Re:The next Google
by Animats on Tuesday April 05, 2022 @04:43PM
(#30924758)
I think 'more customization' which is a theme with a lot of these alternatives is a fundamental dead end.
I tend to agree. It's an attempt to deal with bad design by putting in switches, options, and knobs to tweak. That's because 1) it's easier than focus groups, A/B testing, and taking video of users using the thing, 2) design takes some artistic talent, and 3) it lets the programmer blame the users for the problem.
This is a vice of open source people. It's why Linux on the desktop has never taken off. "Just edit /etc/conf/foo/bar/prefs.txt" is not a design. Nor is "On the visual side, you can modify everything about the way things look, even being able to write your own custom CSS."
I'm critical of Google's search, but this is not the way to fix it.
Consider just few more search options, alongside "News", such as "Scholar" and "Noncommercial", for when you're overwhelmed by crap. And "Popular", for when you want the crap. Don't add another interacting dimension of tweaking.
I tend to agree. It's an attempt to deal with bad design by putting in switches, options, and knobs to tweak. That's because 1) it's easier than focus groups, A/B testing, and taking video of users using the thing, 2) design takes some artistic talent, and 3) it lets the programmer blame the users for the problem.
This is a vice of open source people. It's why Linux on the desktop has never taken off. "Just edit /etc/conf/foo/bar/prefs.txt" is not a design. Nor is "On the visual side, you can modify everything about the way things look, even being able to write your own custom CSS."
I'm critical of Google's search, but this is not the way to fix it.
Consider just few more search options, alongside "News", such as "Scholar" and "Noncommercial", for when you're overwhelmed by crap. And "Popular", for when you want the crap. Don't add another interacting dimension of tweaking.