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+--- Thread: Another reason to mourn Steve's early death (/showthread.php?tid=124897)
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Another reason to mourn Steve's early death - what4 - 10-08-2011
Here's another reason to mourn Steve Jobs' early death:
He did not live long enough to discover some of the ways Apple's minimalist approach to design makes it harder for people with aging eyesight to use their products -- tiny lettering, low contrast markers, overuse of icons that increasingly resemble one another, overly subtle identification of sockets, confusing model designations, confusing plugs and adapters, window-resizing corners that demand too much precision placement and movement of the cursor, a general lack of redundant labeling and no ability to turn that on, an iTunes vocabulary alien to those who use it for audio books (tracks, music, albums). He would have noticed others.
In another 15 years, Steve might have led Apple to a redesign that better accommodates the huge number of older users.
Apple makes great products, but they do not seem to have noticed how much those designs were shaped by young people working with large monitors under perfect lighting conditions -- factors that do not apply to most users.
Re: Another reason to mourn Steve's early death - Stephanie - 10-08-2011
Funny - the older people I know who use Macs have NO problems with the gui!
Re: Another reason to mourn Steve's early death - rgG - 10-08-2011
You don't have to be old to have bad eyesight. I was born with horrible eyesight.
Re: Another reason to mourn Steve's early death - Pam - 10-08-2011
My mom (75) has no issues using her MBP.
Re: Another reason to mourn Steve's early death - SteveO - 10-08-2011
I think that's called getting old inside, not just outside. I don't want to be dismissive, but learning new things and staying on top of tech can be anybody's game...it's not just limited to the young. As for redundant labeling, when I scroll over my very clearly marked dock icons on my MBP, the name of the app magically appears. The apps on my iPhone are also very differentiated imho. It would be cool to be able to zoom on the home screen, though...I will definitely concede that for the needs of a person with poor eyesight. But I'd recommend an iPad, not iPhone for a visually challenged person. The number pad on the iPhone for dialing is huge, though.
The ports can generally be figured out by matching male with female or simply reading directions. Hmm.
Apple obviously cannot control third-party icon design. Tracks, music, albums...? What is confusing about this? This whole rant sounds like a...rant to me. Maybe it was a rant on Windows? I don't have Windows so I don't know if their OS includes names when you scroll over apps like ours does.
I'll concede the point about precision grasp of a window corner. That's at times a pain for me right now as a relatively young person. But again, it's not a deal breaker.
Regardless of my silly thoughts, these are very real concerns to you and probably others, so were I you, I'd go to Apple's site, find the appropriate feedback link and share whatever concerns you may have with the powers that be.
Re: Another reason to mourn Steve's early death - deckeda - 10-08-2011
My parents, Mac users since System 6 on an SE w/Superdrive, and more frequently in recent years don't have much trouble seeing stuff. What they continue to have trouble with is how to us it.
Re: Another reason to mourn Steve's early death - cbelt3 - 10-08-2011
I think that's a generality for all computer interface designers. They tend to be younger, and have younger eyes. I rail at our local designers on a regular basis, to the point that I've threatened to buy a few pairs of 'elder vision' glasses that impose problems on the wearer.
What you've missed is the tools that Apple has ALWAYS added to their interfaces for disabled users from early on (I think they showed up in 1987, but I could be wrong). Magnifying, speech, keyboard use, etc.. You'll find it's a hallmark of their design.
Re: Another reason to mourn Steve's early death - Forrest - 10-08-2011
I disagree with those comments - the OSX and iOS interface is very well designed and I can easily differentiate the icons - even with my glasses off. The ability to easily zoom in on a web page or ebook is also one of the main iPad selling points for folks with poor vision IMHO.
Re: Another reason to mourn Steve's early death - mjgkramer - 10-08-2011
My old eyes are almost 72 years old and I have no problem with the user interface. But then I have been using Macs since 1984 and have sort of gotten used to them I guess.
What I have increasing problems with is instructions printed on both OTC and prescription medications as well as various food products. The government and lawyers are requiring so much information to be printed on the labels that it has to be printed in 6 point or so. On more than one occasion I have scanned a label so I could enlarge it and see what it said.
Re: Another reason to mourn Steve's early death - Article Accelerator - 10-08-2011
what4 wrote: He did not live long enough to discover some of the ways Apple's minimalist approach to design makes it harder for people with aging eyesight to use their products -- tiny lettering, low contrast markers, overuse of icons that increasingly resemble one another...window-resizing corners that demand too much precision placement and movement of the cursor
If old folks learn just one trick, it should be how to do on-the-fly full-screen zoom.
...overly subtle identification of sockets, confusing model designations, confusing plugs and adapters,
True re: sockets. I think Apple's model identification is confusing but I understand the reasons Apple has gone that way (e.g. is "HP EliteBook 8460p" any less confusing?). The plugs and adapters situation is an industry problem, isn't it?
...a general lack of redundant labeling
Tooltips provide automatic redundant labelling. The Finder and most applications support them.