
New Photoshop UI has become a major problem on the official feedback forum - vladdanilov
https://feedback.photoshop.com/photoshop_family/topics/adobe-just-ruined-the-photoshop-cc-user-interface?topic-reply-list[settings][filter_by]=all
======
TrevorJ
That's the problem I have with the creative cloud model of forced updates.
Professionals can have _years_ invested in using a tool and becoming
incredibly fast at it: all that can potentially be erased by being forced to
upgrade to a version that changes the way you are used to working.

~~~
radarsat1
I agree. UI versioning should be a standard thing for web apps.

------
planetjones
_> After about eight hours in Photoshop and Illustrator I feel pretty
confident in describing the 2015.1 GUI changes as a bizarre gaffe._

It's hard to imagine that Adobe don't follow a UAT and beta test roll out
model of their software, so is this just a case of a few users shouting the
loudest or is there genuinely an issue with the UI. The comments on the
article span a period of 3 months ago to 1 week ago.

 _> And yet, this subject does not have any response from Adobe. This is
getting surreal. HELLO ADOBE-- ANYONE HOME? How many posts before this gets on
your radar screen?_

That is slightly infuriating, as the subscriptions to Creative Cloud are far
from cheap, so you would expect there to be a feedback channel to Adobe
themselves.

Personally, I use Lightroom infrequently and always get confused by the user
interface - but I always attribute that to the fact I don't use it daily.

~~~
rabboRubble
Have you encountered the video caching error in Lightroom? There is a well
documented bug in the import process that chews up massive amounts of hard
disk space. I came within a hair of crashing my hard drive because of it. 1
out 5 people I tell about this issue found that they were affected. One person
regained about 250gb on their hard drive. I regained nearly the same amount...

Here's the details and where to find the affected target directories:

[https://feedback.photoshop.com/photoshop_family/topics/light...](https://feedback.photoshop.com/photoshop_family/topics/lightroom-6-2-1-video-
cache-is-out-of-conttrol-major-bug-report)

------
jinushaun
Looks like another poorly executed attempt at executing "flat" design: Low
contrast wall of grayness with reduced visual affordance. Amateur hour.

------
agumonkey
Peanuts my friends. It's not a deep technical problem, if users shout hard
enough Adobe will either rollback or make it optional. Still amusing to see an
'experienced' company doing such a stupid thing, they know about UIs, at least
they knew.

Adobe Photoshop 2016, aka Adobe Gamma Cloud Calibrator.

------
awesomerobot
I understand why people are upset — but let's not pretend that Adobe's
interfaces have ever been able to pass any usability tests.

~~~
paulojreis
I think the issue is not a _good_ UI going _bad_. Rather, it's a _familiar_ UI
going _unfamiliar_.

I can use Ps with my eyes closed, and it's software aimed for professional
usage. Changing the UI means I'm losing hours and hours of conditioning myself
to its quirks, as well as familiarity with the software. Even if the new UI is
_better_ , you'd have to weight how much better it is.

~~~
awesomerobot
That's questionable though — there are a lot of people switching over to
Sketch who were previously in Photoshop, and while Photoshop may have never
been the right tool for interface design work... plenty of Photoshop users
were willing to try something new.

You're right though, it's all a matter of weighing whether or not it's worth
it. I wonder what Adobe's methodology for the change was.

------
zodPod
These flat designs are the WORST. Jira, Office365, and now Photoshop? They're
hideous and they're hard to read/use/work within. Who looks at existing flat
designs and decides to implement it themselves? It's awful.

~~~
razster
My solution was to use my second portrait monitor is a perfect place to stack
my Photoshop/Illustrator menus:
[http://i.imgur.com/Y026Goe.jpg](http://i.imgur.com/Y026Goe.jpg) . Since the
flat UI change it was a bit difficult at first but now I'm on it and know
exactly where all my options/functions are.

~~~
teh_klev
That's quite neat.

