@Zenith said in Do people actually like poor quality user interfaces?:
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Why is "oops something happened, try again later" an acceptable error message?
Because in all cases where a server-side error has occurred, the end user can do absolutely nothing to remedy it, and providing any more information could constitute a security risk, or hint at where one could be found
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Why is a page whose elements keep jumping around as parts load so you can't click anything for a full minute acceptable?
It's not, get a faster internet connection.
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Why is server side, and only server side validation, considered efficient?
Because maintaining two separate sets of validation code has both a development and maintenance overhead. There are frameworks which generate both, people just don't know about them or use them. Plus client-side validation is often annoying if it presumes you'll fill in a form linearly.
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Why is validation done one field at a time considered efficient?
It's not, anyone who codes a web-app which does this is a complete dick.
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Why do so many form fields (besides passwords and the like) reset on a failed form submission?
I'd say this would be easier handled by the browser, but it isn't. If you use ASP.NET MVC properly, this doesn't happen. Cant speak for other languages, but I imagine they have a similar MVC paradigm which will repopulate fields for you on a failed submit.
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Why is not focusing on any fields upon loading considered user friendly?
Is pressing [Tab] so hard.
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Why is a postback on filtering and sorting and paging lists of less than 50 items acceptable?
Because despite the rapid trend towards JavaScript heavy web-apps which use APIs isn't happening fast enough for you.
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Why is the even worse infiniscroll abomination not just tolerated but embraced?
What's so bad about it. For the intended use-case, it's a perfect interface. I scroll cause I wanna see more stuff, keep scrolling, see more stuff.
If you need to have a dimensioned list, there are TONNES of JS grids which will allow you to have virtual scrolling which loads a page at a time, so when your list has a billion records in it, you don't have to load them all up front, or kill the database with a select * on a massive table.
My pet peeve, is freaking pagination, in this day and age. And most of the time when you sort a paginated list, you only sort the current page :(
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Why don't sites underline regular links anymore?
Most sites I use do.
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Why can't we just have actual buttons for actions instead of styled links?
I don't see this much, maybe there are a bunch of people who don't know how to make a button do a GET vs a POST? I don't know, but it's not common.
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Why is there a push to remove borders that would define the edges of elements, in particular mouse-activated elements?
I don't really understand what you're getting at. Designers be designers, and who am I to argue with what "looks good"
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Why doesn't anything online ever print right?
It never has. Everyone who want's you to print something gives you a way to download a PDF. If you spend a few weeks, and a couple of trees of paper, you may be able to write some CSS with @media for print that actually works in one browser.
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Why do people reinvent the selectbox if they're not going to do anything that the browser's built-in selectbox can't do?
Designers be designers, plus too many JQuery components to make it all too easy to "jazz up" your site
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Why do some sites render checkmarks and radiomarks the same way?
Bad CSS, insufficient testing. Gen Y and later have never seen a "radio button" in real life, making it a redundant interface metaphor. Plus, in all but the most trivial cases a drop-down is always superior. And don't even mention "gender" in 2020 it's virtually a tag-cloud or a user-editable database table with so many made-up choices it's a joke.
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Why do mobile-optimized storefronts have pictures that only zoom in ~20% because they're constrained by being inline elements inside a fixed viewport?
Insufficient testing, inadequate tooling, or just a mistake.
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Why don't "specifications" tabs include physical dimensions, OS requirements, or other critical details?
What's a "Specifications" tab?
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Why are window sizes fixed and unscrollable when they're clearly way too small for the content?
Because someone forgot to set the minimum size attribute in their style-sheet.
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Why didn't anybody involved with HTML standards ever make table headers/footers fixed so the rest of the rows could scroll?
Great idea, you should join the IETF
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Why is absolute positioning still such a kludge that I can still see headers/footers jump away from the edge when I scroll?
Probably because there is some JavaScript doing it. Absolute positioning works fine, but is a waste of screen real-estate in most cases.
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Why did non-IE browsers fight against a modal/blocking dialog window?
Because nobody really likes modal dialogs. There are PLENTY of JS implementations which are equally annoying.
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These are all easily solved problems. Yet, somehow, they persist. Does somebody out there like it this way or what?
Because usability is a matter of opinion, or a well-paying career for wannabe Hipster designers who can't draw. If you don't like it, build your sites to your own taste.