anthemcg

I am not surprised by this. I am sure Lyft is just among a list of threats to Uber and we are only seeing a small part of that strategy.

Its ethically not good but I think it would be wrong to say that we penalized many other companies that make similar plays or resort to tactics that are just as ruthless. It doesn't seem illegal just mean and aggressive.

Honestly, it kinda seems like something they would do.

I have to agree that Wikipedia is not a good target for a redesign. Also, I don't think its on every designer's bucket list. But, Its fair to assume that a lot of people select Wikipedia specifically because it has such an uncommon set of constraints.

To make assumptions about design process based on something like the choice to do a "redesign" of Wikipedia sounds generally useless : Especially coming from a junior designer who I guarantee is not thinking that hard about it.

I am just saying : Everyone is getting way too serious about unsolicited redesigns. I think the article makes valid points about what design is and what defines user experience but It feels mean-spirited and the targeting at redesigns is mis-directed.

This feels unnecessary. Everyone gets it: you can't actually redesign a website with a few random mock-ups and visual updates. That so often is not the point of an unsolicited redesign.

Most of these people are young designers looking to practice, have fun or create something tangible to demonstrate some of their skills. Its clear that changing a button or making a visual change doesn't equate to UX expertise. However, for a lot of designers this material gets them attention and gives potential employers common context to evaluate them and maybe they are a UI designer who wants to display their visual skills. There are a lot of reasons to take it too seriously but I encourage young designers to do it. A redesign can help me evaluate certain skills in a junior candidate and they are fun to look at. Redesigning stuff is fun, who cares if you want enjoy yourself.

So, I'm not sure who this for. Convincing a designer not to do a redesign of a website and post it on their blog? What's the harm? These redesigns don't actually change the industry understanding or perception enough to matter. We need to calm down and just enjoy these redesigns for what they are.

I am not here to say that web designers should create PSDs and just throw them over the fence.

But, I don't think most web designers really agree with this. I think this philosophy really tries to downplay visual style to practical problem solving and I believe they are both essential.

I can write competent HTML/CSS/JS, Frameworks etc. At least, I know enough to work with engineers and work effectively in my projects. For me using Photoshop isn't just about what browsers can and can not do. Its certainly, not just about pixel perfection or making a design ready to code.

Working with HTML is just clunky. Working with paper is too loose. I can think about how to build a design, plan it on paper but exploring visually is actually quite constrained by trying to do it with markup or just paper/wireframes. Photoshop represents an open environment where I can create anything I need from an illustration to a button and its powerfully close to what it will really look like. To some people that might sound like a clunky or wasteful step but I think it really helps.

For sure, I think Nick makes some great and valid points here. I agree, there are problems with the PSD process but direct prototyping and CSS frameworks just don't solve those problems.

I don't know, I feel like if in reality everyone used HTML to design, everything would look like Bootstrap and that would be acceptable.

Isn't this just subtle confirmation bias? The favorite is basically the old logo with some things pushed around. Show someone 30 logos , they will subconsciously like the one that triggers a familiar pattern.

"Chrome Inspector is nice and all, but Firebug is clearly superior. I no longer recall why I hold this opinion. I'm looking forward to finding out."

For some reason, I also think this exact thing.I also know other people who share this sentiment. I wonder if it comes from Firebug just being the first to the scene?

I think the point remains though. The average consumer doesn't know the difference between a "major" airline and a "regional" one and shouldn't need to. Their safety record is just as applicable. Its not as if a consumer will see a regional affiliate and change their reservation because of it; its effectively the same experience.

To be fair, the post is titled "My start-up is Microsoft-based..." not "Here's why your start-up should be..." I feel like he just wanted to make a fair case that Microsoft isn't impossible to deploy as a viable solution for a start-up. In start-ups versus say...a corporation , there is a write-off of Microsoft pretty much out of the gate. I agree with most companies, there are certainly a stack of reason why not to use it. But, its nice to see someone putting some personal reasons out there why Microsoft tech isn't useless to a new, fledgling company.

Seems like Dropbox is ideally suited to do it from a financial and a technology stand-point.

Overall, the core of flat UI which is : solid shapes, contours and hierarchy are good elements to have. But, its an extreme. Gradients, shadows, highlights,etc... give UI elements dimension and help them to occupy space, there has to be some of those pieces to help users distinguish between different types of elements.

I am personally not a fan of this trend either. But, I consider it a trend of extreme minimalism with no middle ground which will not work well in the wild. If you look at it, very few products or companies are able to utilize it successfully.

I kinda agree, it makes some sense. Its easy in an office environment to forget about remote employees even if they do a lot of work. Out of sight , out of mind is quite real. It seems to matter less if you don't have a strong team dynamic; such as teams that are pieced together from contractors or work that is done mostly alone.

Seems like another similar system to Jekyll, et al. I don't think many heavily technical people understand how alienating this kind of approach is to the average user. Wordpress is popular because its understandable, installation is done in such a way that its fairly easy and its powerful enough.

Static generation blogs may seem simple to us but to most people who want to blog they seem ridiculously complicated.