- cross-posted to:
- fedibridge@lemmy.dbzer0.com
- cross-posted to:
- fedibridge@lemmy.dbzer0.com
This reddit post likely has tens if not hundreds of thousands of views, look at the top comment.
Lemmy is losing so many potential new users because the UX sucks for the vast majority of people.
What can we do?
I’m 32 and work in tech, The reality is the vast majority of people won’t want to use old.reddit style UI
I’m comfortable powering through shitty UI/UX etc. I’ve even built them myself, but others won’t settle for shitty UI
You and your friends are old I assume, and got used to the old.reddit UI, and didn’t want to change.
Most people are used to modern UI, and won’t want to change to old UI, just like you don’t want to change either. We should better cater for average people.
Thats funny, Im also 32 and completely happy with the default Lemmy UI. Definitely wouldnt use something like new Reddit. But the good thing is that there are so many different choices, and its possible to create instances with a different default UI.
You seem to be conflating “the vast majority” and “people my age”. They are not the same.
You’re also making a lot of global UX preference claims in this thread without sources or data to back them up.
You seem to be doing the same? Majority of reddit users are younger than op. People who use old reddit are objectively the minority
Thank you for including sources, this was my point to AnonymousWolf.
I should have said “they may not be the same” as I didn’t check either. I stand corrected.
Look I don’t have any data to back it up, only my experience and many others (eg. https://lemmy.ca/comment/14524858)
I’m also not going to go try and dig up all the evidence to try and prove this to you. I am a IT professional and have been part of developing many web apps that see tens of thousands of users per day. We would do AB testing to see what works for users and what gets a better click through rate etc.
As soon as a user needs to think, they drop off like crazy, that’s just a fact you can look up good UX design. It’s also a fact that joining lemmy requires a lot of thinking and tweaking etc. to get to a good place.
I’ve been using lemmy for months now, and I’m still not happy with the UI even after tweaking and trying many different things.
A/B testing is not really possible in a decentralized system like this, it would require all instance admins to collaborate for collecting results, and would make deployment much more complicated. Not to forget that there simply arent enough development resources to implement it. That said if you see anything that can be improved, you’re welcome to make a pull request. Its standard Typescript wit TailwindCSS and Inferno, nothing complicated.
That was my point. A number of times in this thread, you’ve stated your opinion as “a fact” or expressed it as obviously correct. It’s possible to get your point across without the condescension and acknowledging it’s your opinion.
I agree that the nature of federation on Lemmy and other federated social networks is complicated. Resolving that is no easy task. However, your stance in this post seems to be the burden of choosing your instance should be removed or streamlined by randomization. I personally disagree - while there is a hurdle to having to choose an instance and that is a barrier to entry, it’s also valuable in them learning that this isn’t just another platform under a single umbrella.
My opinion as a IT professional who’s been involved with UX & UI for 12 years. Just google ‘Good UX principles’ and you’ll see Lemmy breaks so many of them.
I’m sorry but you’re wrong, Lemmy breaks basic UX principles the UX is bad on multiple levels, that’s just the reality, all I’m saying is we should do something about it.
I don’t have the answer to a perfect solution, but something needs to be done to smooth out the process of joining and getting used to the platform.
Edit: Adding Data why the UX here is bad
Lemmy breaks the six of the 7 UX principles
User-Centricity – Lemmy often prioritizes federation and technical features over intuitive user experience. The interface can feel clunky, and onboarding isn’t always smooth for new users unfamiliar with the federated model.
Consistency – The UI varies significantly across different Lemmy instances, which can create an inconsistent experience. Some instances modify themes or layouts, making navigation different depending on where you are.
Hierarchy – Unlike Reddit, Lemmy’s ranking algorithms sometimes don’t surface the most relevant or popular posts effectively. Sorting by hot, top, or new doesn’t always work intuitively, leading to lower-quality content appearing before high-quality discussions.
Context – Lemmy’s UI sometimes fails to provide clear context, If a post originates from another instance, clicking on it might not always take you where you expect. Sometimes, users have to manually navigate to the original instance to see all interactions, which breaks contextual continuity.
User Control – Here it’s great, users have a lot of control, it might just cost effort to figure out
Accessibility – Lemmy’s UI and design choices can be less accessible, with contrast issues, and mobile usability problems compared to mainstream platforms. Many non tech savvy people are overwhelmed and won’t stay.
Usability – Lemmy can be confusing for new users, especially those unfamiliar with federated platforms. The sign-up process, navigation, and feature discoverability could be much smoother.
Why are you passing off the onus of proof to me or others in this thread? It’s your argument.
No thanks, I’m also a decades long IT Professional and I’m not going to do that. It’s your argument so your burden of proof.
Again, please feel free to cite specific examples.
Fine, here is how Lemmy breaks the six of the 7 UX principles
User-Centricity – Lemmy often prioritizes federation and technical features over intuitive user experience. The interface can feel clunky, and onboarding isn’t always smooth for new users unfamiliar with the federated model.
Consistency – The UI varies significantly across different Lemmy instances, which can create an inconsistent experience. Some instances modify themes or layouts, making navigation different depending on where you are.
Hierarchy – Unlike Reddit, Lemmy’s ranking algorithms sometimes don’t surface the most relevant or popular posts effectively. Sorting by hot, top, or new doesn’t always work intuitively, leading to lower-quality content appearing before high-quality discussions.
Context – Lemmy’s UI sometimes fails to provide clear context, If a post originates from another instance, clicking on it might not always take you where you expect. Sometimes, users have to manually navigate to the original instance to see all interactions, which breaks contextual continuity.
User Control – Here it’s great, users have a lot of control, it might just cost effort to figure out
Accessibility – Lemmy’s UI and design choices can be less accessible, with contrast issues, and mobile usability problems compared to mainstream platforms. Many non tech savvy people are overwhelmed and won’t stay.
Usability – Lemmy can be confusing for new users, especially those unfamiliar with federated platforms. The sign-up process, navigation, and feature discoverability could be much smoother.
Nice job articulating your arguments. Now that you’ve explained your stance, it can foster better discussion.
Since this explanation is so far down the thread, I suggest editing one of your more top level comments to include these points for better engagement.
I will say this: the whole point of Lemmy and federation is to have control. Each instance gets to choose what’s important for them. A singular UX experience isn’t possible by design. But that’s not to say there’s no room for improvement.
You’re thinking like a designer for a slick, centralised, profit-and-growth-seeking company (no shade, I’m guessing that thinking literally makes you good at your job). The fediverse is entirely about choice; if different instances want to have a different default look and feel then that’s great and new users can pick one they like the look of, but insisting that everyone should have the one that you think is best isn’t a meaningful or helpful change.
I’m not saying everyone should have the one I think is best.
I’ve said many times I don’t have the solution, it’s just painfully obvious that what we have now sucks. (goes against basic UX principles)
I’m saying the instances that care about not filtering out non tech savvy people, and that want to attract more users, should care and put some effort into this.
You’re taking zero choice away from people, All I’m asking for is better defaults and guidance