[ddingus]

I remember a time when usability people took pride in the high amount of work they put into what were often pretty damn great user experiences.

My takeaway from this post is very different. Minimum work, or even modest work, and the users should be so lucky they get to even use the thing.

The trend is already to dumb things down with flat design, tons of stuff not all that discoverable, and on and on I could go.

Perhaps usability has peaked, and now posts like this are the rule of the day?

Sure hope not, but I do harbor doubts.

Put the work in. It's the users who make your efforts go. Nobody else does.

[kjcharles]

I agree with you about the importance of great user experiences and there should be no limit on how much work is put into that. My post was more about dark mode being seen as a necessity for a great user experience. There's little evidence for its benefits and the time spent implementing and maintaining it could be spent on improving all the other issues you mention.

[ddingus]

The evidence is clear in that very large numbers of users prefer it and can articulate why.

That you personally do not agree is a separate matter.

As you age, and I am guessing you are in your first few decades of life, remember this moment when you find yourself preferring dark mode and more able to articulate it yourself.

[tivert]

> Perhaps usability has peaked, and now posts like this are the rule of the day?

Probably, but the change can't stop. Must keep on innovating with useless side-grades or even downgrades.

[ddingus]

You will prove right over the next handful of years, maybe as much as a decade.

Wish it were different.

I miss supremely crafted interfaces. Pro users can move as if thought itself is action. Sure glad I got to experience a handful of them, each a mini career piece of software.