don't treat users like babies:
the whole "we know better than you" vibe in software is condescending af. it's great to make the default path smooth and obvious – most people just want things to work. but the moment you seal off the deeper layers, you're basically saying "you're not smart enough to handle... See more
Ryo Lux.comdon't treat users like babies: the whole "we know better than you" vibe in software is condescending af. it's great to make the default path smooth and obvious – most people just want things to work. but the moment you seal off the deeper layers, you're basically saying "you're not smart enough to handle this." curiosity is natural. people want to understand how things work, they want to tinker, they want to make it theirs. when you hide the system, you're not protecting users – you're robbing them of agency and the joy of discovery. with cursor, you can just chat with it, or you can dive into the code, mess with context, tools, understand how the AI thinks. the system doesn't hide from you. black boxes create learned helplessness. transparent systems create power users. and power users become creators. they remix, they extend, they teach others. that's how communities form around tools. the best tools feel like instruments, not appliances. you can play a simple melody right away, but mastery is always available if you want it. make the layers discoverable, make the complexity gradual, make the tinkering fun. trust your users – they'll surprise you.
And yet, in so much modern software today, you’re placed in a drab gray cubicle — anonymized and aggregated until you’re just a daily active user. For minimalism. For simplicity. For scale! But if our hope is to create software with feeling, it means inviting people in to craft it for themselves — to mold it to the contours of their unique lives
... See moreThe Browser Company • Optimizing For Feelings
so much AI stuff focuses on giving you results without letting you participate in the process, as if the thinking/digging/discovery is purely an obstacle and not the whole point at times
Above all, people need agency. They need to feel in control. Sometimes, that means designing for subversive behavior. I mean, isn't the most fun often had when you're breaking rules? But this is enormously difficult in software, where you must design almost everythingfrom scratch. Unlike life, you don't get a common repertoire of actions for free –... See more
XH • Internet Playgrounds
You see — if software is to have soul, it must feel more like the world around it. Which is the biggest clue of all that feeling is what’s missing from today’s software. Because the value of the tools, objects, and artworks that we as humans have surrounded ourselves with for thousands of years goes so far beyond their functionality. In many ways,
... See moreThe Browser Company • Optimizing For Feelings
i want to make software that looks and feels like helpful reliable objects of daily lives do. like a toothbrush, like a knife, like a chair. predictable, familiar, trustworthy. something that you own and have full control over, and can do anything you want with.
i want to make software for hanging out, for learning stuff, for finding people to hang... See more
i want to make software for hanging out, for learning stuff, for finding people to hang... See more