------
zbjornson
The Solidworks UI also changed this year and users were upset, but Dassault
issued a rather awesome reply [1] (although it seems like it was not enough
for some):

> SOLIDWORKS users are passionate. We love that about you.

> SOLIDWORKS employees are also passionate about the product we deliver. We
> take pride in SOLIDWORKS, and in our relationship with you and responding to
> your feedback. We want you to love SOLIDWORKS.

> We know that some of you are not happy with the SOLIDWORKS 2016 user
> interface. We are listening, we are working on it, and we will share more
> about our plans in the coming weeks.

[1]
[https://forum.solidworks.com/thread/107846](https://forum.solidworks.com/thread/107846)

------
macalicious
Anyone have a link to the new UI? Couldn't find any screenshots of it and am
still running a rather old version of PS.

~~~
vladdanilov
Here's a side by side comparison of general UI
[http://i.imgur.com/bViZN6Z.png](http://i.imgur.com/bViZN6Z.png) and dialog UI
[http://i.imgur.com/AlclEsk.png](http://i.imgur.com/AlclEsk.png) (by Marc
Edwards), and a new welcoming screen
[http://blogs.adobe.com/richardcurtis/files/2015/12/Screen-
Sh...](http://blogs.adobe.com/richardcurtis/files/2015/12/Screen-
Shot-2015-12-09-at-07.59.11-1024x656.png).

There are also some screenshots and videos in the official blog post
[http://blogs.adobe.com/photoshop/2015/11/photoshop-
cc-2015-a...](http://blogs.adobe.com/photoshop/2015/11/photoshop-cc-2015-and-
fuse-cc-preview-available-today.html).

~~~
mrweasel
I can understand people complaining. The dialog UI you linked to is a horrible
grey text and grey, it's really hard to read. The rest seems to be a case of
"flatten it, because it's modern", it really don't make thing more visible or
clearer.

~~~
smrtinsert
I find it perfectly fine to read and it seems way less cluttered.

------
nickpeterson
People don't like relearning how to do a thing they feel they've already
mastered. People in applications like Excel or Photoshop are usually quite
vocal since many of the changes are for appearance or to help new users, and
it feels like a betrayal for all the people who've already battled the
application to learn the quirks.

------
nsns
Seems like software design needs a concept similar to the English
highbrow/lowbrow distinction (professional vs. amateur?); this change seems to
introduce lowbrow UI design into an highbrow product; like if the NYT suddenly
started using the tabloid format.

------
SeanDav
They probably used Microsoft Office as their inspiration on how to create a
user interface that makes it difficult to to tell the difference between UI
and data. The flat UI's have their use cases but mostly they are just a
bandwagon that all cool-kid wannabes are jumping on, without really caring or
understanding that a UI is supposed to make things easier and less confusing,
not the reverse.

------
taspeotis
Sounds like they heard the feedback a month ago? See the "Official Response".
[https://feedback.photoshop.com/photoshop_family/topics/adobe...](https://feedback.photoshop.com/photoshop_family/topics/adobe-
just-ruined-the-photoshop-cc-user-interface)

~~~
toddmorey
It's not a strong response. Heard it and ignored it--Sass only points out that
he has stories of other people say the UI is "relaxing".

Subjectiveness aside, though, my real issues are with Adobe eschewing native
windowing and controls to reinvent their own UIs. I'm much more interesting in
the apps just behaving as expected than how they look. For example, EVERY time
I unplug from my monitor, the windows of the Adobe apps fall off the screen in
a way that can't be recovered. They may even be faster than previous versions,
but the UI makes them feel bloated and foreign.

------
herbert68
Join the extensive conversation at
[http://bit.ly/21vrZo1](http://bit.ly/21vrZo1) to add more power to our
dislike of the new UI. A huge number of rejecting comments may be the only way
Adobe will listen to us.

