[iFreilicht]

Interesting example. Why would you say VSCode is a mess? I feel like it's not in line with the current UX Zeitgeist I assume you're referring to (touch-first, wasteful whitespace, manipulative patterns, reduced functionality) at all. It provides multiple layers of access to functionality that allow the user to choose their trade-off between discoverability and speed. The UI is compact with very little padding and shows a lot of information at once. No affordances to touch input are made either.

Another powerful tool that is built on modern UX principles would be Fusion 360. In my experience, it makes me as a user much more powerful and actually provides more functionality in a more productive manner than its competitors and predecessor. Would be interested in you explaining how that UI is a mess as well.

[zlg_codes]

VS Code is a mess because there are few places I can click in the UI without triggering some weird part of the UI. Almost the entirety of the bottom bar is reactive. The sidebar has too many views to keep straight, it has an extension store or something? Using VS Code feels like handling a tool with no handle. I'm sure it has something useful but I feel overwhelmed and constrained when I use it. I can't depend on any of my prior UI exposure to effectively navigate VS Code without taking my head out of the code. It's simply too much on screen at once and relies on visual iconography which will NOT result in the same ideas conveyed between different users. VS Code feels like it's meant primarily for the enterprise, on projects that are massive and have extensive SOPs. I tried to adapt some of my development to it, just to try it, and bounced off really hard.

I'm really just more at home in Vim and a terminal window off to the side. Microsoft's way of doing things has never really clicked.

I can't speak for Fusion360 because I don't know what it is nor have I used it. There's just an issue in UIs these days where they're either toy-themed (Twitch, Discord, Etcher, other "friendly" software) or so overwhelming that you don't know where to start.

Where is the QuickStart guide for VS Code, for developers? With MS in particular, they do a poor job of reaching out to developers and actually understanding how they work or what they like. Maybe they only serve a particular type of developer; an audience that I'm simply not part of.

[strokirk]

Visual iconography doesn't need to transmit the same ideas to different users, it's there to reduce space taken but still be identifiable to an experienced user of the tool.

[zlg_codes]

I find the silence that accompanies the negative score above to be rather damning of this community. I was asked why I felt the way I did, and I explained it. If you have a problem or disagree, show it in the comments.