Developers; Users; Open Source; UI
The above can come to no-good end when mixed in the wrong proportions. Case in point, this firestorm that has enveloped the Pidgin userbase following a change to how the text entry area within IM windows behaves (previously it was resizable; now it auto-resizes based on how much text you enter).
Whilst on one side I’m definitely a proponent of benevolent dictatorship where UI decisions are concerned, there’s a clear and demonstrable lack of common sense from some of the developers here, for instance:
People don’t realize the entire window is a click target for giving the input area focus
It should be noted that this assertion is implied to be the fault of the end user; in essence, the fact they don’t know about this feature makes it their own fault.
This is wrong; plain and simple. There is no such thing as User Error in a software program - if the user interface isn’t clear enough then the user will simply behave in a way that they feel is appropriate, or become confused and frustrated when they can’t do what they’re trying to. Simply foisting extra responsibility upon the end user to somehow psychically detect unobvious features is not the solution.