Photoshop user experience (Re: Can I Get a Hallelujah?)

[Scott Stevenson]

On Dec 15, 2006, at 8:48 AM, Roger Howard wrote:

> I guess I don't see it as a lowest-common-denominator approach; if  
> they
> only used controls or features available on both platforms then  
> maybe, but
> Adobe builds their own UI with their own controls, so it's not  
> limited by
> what's available on the lesser platform.

It sounds like you've already made up your mind about this, so I'm  
not going to expend too much energy on it. But let me give you a  
quick synopsis.

I've been using Photoshop for about ten years, and Illustrator for  
nearly as long. Neither has undergone any sort of serious UI revamp  
in that time, even though ideals about software have changed quite a  
lot.

Specifically, overall experience and production values are now much  
more important. I think there's also a shift in thinking that more  
features doesn't necessarily mean more value. Focusing on a reduced  
set of more useful, more polished features is generally thought of as  
better, at least on Mac OS X.

It seems Photoshop's engineering efforts are still built around  
adding individual features. Maybe I think of this as being more  
"Windowsy" because the feature-centric design still seems to be the  
prevailing ethic at Microsoft too.

I don't think this is lack of skill on the part of Adobe's engineers  
and designers, but just the result of priorities set by management. I  
have no doubt that if Adobe believed a better user experience would  
sell more copies of Photoshop, they'd make it a priority.

Also, if you asked me if Photoshop is closer to the mindset of  
Apple's Pro apps or Office, I'd say Office. From a business  
perspective, this is may be better for Adobe, but I doubt you're  
going to find a Final Cut, Motion or Aperture user who isn't also  
using Photoshop.


> Care to give any examples of where it's clearly limited by having to
> pander to Windows too, versus just being limited by their own UI  
> concepts?

I think if Adobe wasn't so concerned about platform parity, they'd be  
much more willing to create a Mac-centric design. I don't know how to  
easily break that down into an analysis of specific dialogs or  
features. I also might be wrong -- that Adobe apps would be the same  
without Windows.


> I don't think the presence of modal dialogs has *anything* to do with
> Windows, for instance; you might disagree.

Maybe it's not Windows directly, but rather the design ethic that  
Windows has on developers. It's clear Mac developers feel more  
pressure to get production values and experience right because Apple  
sets the bar so high. I think there's also something to be said for  
the fact that Mac OS X's native frameworks tend to nudge you in the  
right direction -- away from modal dialogs and such.

I don't dispute the results that Photoshop and Illustrator generate  
(which is why I say the core engine is great), I just think the  
experience of using them was due for a major refresh.

     - Scott
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