comments

chrisseaton4y ago

> If you want a true test of UI intuitiveness then you ought to give the computer to an elderly parent or grandparent.

A second ago the test for intuitiveness was 'a kid'.

chongliOP4y ago

srvmshr4y ago

Here is a screenshot from my MBP which used to run 10.7 until two years ago :). I would anyday prefer these over the flatter icons.

https://imgur.com/a/e6AEdwR

chrisseaton4y ago

But is that just based on what you're used to rather than what is intuitively better?

jjoonathan4y ago

In contrast, flat design has a skill ceiling so low that it can turn the most creatively bankrupt troglodyte of a non-artist into a hunchback.

1 more reply

labster4y ago

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nine_k4y ago

Yes, it refers to well-recognizable imagery from outside the computer world.

2 more replies

rTX5CMRXIfFG4y ago

srvmshr4y ago

Classic designs were touted as "something you could give to a grandma and a professional alike" in magazines of heydays :)

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse