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Comment by jslabovitz | Hacker News Reader

> You don't use Google maps because it looks nice, you use it because it tells you where to go to get good tacos. You don't use Facebook because the UI is nice, you use it to talk to your friends and share photos.

I actually don't use Google Maps -- because it's a crazy mess of buttons and menus that get in my way of trying to navigate. I actually don't use Facebook -- because it's a horrible dog's breakfast of inscrutable icons and I can't figure out its mental model to save my life. And there are many more sites/apps that frustrate me so much that I abandon them for better-designed choices, or even for nothing at all, because at least doing nothing doesn't make me angry.

This function-over-form attitude bugs the hell out of me. People (especially designers) who think that design doesn't really matter as long as the function is okay may not notice the mass of former users who simply throw up their hands and refuse to use their product at all.

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I agree with you about Facebook’s garbage interface, but Google Maps could be so, so much worse. At least you can just type an address all on one line.

If you want to see real garbage map apps, look to car navigation. My Mazda 3 requires around 20+ taps (plus typing) to get navigation to an address. The city, street name, and house number are all separate input fields. You have to confirm each one, then confirm the whole address, then confirm what it thinks the address is, then pick the route, then confirm the route, and then finally start the route.

Total nightmare, and that’s if you actually know the address. Address lookup is a whole different problem.

I mean... I get what you are saying, but you are going to have to offer an alternative. Preferrably one that isn't complete garbage.

What do you use over Google Maps and Facebook?

For Maps, I really don't know of any alternative. And I now make some mapbox-gl applications for the office. There just doesn't seem to be any real alternative.

For Facebook? I can actually almost completely unplug. That said, it is the easiest way to get pictures of the kids to family. I could setup a website, but I can't imagine it would be as easy or as effective. With the emphasis on effective.

edit:s/primarily/preferrably/

I've begun to question how "effective" the sharing of pictures of my family needs to be. I now think that my pictures only being seen by people explicitly trying to see them is preferable - I'm not marketing my family.

You can set it so that you only share with your direct friends.

I'm convinced most of my family doesn't know how to do much more than login to their machine. Without a password, no less. To that end, if I want them to see pictures, I put them there.

There is a chance I could email everyone. I'm honestly not convinced that is in any way more secure. Maybe. Maybe if my family had gpg setup. They don't. And never will. :(

I have an iPhone, so Apple Maps is right there as an alternative (and better, since it's more integrated into things like the Contacts app and auto-recognized addresses). I find its design to be much calmer and smoother, which makes me happier. And it doesn't keep asking me to login to the Googleverse...

There are many reasons I don't use Facebook, most of which are enumerated in countless HN posts, but a big reason is that I get totally frustrated with the interface. I don't know how to say this strongly enough, but the UI literally disgusts me, to the point where I just give up and close it down. True!

Maybe I'm weird this way. But I've been computing since about 1976, and using the web since '93, and I've got no patience anymore for crappy sites/apps.

Oddly, to me, Apple Maps and Google Maps are basically the same, just on different devices. Neither is enough to make me want to purchase the device they are on, but both are indispensable on the device.

> And it doesn't keep asking me to login to the Googleverse...

is that because you are always logged in to Apple's Garden?

With all respect, people over age 50 are not the target demographic for general purpose mass market products. Even simple things like supporting large fonts or color contrast for weaker eyes is beyond the capability of tech giants (in large part because of the tyranny of pixel perfect UI designers over simple auto-flow/layout algorithms

No disrespect taken. Thanks for raising this point — one that I’m often frustrated by. (Yes, I’m over 50.) I’ve resorted to using Safari’s Reader mode on the vast majority of the sites I visit because the respective designer’s idea of type face, size, and contrast is so unreadable to me. Obviously this doesn’t work for interactive sites like maps, though.

For Maps "Here Maps" is a great alternative IMO

>I actually don't use Google Maps -- because it's a crazy mess of buttons and menus that get in my way of trying to navigate. I actually don't use Facebook -- because it's a horrible dog's breakfast of inscrutable icons and I can't figure out its mental model to save my life.

probably because of unnecessary redesigns.

> I actually don't use Google Maps -- because it's a crazy mess of buttons and menus that get in my way of trying to navigate.

I've found the actual map part of Google Maps to be the best designed online map. Compared to Bing or Mapquest, I find it much easier to get a sense of an area using Google Maps.

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