
Redditors design worst volume sliders possible - rbanffy
https://www.designernews.co/stories/84443-redditors-design-worst-volume-sliders-possible
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cyberferret
These are hilarious.

I use audio software a lot, and it is amazing how something which seems quite
simple in concept, such as a circular volume button, can be so differently
implemented via UX.

Every time I see a knob style button on any of my audio plugins UI, I have to
think:

* Will the point at which I touch/click on the knob set the knob value to that position, or will it simply be the starting anchor at which I start moving the knob?

* Does this knob work by sliding up/down or in a circular fashion? Or accept both ways?

* How far away, or close to the centre, is the active 'hot spot' that allow me to control this knob?

* Does the knob dynamically display the value as I spin it? If so, where does it show that value and am I inadvertently blocking the display with my finger/cursor?

* Does the knob have the concept of velocity, whereby I can quickly spin it to the approximate value I want, then make tiny incremental adjustments to get the sound 'just right'?

All these tend to break the "don't think, just do" concept of a skeuomorphic
interface.

~~~
mark242
Volume is a percentage, and a very analog control. The idea that you would
have to have a round knob to twist on a computer screen is ridiculous, almost
like some imaginary need for a specific shutter button to press to take a
photo on a phone (just touch the screen!).

It's a one-dimensional value, make it a one-dimensional control. Slider. Done.

~~~
throwaway899
To be honest, I prefer the physical shutter button over tapping my screen on
my phone when taking pictures.

~~~
abruzzi
Especially since screen tapping could be registering a "refocus to this point"
action. Also since camera phones have no viewfinder, I use the screen to
compose my shot. So to avoid obscuring what I am going to take a picture of, I
keep my hand clear of the screen most of the time. That makes the act of
triggering the shutter a more visible and deliberate act than just pushing a
button that my finger is already touching. These probably don't matter to most
people but are fairly frustrating to me. (the fact that I almost always shoot
landscape, not portrait, may be the cause of the discomfort for me, since it
changes my hold on my phone to something more like the hold on a camera.)

~~~
ferongr
With most sensors having a 4:3 aspect ratio and smartphone displays having a
16:9 (or wider) AR, there is no need to block the image being composed with
any fingers. The blank areas are filled with all relevant controls and a
virtual shutter release button.

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Ajedi32
This isn't the first time. A few months ago the trend was phone number form
fields: [https://imgur.com/a/4f3XB](https://imgur.com/a/4f3XB)

~~~
AceJohnny2
The funniest thing to me is that this was started by the very first gif in the
article, which looked like a real thing and result of a simple coding error...
and the top comment for that was "prepare yourself for a week of volume
sliders", referring to that past Bad Phone Number Input fad.

And as predicted/spurred, came the new wave.

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derefr
That third "make a noise as loud as you want the volume to be" one would
actually be a good idea, if it was a continuous feedback loop: I'd love if
there was something I could enable that would make my headphone volume "track"
the loudness of the room, the way that phone display backlights "track" the
brightness of the room. Instead of setting a target carrier wattage (regular
volume) or a target SPL (SoundCheck volume), you'd be setting a target _SNR_ ,
and then the OS would maintain it by lowering the master gain in quiet places
and raising it in noisy places.

Or, to put that another way: _I 'd_ like to be able to hear my music, but I
don't want the people around me on the bus to be forced to listen to my music.
Electric vehicles (like my local bus system) only make noise when they're
moving; they're dead silent when they stop. So right now, I actually have to
turn my music _up_ several notches when the bus is moving, and then turn it
back _down_ several notches whenever it stops. Why is the phone not doing this
for me?

(Heck, while it's at it, why not recognize nearby human speech specifically,
and pause and/or duck the playing sound temporarily to let me hear it?)

~~~
nandemo
Personally I think changing the volume dynamically like that would destroy the
music.

And there's a simpler solution to your problem: intra-ear monitors (IEMs).

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knolan
In research environments we often have to use software with UIs designed by,
and subsequently abandoned by engineers. Typically some expensive piece of
highly complex equipment that only runs on some older version of Windows that
every PhD student is expected to use. They're often buggy, resulting in
Skinner pigeon troubleshooting workflows to get anything done.

First guilty party to mind is FLIR. Their software is truely awful and since
they monopolise the market by buying out everyone else no two cameras behave
the same.

Various CAD packages too are a design mess. PTC could learn an lot from Adobe
about UI design. Heck, Blender's UI is miles ahead of anything from the big
CAD companies for pure productivity, nevermind install size.

