Why are web apps so badly designed from a user-friendliness perspective?

Re:Why are web apps so badly designed from a user-friendline... by LarryMade2 on Monday September 19, 2016 @11:25PM (#12536788)

Complex web interfaces aren't easy, you gotta do a lot of magic to make a browser be like a desktop app. I think most struggle in getting their concept to work in the first place, and when they get to ease of use it's a lot more work they may not want to invest time in.

Given web limitations you cant just do the same UI as a desktop you have to be mindful of web browser input idiosyncrasies, screen size limitations, etc.

I've written intranet database stuff, which can be a bit a tad rough and user intensive - but when you are doing more public facing things you have to concentrate on simplification, sanity checks, added security and cross-platform issues. That stuff doesn't always come easy.

Until you get a handle on how you are going to pull-off doing X on the web you can't think too much on how to make it work easier. I think you would see better UX when you have seasoned web developers doing the apps, as they understand the environment and can now also concentrate on UX.

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Re:Why are web apps so badly designed from a user-friendline... by eyelidlessness on Thursday September 22, 2016 @12:48AM (#12554446)

Might as well follow up with "why are desktop apps so badly designed...?" Web technologies are certainly their own specialization, but UI/UX is bad for a most user-facing software, regardless of the technology used to present it.

Web technologies don't make UI/UX harder (in a lot of ways, they make it easier!). There's just a lot of them, and they've become dominant for the vast majority of things the vast majority of users experience.

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Re:Why are web apps so badly designed from a user-friendline... by 3ch1dna on Tuesday September 20, 2016 @03:20AM (#12537754)

This is a lot of it. You need people who have a good eye for UX and a solid understanding of what's possible in a browser. Developers =/= Designers and most Designers =/= UX. The sooner more devs understand this (and more importantly the owners of companies who pay the devs and don't think they need a UXer because money understand this) the smoother things will be.

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Re:Why are web apps so badly designed from a user-friendline... by ChoHag on Tuesday September 20, 2016 @03:59PM (#12542819)

I think it's safe to say we don't want X or its UI on the web.

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