[HN Gopher] Bad UX
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       Bad UX
        
       Author : liquid99
       Score  : 86 points
       Date   : 2025-08-01 18:48 UTC (4 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.google.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.google.com)
        
       | x______________ wrote:
       | 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?
        
         | Larrikin wrote:
         | It's working on Firefox
        
           | x______________ wrote:
           | 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
        
       | betaby wrote:
       | That's nice. Although I would expect the Apple's new liquid glass
       | design as a first and most recent example.
        
       | sugarpimpdorsey wrote:
       | 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 wrote:
         | "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 wrote:
           | 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 wrote:
             | Yeah Google actually has a patent on the "unsolvable"
             | captcha thing
        
         | ayaros wrote:
         | This is an incredible burn if I've ever seen one.
        
         | timeon wrote:
         | 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.
        
       | jpecar wrote:
       | Wow, google suddenly looks much better. How do we make this
       | change permanent? (not a joke)
        
       | zaptheimpaler wrote:
       | 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.
        
       | kotaKat wrote:
       | 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?
        
       | ZeroWidthJoiner wrote:
       | Search results for "best font ever" has an easter egg as well.
        
       | chiffre01 wrote:
       | 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.
        
         | spurgu wrote:
         | "F-you" or "Fuck you"?
        
         | Melatonic wrote:
         | In comic sans?
        
           | ayaros wrote:
           | we can only hope so
        
       | ChrisArchitect wrote:
       | The link on this submission can just be
       | https://www.google.com/search?q=bad+UX
        
       | JHorse wrote:
       | 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
        
       | anigbrowl wrote:
       | 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.
        
       | xnx wrote:
       | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Google_Easter_eggs#:~:...
        
       | squidbeak wrote:
       | Search results for its designer, Vincent Connare, also use it.
       | Nice tribute.
       | 
       | https://www.google.com/search?q=vincent+connare
        
       | Theodores wrote:
       | 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.
        
         | bigstrat2003 wrote:
         | > 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.
        
         | Sohcahtoa82 wrote:
         | 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.
        
       | ChrisArchitect wrote:
       | Related font easter egg
       | 
       | try also https://www.google.com/search?q=times+new+roman
        
       | theideaofcoffee wrote:
       | 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 wrote:
         | You don't even need to search "Garamond" -- "garamonf" will get
         | you the same result!
        
       | ayewo wrote:
       | 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.
        
       | Oanid wrote:
       | "BAD UX"
       | 
       | Any of Google's Android apps.
        
         | econ wrote:
         | 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.
        
       | deafpolygon wrote:
       | wow, i actually like it in comic sans!
        
       | seabass wrote:
       | Do a barrel roll
       | 
       | https://www.google.com/search?q=do+a+barrel+roll
        
         | bodge5000 wrote:
         | Another one, when you google "vim" you get "did you mean:
         | emacs" and vice versa
        
           | omnibrain wrote:
           | 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...
        
       | cdrini wrote:
       | 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.
        
         | thunderfork wrote:
         | You might be seeing Comic Neue instead of the old classic,
         | depending on what device fonts you have
        
         | aatd86 wrote:
         | I was thinking the same thing. It's not bad.
        
       | rossant wrote:
       | Since when searching a font on Google changes the UI text font?
       | Tried with Garamond, Comic Sans, Times New Roman.
        
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       (page generated 2025-08-01 23:01 UTC)