Bad UX

(google.com)

107 points | by liquid99 17 hours ago

24 comments

  • sugarpimpdorsey 16 hours ago
    Comic Sans?

    I thought maybe displaying a dialog that says "SIGN IN WITH GOOGLE" front and center, that steals cursor focus (after a random delay), and covers content, might have been a better illustration of the phenomenon, considering it's more intrusive than the pop-under ads of the early 00's.

    • snickerbockers 16 hours ago
      "Click all squares containing a motorcycle."

      "Failure to verify. Click all squares containing a traffic signal."

      I hate how much unpaid labor I've given to Gemini just because so many sites fall for the DDOS shakedown. And I've heard the story about how PayPal's captcha saved the company or whatever, I just don't think the solution should be appointing Google as your gatekeeper.

      • therein 16 hours ago
        It is made worse by it not actually looking for the right answer at all stages of that process. Part of it you're training it, and it will take your word for it. Let's make that image appear slowly, like real slow fade in. Motorcycle? Include the rider, not include the rider? Does it matter? Who cares, we have made our mind about your IP already, this is just to annoy you.

        There is that one guy that orders 50lbs anvils from Amazon, just to return them. He has been doing that for 6 months. This is the kind of thing that makes a person do that.

        • octo888 14 hours ago
          Yeah Google actually has a patent on the "unsolvable" captcha thing
    • sssilver 11 hours ago
      Great comment.

      Kind of illustrates how detached they are from actual substance and how shallow their understanding of what bad UX really means.

    • ayaros 15 hours ago
      This is an incredible burn if I've ever seen one.
    • burnt-resistor 8 hours ago
      I'm kind of sad it didn't wrap text off the viewport, change font sizes randomly to be tiny and not scale with browser zooming, and choose colors with low contrast.
    • timeon 14 hours ago
      As someone, who haven't opened sites made by google in months, I got "we want your data" pop-up covering whole page. It was pretty bad UX.
  • chiffre01 16 hours ago
    I worked with a guy years ago who passionately hated Comic Sans. I told him to email Vincent Connare, the Comic Sans inventor, and tell him how much he didn't like it, and he did.

    Anyway, no response until a year and a half later, then one day a simple F-you came back.

    • Melatonic 14 hours ago
      In comic sans?
      • ayaros 13 hours ago
        we can only hope so
    • spurgu 15 hours ago
      "F-you" or "Fuck you"?
  • ayewo 15 hours ago
    Another such Easter egg is searching for "askew".

    https://www.google.com/search?q=askew

    PS: https://www.google.com/search?q=bad+UX is a cleaner submission link without any tracking.

  • cdrini 14 hours ago
    Wow, I've never seen comic sans on mobile before, and... it kind of looks really nice?? I'm not sure why, but it looks totally different from windows! Maybe it's the high resolution display, but the font doesn't look as childish, and just looks slightly more organic than the default. And slightly easier on the eyes, too.
    • deafpolygon 1 hour ago
      One of my favorite monospaced / terminal font (they also have a variable width version) is Recursive Casual Mono... very similar to Comic Sans, and looks great.
    • aatd86 14 hours ago
      I was thinking the same thing. It's not bad.
      • efilife 1 hour ago
        100% what you are seeing is actually Comic Neue not Comic Sans
    • thunderfork 14 hours ago
      You might be seeing Comic Neue instead of the old classic, depending on what device fonts you have
      • cdrini 5 hours ago
        Ahhh I think that's it! Oh wow it's really quite a captivating font.
  • zaptheimpaler 16 hours ago
    Just got a Comic Sans Everywhere extension on firefox, this is kind of awesome! Comic Sans gets a bad rap. I feel better already it kind of conveys the reality that everything on the internet is fake and were all clowns.
  • squidbeak 15 hours ago
    Search results for its designer, Vincent Connare, also use it. Nice tribute.

