Re:The Mutable Web
by simulacrumparty on Thursday July 25, 2019 @09:10AM
(#20525044)
Thanks for the comments! I don't think the issue is ability so much as inclination. People see the web as something to consume rather than participate in so modifying a website doesn't cross their minds at all. I think with a little rebranding and some tweaking for non-devs devtools would be a fantastic way for anybody to start off slow, changing colors and so on, and gradually work their way up to more complicated CSS concepts, or even JS. I think if this functionality was right in front of people rather than being hidden deep in a menu behind the name Developer Tools, it's entirely possible people would take to it without much trouble.
> I don't completely hate Twitter's redesign
For me it's not the design, per se. It's that they changed a couple of things in the UX department that really rile me up.
1- The old design pulled for updates in the background, and the browser tab notified me that there were new tweets in my timeline (which is not a notification for every tweet, it's just letting me know there are new tweets). This doesn't work anymore. I have to open the tab and then it loads new tweets.
2- Every damn day, I have to reset the ordering of tweets to chronological. If I set an opiton I expect it to stay put.
I don't completely hate Twitter's redesign-- it does include a night mode and different highlight colors. I feel like-- as a professional installation art designer, web designer, and an education in architecture-- I can spot the same obvious pitfalls of the re-design you call out: mainly, phat text and a bulky sidebar. However, it's clear you have a stronger-than-most design sense, and are sensitive to these issues.
I wonder how the everyday user-- the consumer that uses (and does not make or own) a platform-- feels about these features? How about someone who isn't adept at web design? Who can't read small text or icons?