#Mastodon is far better than any microblogging service out there. It has all the features that many don't, for example content warnings, editing posts, high character count, post visibility settings per post etc... It's a dream as platform. However #UI-wise I think it still has long way to go. The current default UI feels old-ish and a bit clunky. Thankfully it can be improved with apps and UIs.
Because Mastodon is #OpenSource, I've been able to make changes to my own instance. I've seen lots of different social media UI's since the times of Jaiku and there are good choices that have been forgotten. The hellsite got most of it right and it's been my inspiration in regards to user interface. As a designer and developer I create the UI improvements for myself that I think Mastodon is missing.
Hence, the #MastodonBirdUI was born.
There have been lots of subtle changes over the weeks in my instance. Let me present some of these. I'm quite proud of what I have achieved as a designer and developer. My instance is now top notch for me. There is always room for improvement, but it's already like 99.9% there.
I just hope Mastodon itself will get even a pinch of these in the core, some day. Most notably the real numbers for OCD and neurodivergent people, free resizing of the compose box (#a11y), one level threads and if one can hope, a bit of white space and minimalism in the design.
Preview: https://mementomori.social
Get Mastodon Bird UI here: https://github.com/ronilaukkarinen/mastodon-bird-ui
Edit: Fixed some typos
The vertical indicator line to distinguish threads is very nice and super helpful.
I personally don't think looking aesthetically "modern" is (or should particularly be) a selling point for something. I hate most modern things and actually strongly prefer the traditional (non-rounded icons, overkill border-radius on everything, a hundred pixels of extra "breathing space" padding within a single viewport, so forth).
Nevertheless, this is very nice and I appreciate it. It's super sleek.
@topher Good points. I like old things as well, I use IRC. But there's a place for good user interface, too. White space doesn't mean the space is wasted, on the contrary. I'm not going to lecture you about UIs more, just saying the minimal way of doing things is usually the less distracting.
In my opionion Mastodon doesn't need "selling points". I'm glad people can tinker their own solutions if they please.
Absolutely. One of the most wonderful aspects of all of this is that there's so much possibility for people to tweak and create custom experiences that ActivityPub with each other but offer a completely different UX and appeal far more suitably to different audiences.
I can see what you put together as being perfect for people who like the Twitter experience and are on the fence about joining friends here, seeing that and realising just how seamless it can be for them. A HUGE audience
@rolle @topher Everything there works brilliantly...... Except minimalist scrollbars? Nobody I've spoken to, surveyed, or watched working really likes them? As screen resolutions climb hover and higher, squeezing a necessary part of the UI into as few pixels as possible seems.......crazy? When everything you have done adds to discoverability and ease of use, this seems counter-intuitive? Thank you for sharing this masterpiece.