[resu_nimda]

I think it’s a somewhat orthogonal issue. I think you can approach the design of a serious interface with the F-15 philosophy while also incorporating aesthetic sensibilities. Yes, some people may end up designing serious interfaces that suffer from too much unnecessary chrome (I’ve heard of a lot of frustration with touchscreens in cars).

But I don’t think there is anything inherently wrong with sci-fi aesthetics influencing interface design. What arguments can actually be made against the functional effectiveness of that oscilloscope or the SpaceX cockpit?

[neilpanchal]

The question is the other way around, the onus is on the designer that wants to add unnecessary decorations: What arguments can be made to support adding of unnecessary decorations?

I really like HN design philosophy articulated by @dang here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23199062

Quoting: > Move slowly and preserve things

Everything should be questioned ruthlessly and UI is not like fashion that needs to keep up with trends. Although, if we are designing a website for a music band, all bets are off :)

[resu_nimda]

What arguments can be made to support adding of unnecessary decorations?

Because without them, the world would be a totally unremarkable place. :) I think there is a lot of value to the images of SpaceX astronauts in their sleek suits, and the general flair with which they go about things. It inspires and excites people, it sparks joy.

I get what you're saying though and I also appreciate the functional minimalist design of places like HN and Craigslist (I much preferred the original purely text GameFAQs forums vs. alternatives at the time that had a lot of crazy stuff going on). I'm not saying at all that form should step on function in serious UIs but I do think both are important and aesthetics should not be dismissed or lamented.

[neilpanchal]

It is also fun to question aesthetic choices for example - children's iPad apps - why do they need to use "friendly" and "fun" fonts, pastel colors, excessively rounded corners, etc? Nothing in human psyche dictates that children should be exposed to this particular type of aesthetic. I can understand if they're physical products and sharp corners for example need to be blunted, but there is a lot of excessive decoration. Blue/pink color themes with boys and girls toys is a whole another can of worms. I don't think children have any sort of native affinity for soft and cuddly aesthetics - probably the opposite from the evolutionary standpoint and developing early survival instincts.

Lol, I am not saying to develop iPad apps for children that look like F-15 controls, but the society is full of aesthetic subjectivity, noise, prejudices, norms, etc. whatever you wanna call it. Some University's psychology department should study this.

[tomc1985]

Children have a very strong affinity for bright colors and visual language

[davidivadavid]

There's no such thing as "unnecessary" in an absolute sense. The question is "unnnecessary" to who.

"Unnecessary" decorations are necessary if you want something to stand out. If you don't want your house to look like your neighbor's, you're going to make "unnecessary" changes to it. Paint rooms different colors. Use different furniture. All unnecessary changes... if you don't care about them.

You seem to adopt the somewhat naive functionalist/minimalist philosophy that you can find in early modernist thought (e.g. Loos in "Ornament and Crime" [0]).

What those thinkers missed is that beauty and aesthetics are a function too.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ornament_and_Crime

[numpad0]

SpaceX touchscreen don’t work under acceleration.

F-15(or any other fighter) can be operated normally at -12G to +12G for important or critical functions.

Pretty stark contrast, oh, and Dragon LCD look so blurry and washed out for aviation display btw.

[fermienrico]

But hey, we can't criticize SpaceX UI because we're not astronauts and don't have first hand experience. That's the pushback you're going to get for saying anything against SpaceX's rampant disregard for basic aviation and space UI concepts. Just because Doug and Bob doesn't have problem with the UI/UX, doesn't mean that it isn't terrible.

Another example - the abort handle, instead of being painted with a hazard yellow/black stripes or some blaringly evident color scheme, it is painted matte black just like the rest of the dashboard.

Can you spot it in the center? https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0173/8204/7844/articles/IM...

You can easily mix it up with the handles for support on left and right side when its bumpy in the cockpit.

I can't see any defense to this. It is in a terrible place on the dashboard and on top of that it is painted black to hide it!