It's genuinely terrible. I played enough to 'get it' at one point, then walked away for six months. When I came back had forgotten how to navigate the menus and just gave up, as it didn't seem worth it. Different kinds of branching per menu, different idioms for hotkey letters per menu.... just a mess.

I agree, but pretty much every UI has its own learning curve to get over, and taken together it’s just overwhelming to get started with. Curious to see how the tutorial system in the premium version helps address this. I’m cautiously hopeful but still doubt I will have the time to properly run a fortress. Maybe we’ll see the premium version lead to a jump in DF as a spectator sport given the much richer graphics library.