------
kyriakos
I honestly don't see the problem. Its a matter of getting used to.

Now the question is whether its an improvement visually over the older
version. Which is probably not, its just a change for the sake of change.

~~~
paulojreis
That _matter_ costs time and money. It's a real problem; for many people,
Photoshop is their main work tool. Changing it has a cost.

~~~
Karunamon
Not to downplay the criticism (I agree with it wholeheartedly), but this
argument can apply to literally any piece of software used in the business
world, from Photoshop to Windows to Office.

~~~
cududa
At least with Office and Windows changes (whether you agree with them or not)
they had documented and spoke about rational to an insane degree. There's been
none of that from Adobe. This reaks of designers just looking for something to
justify their jobs.

~~~
paulojreis
Based on my experience, this reeks of management _imposing_ their _design_
decisions (i.e. the buzzwords of the year) on designers and their work.

------
mangeletti
Anyone still using a product made by Adobe, in 2016, is cruisin' for a
bruisin'.

If you're on a Mac:

1\. Affinity Photo replaces Photoshop.

2\. Affinity Designer replaces Illustrator / Fireworks.

Anyone have suggestions for Windows users?

~~~
knd775
Affinity Photo doesn't replace Photoshop.

Also, there are quite a few more Adobe applications than just Photoshop,
Illustrator, and Fireworks.

~~~
mangeletti
> Affinity Photo doesn't replace Photoshop.

You're right. Photoshop doesn't even compare.

[http://thenextweb.com/apps/2015/02/12/hands-on-affinity-
phot...](http://thenextweb.com/apps/2015/02/12/hands-on-affinity-photo-throws-
down-the-gauntlet-to-photoshop-at-least-on-the-mac/)

[http://petapixel.com/2015/06/18/hands-on-affinity-photo-
is-t...](http://petapixel.com/2015/06/18/hands-on-affinity-photo-is-the-
photoshop-alternative-youve-been-waiting-for/)

[http://www.techradar.com/us/news/photography-video-
capture/c...](http://www.techradar.com/us/news/photography-video-
capture/cameras/best-photo-editing-software-1284627)

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hU5XpjqtDnw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hU5XpjqtDnw)

[http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/09/05/review_serif_affinit...](http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/09/05/review_serif_affinity_photo_image_editor/)

[http://www.techradar.com/us/news/photography-video-
capture/c...](http://www.techradar.com/us/news/photography-video-
capture/cameras/serif-s-adobe-photoshop-rival-affinity-photo-gets-a-major-
update-1310836)

[http://www.techradar.com/us/reviews/pc-
mac/software/graphics...](http://www.techradar.com/us/reviews/pc-
mac/software/graphics-and-media-software/image-editing-software/serif-
affinity-photo-1295010/review)

> Also, there are quite a few more Adobe applications than just Photoshop,
> Illustrator, and Fireworks.

Since this post is about Photoshop, is that comment even remotely relevant?

Illustrator and Fireworks are relevant, since most designers have used them as
well as Photoshop, while photographers will more likely have just used
Photoshop.

~~~
vatotemking
Oh wow. That intro video is awesome: [https://affinity.serif.com/en-
gb/photo/](https://affinity.serif.com/en-gb/photo/)

Too bad im on windows. :-(

------
programminggeek
Now would be the time to learn the new UI and write a series of tutorials,
videos, ebooks, and sell them. There are a lot of users feeling the pain.

------
melling
People don't like change?

~~~
alexbilbie
There is not liking change for the sake of not liking change and then there is
not liking change because it is affecting your ability to work.

The linked forum thread seems to have a large quantity of people complaining
about the later.

~~~
melling
yes, I know the story. I've heard it a million times. Like I said, people
don't like change.

~~~
TheOtherHobbes
No, people don't like having their time wasted by clueless product managers
who are trying to justify their existence with cosmetic updates.

People don't, on the whole, complain about things that genuinely make their
lives better.

