

Remnants of a Disappearing UI - ugh
http://news.designlanguage.com/post/1611663345/

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ibejoeb
Regarding a disappearing UI: I'm probably not the only one who had to
highlight the text to read it. In case the author is here, please reconsider
the offwhite-on-white scheme.

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ugh
I upvoted you because you are obviously right but at the same time I’m once
again astonished by how fascinated HN readers are by tangents about the linked
website’s design. It just seems so irrelevant and pointless and has nothing to
do with the content. It’s off topic and mean spirited, especially in a case
like this where the author doesn’t give any advice. (It’s a bit different if
the author writes about usability or design.) If you can’t read it don’t
comment and don’t upvote.

One nice comment about it (like yours) might be ok but eight? Seriously?

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georgemcbay
I didn't upvote you because in this specific case it is relevant. If someone's
website exists to highlight design and the linked article is design-specific,
I think it perfectly legitimate to point out that the design of the site,
while arguably pretty, is a usability nightmare and this site fits in that
description.

I'm sure it looks great on the designer's computer, but he needs to learn the
painful lesson that not everyone is viewing his website on a monitor of the
exact same resolution and gamma he is using(I would guess a Macbook of some
type considing the gamma and resolution (laptopish) that would be required for
the site to be at least somewhat reasonable to use). If he can't get that
right, how can we be expected to listen to him on issues of design or UX even
when that just involves him showing positive bias towards various existing
designs?

If the link were to the blog of some programmer who was writing about some
advanced algorithm that would be a totally different situation but it isn't.
And in that case we'd probably point out he totally doesn't understand big-O
notation (if he clearly didn't), regardless of how useful his algorithm
actually is, for similar reasons.

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ugh
I don’t see a reason to complain about it. Ignore and move on. Again, it’s not
advice, it’s a neato visualization without any claim to expertise. It stands
on its own.

What annoys me that this happens all the time. It’s annoying (if there is more
than one comment about it) and just not relevant.

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designlanguage
Thanks for visiting my site and for all the comments and suggestions. I don't
take criticism personally, so I appreciate the honest feedback. I think the
contrast probably was a bit light, so I tried to tweak it a bit without losing
the spirit of the site. To address a couple points:

Gojomo - I was thinking the same thing about there being an app running in the
background that records taps and swipes. That would be pretty cool.

Pyre - This study wasn't meant to be more of a brief survey than a
comprehensive study. The Safari image was just light browsing and no typing.
If you use any two apps long enough and the smudges they leave behind will
look similar, so I limited the amount of time I used each app. I would like to
pursue this further and dig a little deeper though, and a few people have
suggested other apps to try.

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martinshen
I wonder how this compares with mouse actions/movement.

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apl
Beautiful idea, and well executed.

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mryall
Yeah, I've been cleaning the fingerprint marks off my iPad for months and
never thought to look for patterns. What an interesting study it makes!

In terms of other apps, _Cut the Rope_ would probably have some interesting
smudge marks, depending on which levels you play.

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pyre
Not really comprehensive. The Safari one doesn't look like he used the touch
keyboard at all. The usage would be different if he were using more
interactive sites (forums, email form, etc).

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xuki
Anyone can explain the video one? Why those particular areas?

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sbhat7
To go to full-screen mode and exit?

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xuki
Is this Video app you're talking about? Video app launches the video in full
screen and there's no way to exit unless you stop the video.

I just look at my iPad again and the top area seems to be the play button.
Still thinking about the middle one.

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ugh
You can double tap to zoom in (i.e. remove the black bars) anywhere on the
screen.

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xuki
Ahhhh. Thanks!

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stcredzero
This phenomenon is actually a security problem. Reducing the search space for
a password based on fingerprints on an iPhone/iPad could defeat a lot of
security.

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gojomo
I wonder how hard it would be, on a jailbroken iOS or otherwise open device,
to make a background app that records all touches in other apps and makes
either a picture or high-speed animation from them.

