I have been using Gimp easily for 10 years now and Inkscape for at least 5, I know them decently well, and I appreciate they at all exist and the hard work that went into at all implementing the individual features. But the UX is terrible and this is objectively so, just sit a new computer user in front of Gimp and watch his agony when trying to use it. The open source "bazaar" model of software development in general isn't the best at coming up with good interfaces, you need a coherent vision of a single person with some authority for that.

Gimp yes, Inkscape no, everyone I sit in front of Inkscape loves it and it made me overcome my feeling of "I'm a programmer, I can't do art" thanks to it's great interface and smooth learning curve.

I feel Inkscape has a great UI, too. I never used Illustrator, which seems to be the benchmark for "semi-pro" use of such vector graphics tools.

The GIMP I use because I'm used to it, but I find the interface a little annoying.

I think Inkscape is basically the best open source graphics program there is. It's unfortunate to have it get a bunch "drive by insults".

Even if someone doesn't like Inkscape, the issue of Inkscape's interface is completely different from the issue of The Gimp's interface.

So? Ever sat someone down to Photoshop? UX is mostly built upon previous experience.

BTW you replied to a comment that suggested looking at alternatives to Gimp...

Photoshop has a lot more stuff, but when I just want to draw a circle or something I can actually find where to do it. Gimp is a real mess.

The brush and pen tools are right there in the toolbox.

> But the UX is terrible and this is objectively so, just sit a new computer user in front of Gimp and watch his agony when trying to use it.

This is not the only objective measure of UX.

Some people say a UI must be judged by experienced users, because newbies don't understand it yet. Others say a UI must be judged by newbies, because experienced users get desensitized to UI problems over time. (For example, every programmer can use their own program easily, but that doesn't mean the UI is good.) I think I trust the newbies more, because I've seen many bad UIs that experienced users like, but I haven't seen many bad UIs that newbies like.

What are the objective measures of UX? Isn't the USER experience inherently subjective?

Or Pinta, which is like Paint.net, although a little less polished.