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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: 1) by sibiday fabis on Saturday February 22 2014, @03:14PM

    by sibiday fabis (2160) on Saturday February 22 2014, @03:14PM (#4834)

    Why is it that a bunch of tech-savvy nerds are arguing so vehemently against an user interface that isn't immediately and intuitively obvious in its operation? At the same time, why do so many of us call the same interface "dumbed-down", "brain dead", and "pandering to the lowest common denominator"?

    Because it is all of the above. It's very poor UI design, period. Between that and the other broken or weird stuff it's just not fun to play with, much less try to support.

    I am a tech-savvy nerd that likes Windows 8 for its flexibility and ability to present the user interface I need for the device I'm using at the moment.

    So why force the touch interface on non-touch devices? It's entirely inflexible in that very common user case, unless you third party tools.

    We all knew Windows 8 was for early adopters expecting to deal with problems, so why all the uproar?

    In my experience average users go to a big box store, where they are told that Windows 8 is their only choice. They aren't traditional early adopters, but they are in essence forced into it as they don't know how to get a new computer with Windows 7.

    They spend little or no time looking at the new interface before purchase. They trust that it will be navigable in the same way as every previous Windows computer. They don't want to have to figure it out, they just want to use it. It's a rude awakening.

    Then, when they ask someone to teach them how to use this non-intuitive mess, they quickly discover that it's not "something they are doing wrong", it's the fundamental brokenness in the UI. I've had clients return W8 computers to the store. I've had others ask me to install W7. Both scenarios never happened for me with previous Windows OS offerings, even Vista and ME.

  • (Score: 2) by wjwlsn on Saturday February 22 2014, @04:07PM

    by wjwlsn (171) on Saturday February 22 2014, @04:07PM (#4857) Homepage Journal

    Fair arguments. I concede your point.

    --
    I am a traveler of both time and space. Duh.