"Designed correctly" In who's opinion? Mine? Yours?
That's not the issue. Design is a language with a series of practices. You're allowed to attempt to introduce new ideas -- but it will work best if it follows the language and builds upon the practices.
Let me offer a recent 'improvement' that speaks volumes.
Once upon a time there was THIS --
Since I was new to Windows with 10 I don't know how long this version was kicking around. Basic design practices say, hey, you know what? That's kinda big, long, and messy. And the font is a little small in some situations. (I never understood why OPEN WITH wasn't directly under OPEN.)
So the WinPeeps redesigned and offered --
(I only noticed with THIS post that OPEN WITH is friendly with OPEN again. Yay!)
The first thing you notice is how much shorter (fewer options) the second list appears to have. But, if you look closer, you see that top row also includes choices as icons instead of words.
And so where there were 21 choices in the first design the new design appears to only offer 9 at a quick glance but actually offers 14 choices. Once you get used to this (and it does take time) it's easier to use because, really, it's a list of 5 icon choices and 9 list choices. And it's easier to read.
These design practices are solid. They adhere to similar successful designs elsewhere, where cars (for instance) have symbols for air conditioning modes but words for other items.
Now, get this. Here are the design flaws.
1. If you look closer at this --
I don't think people are used to seeing 'cut' and 'copy' right next to 'rename' and 'share'. If you're like me you saw 'cut' then 'copy' and kinda wondered if that 3rd one was 'paste'. That moment of 'Huh' is poor design.
It's not being judgy to judge design. People are so sensitive to criticism these days. IMO it's simply a defense mechanism because it's embarrassing to screw up. I knew what was wrong here but opened LibreOffice to see how they handled it in Writer.
See the three on the right? Cut, Copy, and Paste. But see how they separate them into their own little world? That design practice was lost on Win11. If they had simply put a line here --
-- it would be what Mac users call 'intuitive' but the design world calls 'good design'.
I tell ya there could be a debate on that 'Rename' icon for hours but I'll move past to another design flaw. Which many users have complained about. When you select 'Show More Options' that INSANELY LAZY DEVELOPERS/DESIGNERS at MS do the unthinkable: bring the Win10 menu back from the grave. As I like to say but it's so true: most Linux distros would NEVER do that.
It's simple: if you introduce a new way of doing things, that menu for instance, well when you say 'show more options' it should --
1. Show all the missing options but --
2. -- not repeat any previously offered options
3. Use the same font as the first menu
4. Not dismiss the first menu but simply extend it... in case you want to change your mind and go back to the first menu
5. If you wanted to get fancy, show more options would animate a longer menu instead of offer a submenu
These are common design choices everywhere... that Microsoft apparently has never seen before. It's scary how myopic this is.
And here's a SHOCKER: Microsausage could actually offer a way for power users to edit that menu and put in it and take away from it almost anything we like. Not through registry nonsense but via a simple intuitive gui? Who does it harm... besides NO ONE?
I'll even go a step further and suggest some of the missing stuff could end up as a second row of icons, like so --
(This is a hack-job and yes I use some icons already on the screen, but you get the idea.)
This is to say that with the right design -- everything could be in that first menu. MS makes billions of dollars and yet can't hire designers as skilled as the Zorin 16 crew. It's appalling.
