Products · Broad category
Mathematical notation
Raised as a usability problem by 45 people on Hacker News over 16 years (2011–2026), in 42 threads.
This is a broad category rather than one product, so its issues aren't ranked on the home page.
No issue was raised by at least 3 people in 3 threads this year.
Every issue, all time, most people first
Symbols are hard to follow without accompanying text explaining themUnreviewed
20112026- Can't search or copy unfamiliar math symbols to learn what they mean2025-12-05
- Hard to identify or search for unfamiliar symbols; notation has poor usability for learners2025-12-04
- Implicit notation like the diamond symbol and omitted terms is hard to decode without insider knowledge2025-09-03
Multi-letter variable names are hard to read and implied multiplication looks confusingUnreviewed
20112026- Scalar-looking notation with undisclosed vector operations confuses readers2025-09-04
- Multi-letter variable names are hard to read, and kerning makes implied multiplications confusing2022-01-12
- Single-letter and overloaded subscript notation makes equations hard to skim and interpret2021-09-11
Symbols are hard to remember and awkward to type on standard keyboardsUnreviewed
20112026- Hard to type special math symbols, forcing lookup or copy-paste during communication2024-04-25
- Symbols are hard to remember and painful to type on standard keyboards2021-12-28
- Too many symbols, and untypeable Unicode symbols are hard to enter2015-01-29
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 43 complaints
- Minus sign used as delimiter between formulas is very confusing to read2026-06-05
- Can't search or copy unfamiliar math symbols to learn what they mean2025-12-05
- Hard to identify or search for unfamiliar symbols; notation has poor usability for learners2025-12-04
- Defining degree as n-1 is hard to follow and counterintuitive for non-mathematicians2025-10-04
- Scalar-looking notation with undisclosed vector operations confuses readers2025-09-04
- Implicit notation like the diamond symbol and omitted terms is hard to decode without insider knowledge2025-09-03
- Concepts are hard to learn and explain, and sound like nonsense when stated2025-02-27
- Hard to type special math symbols, forcing lookup or copy-paste during communication2024-04-25
- Math symbols have no obvious meaning and are hard to enter into computers2023-06-22
- Notation is hard to follow; shapes are impossible to remember and a variable is used undefined2023-01-30
- Notation is cryptic and imprecise, hiding details and hard to understand2023-01-20
- Math notation is unintuitive, cryptic and hard to learn, especially for people with learning disabilities2022-03-23
- Notation is unintuitive and overly complicated, making mathematics hard to understand2022-01-31
- Multi-letter variable names are hard to read, and kerning makes implied multiplications confusing2022-01-12
- Symbols are hard to remember and painful to type on standard keyboards2021-12-28
- People make mistakes chaining transforms because the naming order is confusing2021-11-28
- Handwritten symbols like ξ and braces look identical, making the expression hard to read2021-11-25
- Math notation is hard for untrained people to read and learn, seen as deliberately exclusive2021-11-25
- Compressed notation with shortcuts only insiders understand is hard to read2021-10-17
- Single-letter and overloaded subscript notation makes equations hard to skim and interpret2021-09-11
- Notation is inconsistent and not as logical as it could be2021-09-07
- Notation is used without explanation and symbols are hard to look up2021-05-25
- Notation can't be searched or looked up, so self-learners get stuck2021-05-24
- AltGr key on only one side of spacebar makes the layout incompatible with touch-typing2021-04-04
- Same symbols carry multiple meanings, so readers can't tell what notation means2020-11-25
- Math notation is hard to parse and needs effort to extract meaning2020-10-01
- Each new symbol and multiple names for the same concept must be memorized2020-07-22
- Same symbol like sigma means different things in different papers, hard to decipher2020-07-22
- Cryptic notation and skipped steps make math papers hard to follow2020-02-24
- Students find mathematical notation awful to use, and the tool is never improved2019-03-15
- Notation is hard to write, look up, autocomplete and verify on a computer2018-10-13
- Math symbols are hard to decode, and many have several meanings2018-09-24
- Notation meanings depend on hidden context, so papers are hard to read without insider knowledge2016-11-19
- Notation f(x) confusing because it mixes function and output types2016-07-31
- Superscript -1 and squared mean different things, so readers get confused2016-07-21
- Too many symbols, and untypeable Unicode symbols are hard to enter2015-01-29
- Can't tell which symbols are knowns, unknowns, or chosen values; definitions often missing2013-11-21
- Math notation is hard to follow, requiring accompanying text to understand what symbols mean2013-04-07
- Math notation is imprecise and implied rules make papers hard to learn from2013-04-07
- Terse notation and Greek letters make formulas hard to understand2012-12-08
- Ambiguous notation confuses beginners, e.g. symbols meaning different things in different places2012-08-11
- Commenter finds mathematical syntax very hard to parse despite parsing expertise2012-02-25
- Mathematical symbols hide meaning; the reader can't guess what a symbol means2011-11-29