is open source GUI design bad?

[jdodson]

someone recently posted on my blog this line: " Wow, the interface on that VLC website is almost as bad as the average GUI in open-source software..." here is a direct link (http://cs.georgefox.edu/~jdodson/getComments.php?postDate=20050302085832) to the post: i replied that i thought that bad designs are subjective for the most part(though some really good work has gone into usablility recently, thank you gnome hig.), and thought that you could navigate the VLC site easily so it was not a big deal. the pastels don't really scream "BAD DESIGN" to me, but it just might be me.

perhaps i could get some feedback on his "average GUI in opensource is bad" comment. since we use open source software here on the forums, i was wondering your take.

i think most programs i use in gnu/linux have a fine interface. there are some that could use work like the gimp or gnucash. but most of them, are pretty easy to use. then again, it could be my bias.

[rapala61]

i consider freshmeat's website a bad design... VLC is ok.

[oddabe19]

i consider freshmeat's website a bad design... VLC is ok.
freshmeat's site...

/me shivers....

a friend of mine actually had a list of really bad looking websites on his site..... some of them were... well... HORRIBLE!!!

[kassetra]

perhaps i could get some feedback on his "average GUI in opensource is bad" comment. since we use open source software here on the forums, i was wondering your take.

i think most programs i use in gnu/linux have a fine interface. there are some that could use work like the gimp or gnucash. but most of them, are pretty easy to use. then again, it could be my bias.

open source interfaces have traditionally been designed by the developers that wrote the programs... which is how all software started, initially. There is an old, somewhat stereotypical saying that developers are not designers...

Most of the time these days (with some very nasty, glaring exceptions) big commercial projects have user interfaces designed, by, well, user interface designers.

Open source developers have started working towards better user interface design (the gnome HIG is a great start!)... and there are many, many academics researching user interface design, so I feel that the actual gui will improve significantly in open source (simply because many academics also create open source projects)...

With all that said, however, there is something to note about an individual's response and perception to any interface. There are two widely accepted modes of interface comprehension, and wouldn't you know it, they are completely different. So, in other words, some user's eye candy is another user's bane.

Also, please note that many people that criticize open source user interfaces are viewing/remembering things from '97 or so... or are viewing some tightly packed screenshot full of terminals and such.

[tim1]

I money wasn't a factor, I guess the only Desktop I could possibly prefer over Gnome was the Aqua stuff of Mac OS X, which i haven't used long enough to really be able to rate it. But overall, I don't think that proprietary software is generally better designed.

greets, tim

[ember]

Well, I must admit that I do find VLC site quite ugly, but I wouldn't say open source interfaces are ugly, because I like my gnome and firefox and so on quite much ;)

Yet I agree with kassetra that things really improved in the last years.

[DJ_Max]

Usually software developers aren't graphic design artists, hence the bad designs. It's hard to get someone to create a design for free.

[kassetra]

Usually software developers aren't graphic design artists, hence the bad designs. It's hard to get someone to create a design for free.

unless you go asking the user interface college students to do it for you to help "build their portfolio" ...

then it's usually free... heh.

[panickedthumb]

I think the VLC website design is good. Those aren't the colors I'd choose, but the site works.

Anyway, lately I've found open source interfaces to be much better than proprietary.

[mark]

UIs are a tricky (and much kicked-around) subject. We keep talking about the "freedom of choice" in FOSS, but seem to forget that each user is an individual, with individual tastes and preferences. For example, I happen to prefer the simplicity of the Gnome interface, as expressed in the Ubuntu GUI - but I know others that prefer KDE or Xfce or...you get the idea.

The ultimate UI is a bit of a "Holy Grail" for some people. If someone could nail the "ultimate UI", I'm sure there are several organizations that would pay dearly for it.

[jnoreiko]

Usually software developers aren't graphic design artists, hence the bad designs. It's hard to get someone to create a design for free.

I'm interested in interface design... perhaps not the actual graphics, but certainly things like overall layout of screen elements and widgets and so on.
where do I sign up? :D

[nocturn]

This question cannot be answered. Let's say we agree on a defenition of good and bad, then we still cannot answer it.

Some FOSS projects have bad GUI design, yet some are the top of the bill.
Some commercial software has bad GUI design (WinXP, Office 2003), but some is great (large parts of OS X).

What you could do is compare the GUI design of comparable products, like the Gnome UI with WinXP UI, or K3B with Nero. A general conclusion is not possible nor usefull.