    https://www.google.com/search?q=vincent+connare

  • jpecar 16 hours ago
    Wow, google suddenly looks much better. How do we make this change permanent? (not a joke)
    • efilife 1 hour ago
      stylus browser extension
  • JHorse 16 hours ago
    If you haven't already seen theMcSweemey's classic "I'm Comic Sans, Asshole", I highly recommend you go check it out posthaste

    https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/im-comic-sans-asshole

  • xnx 15 hours ago
  • seabass 14 hours ago
    • bodge5000 14 hours ago
      Another one, when you google "vim" you get "did you mean: emacs" and vice versa
      • omnibrain 13 hours ago
        I tried to copy some files once. I was unsure about the syntax of "cp" and my sleep deprived brain did neither remember to just try "man cp", nor when I searched via Bing to add "syntax" to the search term "cp". This lead to a very stern warning, that let me wonder if I'm on a list now...
  • kotaKat 16 hours ago
    Odd, you’d think it would just redirect you to the pages about Material 3 Expressive. How do I get someone at Google to fix that bug?
  • betaby 16 hours ago
    That's nice. Although I would expect the Apple's new liquid glass design as a first and most recent example.
  • x______________ 16 hours ago
    I'm not seeing any changes on mobile, but weirdly getting a full AI answer in bad UX, while searching for Good UX offers no such prompt.

    Maybe the moral is that Good UX doesn't need bloated AI summaries on traditional search queries?

    • econ 13 hours ago
      They can't figure out how to put videos on the video tab, pictures with pictures, maps with maps.

      Will the AI product ever become a real Google service? You know, like the product search everyone loves so much?

    • Larrikin 16 hours ago
      It's working on Firefox
      • x______________ 15 hours ago
        Android 11, Firefox 128.

        Saw it on Edge on win 10 though, nice.

        Edit: Got it to work, culprit was Noscript with a block on gststic.com

  • ZeroWidthJoiner 16 hours ago
    Search results for "best font ever" has an easter egg as well.
  • anigbrowl 15 hours ago
    A decade or so ago I opened the weekly legal trade newspaper and found a death notice for the senior partner of a boutique law firm in Comic Sans. Still trying to figure out what it meant.
  • rossant 14 hours ago
    Since when searching a font on Google changes the UI text font? Tried with Garamond, Comic Sans, Times New Roman.
  • Oanid 15 hours ago
    "BAD UX"

    Any of Google's Android apps.

    • econ 13 hours ago
      Not having a maps option in the menu when you search for a city name.

      Pretending there to be a one size fits all solution when you have over a billion users.

  • mwillis 14 hours ago
    I hate the hate on Comic Sans. It’s not, by itself, bad UX. It’s not really UX at all. And used properly it has an important place in design. Try all uppercase - it’s an excellent simulacrum of comic book lettering.
  • ChrisArchitect 15 hours ago
    Related font easter egg

    try also https://www.google.com/search?q=times+new+roman

  • Theodores 15 hours ago
    Comic Sans has its uses and there is also Shantell Sans that is an update on the concept for dyslexic people.

    Hating on Comic Sans is getting tired, those that call themselves 'designers' but merely imitate are the chief culprits.

    I have no use for the font, or rather, typeface, myself, but I don't belittle those that do use it. You can guarantee some charity fundraising thing pegged to the noticeboard in a supermarket will use Comic Sans, and I am okay with that. If there was a fridge magnet font by Fisher Price then I would be okay with that too.

    Imagine how boring the world would be without the little things that annoy 'designers'.

    I am okay with Google Easter Eggs, generally, just so long as Google have a top class product, but they have lost their edge, and, whilst the product is lacking, Easter Eggs will look silly.

    • Sohcahtoa82 14 hours ago
      I hate Comic Sans, not because it's a bad typeface, but because it's misused.

      It's a playful font, so using it for playful things is great! Anything related to children's activities, it's a fine choice.

      But then people use it for things that aren't playful. A sign at your bank saying they're low on coins should not be in Comic Sans. Work e-mails should not be in Comic Sans. A resume should not be in Comic Sans unless you're applying for a literal clown job or Kindergarten teacher.

    • bigstrat2003 14 hours ago
      > Hating on Comic Sans is getting tired

      I was tired of the hate 20 years ago. And yet people still feel the need to keep beating the dead horse. It mystifies me.

  • theideaofcoffee 15 hours ago
    The SRP also changes when you search 'Garamond' (as in the typeface).

    Edit: I guess this was already on the Google easter eggs wiki page, but I happened to find it randomly just recently.

    • chatmasta 15 hours ago
      You don’t even need to search “Garamond” — “garamonf” will get you the same result!
  • deafpolygon 14 hours ago
    wow, i actually like it in comic sans!
  • ChrisArchitect 16 hours ago
    The link on this submission can just be https://www.google.com/search?q=bad+UX
  • p3rls 12 hours ago
    ...But every search on google is bad UX between the AIOs and the millions of indian SEO scammers that have been brought to prominence the past few years