Fuckin' user interface design, I swear
I just had an idea that might explain why this happens.<p>Firstly, I&#x27;ve observed a phenomenon when I talk to a programmer about a problem I want to solve. They might get excited, learn a bit of the problem domain and then go off and build something that kind of solves part of my problem. But then I&#x27;m stuck in a endless cycle of explaining the rest of the problem, to someone who isn&#x27;t really interested, then waiting for a new iteration and then evaluating how it doesn&#x27;t completely the solve the problem until the programmer gets bored and goes off to find something new and exciting to do with computers. Programming the computerwas always the end for them. They don&#x27;t actually care about the problem. I care about the problem. So for me computers are a tool to solve my problem. I might as well write the program myself because it&#x27;s less work to become a mediocre programmer than to intimately understand the problem.<p>My theory is that something like this happens in interface design. There are  designers who love to create beautiful designs, and we love that, but beauty is the end of it for them. They don&#x27;t actually care about the problem that the program (website, app, whatever) is supposed to solve. If they were stuck in a job filling out forms all day they would quickly learn the lesson to put the reset button out of the way. If they were intimately familiar with the problem, the better design would be obvious. And so it is that people with no &quot;design skills&quot; can point out the obvious mistakes of the designers.<p>It&#x27;s also true that good design <i>is hard</i>. Starting with a blank sheet and creating something, let alone something good, is daunting. Perhaps the hardest part is having the humility to admit, &quot;I don&#x27;t understand the problem sufficiently&quot; and the empathy to care about the problem enough to learn it well.