This is me, as a "normal" user of HN, not reading this article because every time I make any critiques of HN I'm down-voted or told I just don't get the community. But to those of you who engage, I wish you the best of luck.
This forum is full of programmers, designers and UX engineers. There's nothing wrong with criticizing the site's layout or interface, that's a sign that you actually care about it.
So the de facto workings of the site make me wear downvotes with pride.