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by brundolf 370 days ago
I think software people tend to underestimate the value of superficial familiarity. By all means, adhere to your new concepts and mental model. But even things like coloring, placement of the menu bar, the icons that you use, the organization of the UI, etc can go a really long way

Think about programming languages- ones that introduce radical new concepts may still employ familiar syntax/naming to smooth the transition for newcomers. Rust mimicked C++, TypeScript extended JS, etc. These languages were made to introduce powerful new ways of thinking about code, but by appearing as similar as possible to what devs already knew, they freed up more brain cycles for people trying to adopt them. They didn't muddy their concept-space for the sake of familiarity, but they didn't introduce any more unfamiliarity than they actually needed to for the benefits they wanted to give
2 comments
singleshot_ 370 days ago
No attorney who is flummoxed by this UX is going to touch an AI product in any meaningful way. Making legal tools for lawyers who would otherwise be using cuneiform tablets or the dictation pool is a waste of conversation. Looking similar to the tools a seventy five year old lawyer uses is like making an F1 car that would look familiar to Jackie Stewart: yeah, it’d probably help him adapt, but not enough to be competitive with an actual car.

Dig the idea of this product, will give it a whirl tonight.

Source: attorney, former dev

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brundolf 370 days ago
It's not about being flummoxed, it's about being annoyed enough not to give it a chance

How much less adoption would Rust have gotten if it looked like OCaml instead of C++?

Its adopters are not stupid, they could have figured out alien syntax if they were already convinced of the benefit. But selling someone on an entirely new substrate for their professional work is a huge ask. You need to make it as immediately-palatable as possible, or they'll just keep on sailing without giving it a chance.

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touisteur 369 days ago
As much as I wish the world to be different, I've heard so much whining about the Ada language's not-C-likeness that I tend to agree with you.
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NooneAtAll3 370 days ago
> Rust mimicked C++

if anything, it didn't mimick /enough/

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