[djaro]

This becomes an issue in any field where people are primarily working to impress their colleagues or others in their field, rather than the customer.

Just look at the divide in architecture between houses sold to people, that are actually made to look inviting and high-quality, vs those huge modern buildings in cities that are mostly designed for "prestige" and to show off.

This only happens in markets where there's no real choice. This would never happen for cars for example because people can choose which car they buy. But if a website has a give UI, you can't choose a different one.

[bhickey]

> look at the divide in architecture between houses sold to people, that are actually made to look inviting and high-quality

While I agree with your conclusion, I think your example is incorrect. Most houses aren't custom builds, they're built on spec. Think McMansions.

These houses use 2x4 framing, guaranteeing that they can't be adequately insulated. They all use double hung windows instead of high performance options, like tilt turn. They have features that no one actually wants like erratic rooflines, great rooms and oddly places veneer bricks. In short: these are bad houses. They optimize for maximizing square footage, resale value in a Keynesian beauty contest, while throwing all liability concerns to the winds.

Contrast this with actual custom contemporary residential architecture. You get features like insulated wall assemblies, large eaves to reduce weathering and summertime thermal gains, roof lines that won't lead to maintenance nightmares and so on.

Outside residential, I think you're spot on. Look at Boston's city hall. No one with affection for humanity would've built such a thing.

[nearting]

Out of curiosity - what kind of window performance are you talking about? What's the advantage of tilt turn over double hung?

[Cockbrand]

> Boston's city hall

I had never seen it before and just looked it up, and I find it quite ironic that it could easily be mistaken for an eastern block administration building from the same era.

[bravetraveler]

> Look at Boston's city hall. No one with affection for humanity would've built such a thing.

Trypophobia, the Building

[franga2000]

This absolutely happens in cars. Modern cars are full of fancy looking controls that are actually far less usable than the controls we had 30 years ago.

[parineum]

A lot of that is cost reduction though because people want cheaper goods more than they want buttons.

[kjreact]

> This would never happen for cars for example because people can choose which car they buy.

People have also been complaining that cars are all starting to look the same. Car designs tend to use similar structures to meet safety regulations.

This is most noticeable when you look at the design of a concept car vs the actual production version. When an automaker has to bring a concept to market it has to add larger mirrors, larger lights, bigger bumpers to meet standards. The issue is exacerbated by the need to meet standards globally while minimizing production costs.

In this case the automakers don’t have any real choice because of the constraints they’re given. Much like how software trends to sameness once an optimal design has been discovered.

[InCityDreams]

>But if a website has a give UI, you can't choose a different one.

Ah, how much I miss Proxomitron.