Products · Pattern or everyday thing
App UI design
Raised as a usability problem by 23 people on Hacker News over 15 years (2012–2026), in 22 threads.
No issue was raised by at least 3 people in 3 threads this year.
No issue was raised by at least 3 people in 3 threads in the last 5 years.
Every issue, all time, most people first
Periodic redesigns make apps unintuitive over timeUnreviewed
20122026- Periodic redesigns make apps more unintuitive to use over time2023-01-16
- Constant UI redesigns force users to re-learn basic applications they already use2022-06-09
- Redesigns make familiar apps harder to use, though they worked fine before2021-09-18
Unreviewed issues were grouped by machine: Claude Haiku labelled each comment as a usability complaint, named what it's about and summed up the problem in a line, and a small model grouped similar problems. Nobody has checked them by hand. Expect mistakes.
The newest 24 complaints
- The app pinning feature is buried deep in settings and hard to find2026-08-14
- Must learn each app's custom UI controls instead of getting output directly2026-07-14
- Text in app interfaces can't be selected or copied, so users must screenshot error messages instead2025-08-06
- Many app icons look alike, so the user struggles to find the app they want2023-06-12
- Contact Us is buried three menu layers deep, and the path changes by region2023-05-05
- Interfaces prioritize visual complexity over real usability2023-03-04
- Periodic redesigns make apps more unintuitive to use over time2023-01-16
- Constant UI redesigns force users to re-learn basic applications they already use2022-06-09
- Redesigns move things around, so non-techy users get confused and can't find features2022-05-17
- Constant UI/UX redesigns and dark patterns that capture attention and time2021-11-02
- Redesigns make familiar apps harder to use, though they worked fine before2021-09-18
- Companies ignore upvoted UI complaints, so interfaces keep getting worse2021-08-09
- Designers prioritize clean looks over obvious UX problems users hit2021-08-08
- Redesigns get made for looks and competitors, ignoring whether the usability suffers2021-08-08
- Gray-on-gray text is hard to read for users with declining near vision2020-09-30
- Title bars are undraggable, hidden, or used as toolbars, so they behave unexpectedly2020-07-05
- Animations make each action take longer, with no option to turn them off in apps2020-04-24
- Interfaces waste users' time and are hard to figure out, by design2019-12-27
- Modern apps lack options, use repetitive designs, and waste the user's time2019-12-05
- Existing icon generators have tedious steps and incomplete icon sets2018-05-02
- Users must hunt for icons across many screens to enable a function2016-12-08
- Forced waiting for opening animations to finish before use2016-03-19
- Splash screen makes the page feel slow and bloated while loading2014-11-05
- Finding and switching between apps on a phone is a cumbersome process2012-01-24