[array_key_first]

They're not just nerds, they're power users. These are different things.

Pretty much everyone is a power user of SOME software. That might be Excel, that might be their payroll processor, that might be their employee data platform. Because you have to be if you work a normal desk job.

If Excel was simpler and had an intuitive UI, it would be worthless. Because simple UI works for the first 100 hours, maybe. Then it's actively an obstacle because you need to do eccentric shit as fast as possible and you can't.

Then, that's where the keyboard shortcuts and 100 buttons shoved on a page somewhere come in. That's where the lack of whitespace comes in. Those aren't downsides anymore.

[csin]

"If Excel was simpler and had an intuitive UI, it would be worthless."

Excel is a simple intuitive UI.

I use 10% of Excel. I don't even know the 90% of what it's capable of.

It hides away it's complexity.

For people that need the complex stuff, they can access it via menus/formulas.

For the rest of us, we don't even know it's there.

Whereas, Handbrake shoves all the complexity in your face. It's overwhelming for first time users.

[array_key_first]

> For people that need the complex stuff, they can access it via menus/formulas.

Yes, this is an obstacle. This makes your software worse for power users. Because now they have to jump through hoops.

If they just took all those options and dumped them somewhere, that would be better.

Okay, another example: a datagrid or table. In naive apps targeting consumers, they're filled with whitespace and they're simple to look at. Great, right?

Oh... you need to see more information than the absolute bare bones? It's okay, you can click 'show more'. The problem is that, now, it takes too much time.

What if I want to see 50 results at the same time? Gulp. If I have to click show more 10 times to do that, I'm taking my computer and throwing it out the window. I don't give a rats ass about your whitespace or visual hierarchy. I want the software to do the thing for me so I can move on with my life.

This is why people will SWEAR by old software. There are many people who refuse to use modern versions of Excel. Because it's too annoying to use, and they use it all day long, so that's not acceptable.