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   Luci for Chai Tea (zens@merveilles.town)'s status on Friday, 07-Apr-2023 03:28:57 JST Luci for Chai Tea

   I should probably pin this somewhere at some point, but i have a few core beliefs that many folks find a bit jarring and confusing

   1. it’s the designer’s fault, never the user’s fault

   2. there’s no such thing as “newbies” or “dummies”. There’s a variety of people with different motives, backgrounds and experiences. The belief in this simplistic dichotomy of “smart” vs “dumb” creates heirarchies that allow emotional toddlers to believe they are geniuses on the basis of knowing how to code in C

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     Luci for Chai Tea (zens@merveilles.town)'s status on Friday, 07-Apr-2023 03:28:59 JST Luci for Chai Tea

     in reply to

     3. developers, and power users deserve good UI *too*. we shouldn’t measure expertise on the basis of the amount of suffering we are willing to endure.

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     Luci for Chai Tea (zens@merveilles.town)'s status on Friday, 07-Apr-2023 03:29:01 JST Luci for Chai Tea

     in reply to

     • Billy Smith

     @BillySmith a swiss army knife can do many things badly

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     Billy Smith (billysmith@social.coop)'s status on Friday, 07-Apr-2023 03:29:02 JST Billy Smith

     in reply to

     @zens

     I'm coming at things from a hardware design perspective.

     All hardware designs are compromises with physical reality.

     Configuration switches mean that the hardware can be used for more than one purpose, which increases the number of tasks that the hardware can be used for.

     You don't use wood bits for drilling steel... :D.

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     Luci for Chai Tea (zens@merveilles.town)'s status on Friday, 07-Apr-2023 03:29:04 JST Luci for Chai Tea

     in reply to

     4. every configuration switch is a failure to make a design decision.

     there are a bunch of exceptions here for accessibility; but mostly, configuration isn’t freedom, it’s pointless busywork that makes documentation harder, and troubleshooting a nightmare

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     Billy Smith (billysmith@social.coop)'s status on Friday, 07-Apr-2023 03:29:06 JST Billy Smith

     in reply to

     @zens

     I had to explain this to a programmer who hadn't used a pillar drill before.

     I said, "We should use strings for everything! All data should be stored in String format!"

     Reply came, "You can't do that! There are times when strings are useful, and there are times when they are the worst possible tool to use."

     I looked at the drill bits, then showed them the difference in results on scrap material... :D

     No matter how brilliant you are in one field, you are a novice in many others. :D

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     [GAMER] gamer :verified2: (gamer@bungle.online)'s status on Tuesday, 27-Feb-2024 10:06:39 JST [GAMER] gamer :verified2:

     in reply to

     @zens@merveilles.town first one reminds me of that design book "the design of everyday things" recommended to me by a minecraft custom map creator out of all people

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