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Windows 8 Designer Explains Why It Annoys You

posted by LaminatorX on Wednesday February 19 2014, @08:27AM   Printer-friendly
from the you-had-one-job-ONE-JOB dept.
stmuk writes:

"BGR reflects on recent comments by a Metro designer. 'Metro is a content consumption space,' Microsoft UX designer Jacob Miller explains, 'It is designed for casual users who only want to check Facebook, view some photos, and maybe post a selfie to Instagram. It's designed for your computer illiterate little sister, for grandpas who don't know how to use that computer dofangle thingy, and for mom who just wants to look up apple pie recipes. It's simple, clear, and does one thing (and only one thing) relatively easily. That is what Metro is. It is the antithesis of a power user.'"

 
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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Lagg on Wednesday February 19 2014, @08:33AM

    by Lagg (105) on Wednesday February 19 2014, @08:33AM (#2241) Homepage Journal
    From what I've seen this is not an intuitive interface by any definition of the word. The target users he describes are the types that know how to use the classical WIMP stuff. This is kind of like a bizarre twist of the tile versus floating window manager argument. Familiarity is what the archetypal Aunt Tilly user goes by and something tells me that the apparent echo chamber filled with designers at MS aren't keeping that in mind. Also, this guy seems like someone who should know this given the way he speaks of his own setup and workflow (sshing from Windows into his linux machine, using vim as an editor, etc.).
    --
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  • (Score: 1) by similar_name on Wednesday February 19 2014, @08:39AM

    by similar_name (71) on Wednesday February 19 2014, @08:39AM (#2244)

    My grandpa doesn't like metro, he prefers the desktop

  • (Score: 2, Funny) by TonyWilk on Wednesday February 19 2014, @08:42AM

    by TonyWilk (213) on Wednesday February 19 2014, @08:42AM (#2248)

    Not buying it either: a designer of utter bollocks writes utter bollocks.

  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by dilbert on Wednesday February 19 2014, @01:17PM

    by dilbert (444) on Wednesday February 19 2014, @01:17PM (#2414)
    If this design principle were true, why did they put the metro interface into Server 2012? How many computer illiterate grandpas and little sisters are administering AD?

    • (Score: 3, Funny) by pjbgravely on Wednesday February 19 2014, @03:04PM

      by pjbgravely (1681) <reversethis-{moc ... ta} {ylevargbjp}> on Wednesday February 19 2014, @03:04PM (#2502) Homepage

      A server with a GUI?

      • (Score: 1) by maxwell demon on Wednesday February 19 2014, @09:01PM

        by maxwell demon (1608) on Wednesday February 19 2014, @09:01PM (#2852) Journal

        Yes, I think it is immensely practical to have those little graphics known as letters, and an user interface which graphically arranges those letters on the screen in a grid of lines and columns. Also very useful is this motion-sensor-less hundred-something button mouse commonly known as keyboard.

        --
        The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 20 2014, @06:31AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 20 2014, @06:31AM (#3225)

        Red Hat is developing a server administration GUI. Windows - not just for Microsoft anymore.

    • (Score: 2, Funny) by microtodd on Wednesday February 19 2014, @04:22PM

      by microtodd (1866) on Wednesday February 19 2014, @04:22PM (#2563) Homepage Journal

      Heck yeah! I feel stupid, like I don't even know where the shutdown button is!

    • (Score: 1) by hb253 on Wednesday February 19 2014, @06:22PM

      by hb253 (745) on Wednesday February 19 2014, @06:22PM (#2691)

      You'd be surprised.

      --
      The firings and offshore outsourcing will not stop until morale improves.

    • (Score: 1) by neagix on Wednesday February 19 2014, @07:47PM

      by neagix (25) on Wednesday February 19 2014, @07:47PM (#2775)

      ..don't make me think about this. Whenever I start a remote session of Windows 2012 Server I have the clear sensation of somebody playing a prank on me by having installed some toy shell.

      But then I realize Microsoft did it.

  • (Score: 1) by sfm on Wednesday February 19 2014, @02:34PM

    by sfm (675) on Wednesday February 19 2014, @02:34PM (#2479)

    Win-8 provides a flashy interface designed to get the attention of the "now" generation. Grandma could care less about floating windows and skins for apps. Consistency is king for the older generation. Win-8 breaks that, and offers no way to get it back.

    I second the bullshit call.

  • (Score: 1) by Rune of Doom on Wednesday February 19 2014, @04:13PM

    by Rune of Doom (1392) on Wednesday February 19 2014, @04:13PM (#2553)

    Not buying it either. My niece is three and computer literate enough to do exactly what she wants on an Android tablet. Her grandfather has been using computers since they came on punch cards, likes functional GUIs, and prefers his Win7 look as much like XP as possible. And Mom gets everything she wants just fine from her iPad. Even if this claim was true (and I don't think for a moment it is) they user base they claim to be targeting doesn't exist.

  • (Score: 1) by dgoodmaniii on Wednesday February 19 2014, @05:16PM

    by dgoodmaniii (919) on Wednesday February 19 2014, @05:16PM (#2620) Homepage

    Well, that's what they were *trying* to do. Dorsn't mean they did a good job of it.