Fortunately my primary overpriced USB dongled bit of research equipment is
pretty easy to hack. All the data types under the hood are simple text files
that I've got python scripts for handling.

~~~
SAI_Peregrinus
The worst offenders by far have to be National Instruments, entirely because
they loosed LabView upon the world. LabView essentially makes it impossible to
make UIs that aren't terrible. Most of the volume controls in these posts are
more usable than the best that can be done with LabView.

~~~
knolan
I've managed to completely block NI from my mind. When I have to use their
hardware (which is mostly good) I use pyVISA or the session based interface in
Matlab.

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Chaebixi
My favorite one was the last one:

\-----------------------------------------------------------

> Login to Change Volume

> You'll need to log in before you can modify the volume. Remember: Be nice or
> else.

> Login

\-----------------------------------------------------------

> Register Today

> New accounts can leave comments immediately, and gain full volume
> permissions after one week.

> Register now

\-----------------------------------------------------------

~~~
RachelF
These will give Microsoft ideas for the new UI upgrades in Windows 10.

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JTon
the /r/programmerhumor sub has a really great userbase. I loved watching this
one unfold. My personal fav:
[https://gfycat.com/gifs/detail/BetterDaringDarklingbeetle](https://gfycat.com/gifs/detail/BetterDaringDarklingbeetle)

~~~
TeMPOraL
That's literally the only one I don't get. What is this thing that follows the
mouse cursor, and what does the whole idea represent?

~~~
Avalaxy
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curling](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curling)

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jewbacca
> Please make a noise as loud as you want the volume to be

I'm not sure this is a bad idea...

~~~
nopreserveroot
>TFW no microphone

~~~
TeMPOraL
Shake your device as hard as loud you want the volume to be.

~~~
justforFranz
Drop your device as hard as you want the volume to be.

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cyberferret
I'd love to see the antithesis of this collection - whereby smart UI designers
try and improve the current audio controls to move away from the old style
knobs/sliders, to something far better represented by todays interfaces, such
as this concept for a car audio control:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVbuk3jizGM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVbuk3jizGM)

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zkms
If you like this, search for "worst phone number input", there's more in that
genre :)

~~~
kibwen
For the lazy: [https://imgur.com/a/4f3XB](https://imgur.com/a/4f3XB)

~~~
AstralStorm
Speaking of bad inputs, the one dimensional slider with space confirmation
somehow reminded me of Dasher...

[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dasher_(software)](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dasher_\(software\))

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7952
I quite like the one with 100 hundred buttons. Often in slider style
situations I know exactly what I want the value to be and just want to hit
something with a mouse click. This can be faster sometimes.

~~~
animal531
Especially if the 100 numbers are distributed randomly every time you open it.

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maw
One of those is basically the same as tilt to scroll, something that actually
exists. Why anybody in the history of ever thought it was a good idea I'll
likely never understand, though.

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rkv
Very funny concept. Especially liked the catapult[1].

1\. [https://jsfiddle.net/w1mvkjjj/](https://jsfiddle.net/w1mvkjjj/)

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amptorn
After a while these start boiling down to "a difficult minigame where your
score is also the volume setting".

~~~
qbrass
I was kind of expecting a flappy bird volume control to be there.

If you want to buck the mini-game trend. Just have a simple up/down button
that bumps the volume up or down a percent, but requires a reboot first.

~~~
AstralStorm
You mean Windows 95 volume control? ;)

Have Clippy ask you repeatedly if now is too loud or too quiet.

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ddingus
I really like the collect the dots one!

Awesome in a twisted way.

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qrbLPHiKpiux
And they follow a logarithmic scale, too.

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justforFranz
Redditors, you knuckleheads. :)

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kradem
Running to the north to volume this one up:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NN75im_us4k](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NN75im_us4k)

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zitterbewegung
Someone please change the link to the appropriate reddit page:
[https://www.reddit.com/r/ProgrammerHumor/comments/6evbfd/who...](https://www.reddit.com/r/ProgrammerHumor/comments/6evbfd/who_can_make_the_best_volume_slider/)

~~~
Nexxxeh
Argh, please don't. The source is linked in the post, but trying to pick them
out of that Reddit thread is painful. I appreciate what you're saying, but the
post serves as curated collection.

I'd prefer it if the author had attributed each one, but it's better than just
dropping people into that thread.

~~~
eat_veggies
Clicking on the images links you to their respective threads

