This is not true: "The human brain is incredibly plastic and adaptable. Unless the interface is truly absurd, most people can get used to it and never give it a second thought again."
I've interviewed and observed enough users to know this is not true. There are a lot of interfaces that are suffer from issues with discoverability and understanding, and even when a user figures this stuff out one time (or is showed it), the interface is not memorable.
One huge mistake you are making is that you are a power user. You probably use computers more than most people and understand interfaces and paradigms better than most people. I implore you to actually observe real users using real products.
> There are a lot of interfaces that are suffer from issues with discoverability and understanding, and even when a user figures this stuff out one time (or is showed it), the interface is not memorable.
Oh, dear, God, yes.
The "hamburger menu" is one of the worst travesties of the modern age.
What's wrong with the hamburger menu? It seems like a good compromise of quickly accessible functionality for little screen real estate. For desktop apps with plenty of screen real estate it's crazy (looking at you gnome) but on mobiles it's fine, especially when the alternatives seem to be some sort of hidden and undiscovered slide out menu or long button press.
I'm reading this on Firefox with a hamburger menu. It's a hard sell that someone else's supposed damaged discoverability is worth me giving up screen space to replace it with a menu bar for things that are rarely used. If they can't work out to click on it, they're not going to find much use from the things that are in it.
Either you'll translate the contents of the menu anyway and take care of this or you won't and having a universal icon to access an English only menu doesn't help.
Then again, if your users are using your software many hours a day, day in day out (e.g. in work context), they are power users due to circumstances. If you treat them as regular "common denominator" users, you're actually and directly hurting them.
This. I may be biased as a designer, but I definitely prefer products with better UI if it performs similarly. I'm a firm believer in no matter how great your product is, always invest in good design.
I've interviewed and observed enough users to know this is not true. There are a lot of interfaces that are suffer from issues with discoverability and understanding, and even when a user figures this stuff out one time (or is showed it), the interface is not memorable.
I put together a list of guidelines for thoughtful product design. Most products don't meet all of these. Really good design is hard work: https://uxdesign.cc/guidelines-for-thoughtful-product-design...
One huge mistake you are making is that you are a power user. You probably use computers more than most people and understand interfaces and paradigms better than most people. I implore you to actually observe real users using real products.