Why did UI’s turn from practical to form over function?

E.g. Office 2003 vs Microsoft 365

Office 2003

It’s easy to remember where everything is with a toolbar and menu bar, which allows access to any option in one click and hold move.

Microsoft 365

Seriously? Big ribbon and massive padding wasting space, as well as the ribbon being clunky to use.

Why did this happen?

  • @[email protected]
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    32 months ago

    What’s dumber about visual grouping instead of menus? Functionality is more grouped and readily visible in a visual menu? Being clear, intuitive, or more readable is not “dumb” lmao. It may require more knowledge to use a textual menu, but that doesn’t make it smart-- in fact, it’s a pretty dumb design.

    • @[email protected]
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      32 months ago

      I swear some people want computers to be more adversarial and difficult to use because it makes them feel smarter for being a tech enthusiast or something