Steam UI changes

[Zephyrus]

Here's a short Video with redesigned Steam UI with detailed description what should be done. It's just so simple, but looks so fresh and clean comparing with the current version.

[cSg|mc-Hotsauce]

Originally posted by Poplavok:

Steam UI changes

Here's a short Video with redesigned Steam UI with detailed description what should be done. It's just so simple, but looks so fresh and clean comparing with the current version.

UI =/= UX

Plenty of threads on this.

https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/0/4362372817696116054/

https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/10/4031347929692574918/

https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/10/4031347532807699781/

https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/10/3951406499778163832/

https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/10/3951406499785317262/

[Alvarez_Tiago]

That's why I use playnite...

[Zephyrus]

Originally posted by cSg|mc-Hotsauce:

Originally posted by Poplavok:

Steam UI changes

Here's a short Video with redesigned Steam UI with detailed description what should be done. It's just so simple, but looks so fresh and clean comparing with the current version.

UI =/= UX

Plenty of threads on this.

https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/0/4362372817696116054/

https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/10/4031347929692574918/

https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/10/4031347532807699781/

https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/10/3951406499778163832/

https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/10/3951406499785317262/

:winterbunny2023:

The problem is that Steam is breaking records like every month, company earns millions, but they can't change the UI for years, delete some useless duplicate links/buttons on many pages, they can't change the logic of some pages (when you click on something, it usually opens a new page, instead of just smoothly opening needed without opening a new page, like when you open a profile page, almost every button there is a new page, but it can be easily changed by hiring like 1? 2? developers and 1 UI engineer, who can spend some time (not years, not months) and make a better look of Steam. They just need to let some workers change the entire design at once, not by slightly updating 1 small peace (for example slightly updating the store won't help, because everything else on the store page will look old, but this peace, which they updated will look better and stand out). It looks like they don't care about what people want and how their main product looks like, because even if it looks quite old, it's still better then competitors' stores and they still earning money without spending few k on updating the design

[rawWwRrr]

Originally posted by Poplavok:

Originally posted by cSg|mc-Hotsauce:

UI =/= UX

Plenty of threads on this.

https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/0/4362372817696116054/

https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/10/4031347929692574918/

https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/10/4031347532807699781/

https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/10/3951406499778163832/

https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/10/3951406499785317262/

:winterbunny2023:

The problem is that Steam is breaking records like every month, company earns millions, but they can't change the UI for years, delete some useless duplicate links/buttons on many pages, they can't change the logic of some pages (when you click on something, it usually opens a new page, instead of just smoothly opening needed without opening a new page, like when you open a profile page, almost every button there is a new page, but it can be easily changed by hiring like 1? 2? developers and 1 UI engineer, who can spend some time (not years, not months) and make a better look of Steam. They just need to let some workers change the entire design at once, not by slightly updating 1 small peace (for example slightly updating the store won't help, because everything else on the store page will look old, but this peace, which they updated will look better and stand out). It looks like they don't care about what people want and how their main product looks like, because even if it looks quite old, it's still better then competitors' stores and they still earning money without spending few k on updating the design

Changing the client isn't as easy as opening photo/video editing software and moving objects around. And it isn't like Valve is just sitting on their hands. There have some major overhauls recently and in progress. Instead of focusing on the look and feel, they are changing the whole way it functions. Last big update was the shared cart, per game privacy settings, multiple gift recipients in a single purchase. Now they're working on updating the Family Sharing functionality to make it more user friendly for those in the family group.

So maybe they aren't changing it the way you want them to, but they are hardly letting it rot away.

[William Shakesman]

Originally posted by Poplavok:

Originally posted by cSg|mc-Hotsauce:

UI =/= UX

Plenty of threads on this.

https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/0/4362372817696116054/

https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/10/4031347929692574918/

https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/10/4031347532807699781/

https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/10/3951406499778163832/

https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/10/3951406499785317262/

:winterbunny2023:

The problem is that Steam is breaking records like every month, company earns millions, but they can't change the UI for years, delete some useless duplicate links/buttons on many pages, they can't change the logic of some pages (when you click on something, it usually opens a new page, instead of just smoothly opening needed without opening a new page, like when you open a profile page, almost every button there is a new page, but it can be easily changed by hiring like 1? 2? developers and 1 UI engineer, who can spend some time (not years, not months) and make a better look of Steam. They just need to let some workers change the entire design at once, not by slightly updating 1 small peace (for example slightly updating the store won't help, because everything else on the store page will look old, but this peace, which they updated will look better and stand out). It looks like they don't care about what people want and how their main product looks like, because even if it looks quite old, it's still better then competitors' stores and they still earning money without spending few k on updating the design

They let the back button be broken and useless in production for 9 months and the screenshot manager still takes 15 seconds to load a single folder of screenshots. Improvements to the client happen on Valve Time sadly rather than when users need them

[Spawn of Totoro]

Originally posted by Poplavok:

The problem is that Steam is breaking records like every month, company earns millions, but they can't change the UI for years, delete some useless duplicate links/buttons on many pages, they can't change the logic of some pages (when you click on something, it usually opens a new page, instead of just smoothly opening needed without opening a new page, like when you open a profile page, almost every button there is a new page, but it can be easily changed by hiring like 1? 2? developers and 1 UI engineer, who can spend some time (not years, not months) and make a better look of Steam. They just need to let some workers change the entire design at once, not by slightly updating 1 small peace (for example slightly updating the store won't help, because everything else on the store page will look old, but this peace, which they updated will look better and stand out). It looks like they don't care about what people want and how their main product looks like, because even if it looks quite old, it's still better then competitors' stores and they still earning money without spending few k on updating the design

They actually have changed the UI several times since they started. Every time, there is an outcry and the forums are blasted with "I hate the new UI!" spam.

They also don't go by what people say they want, though they have implemented many suggestions in these discussions, they instead go by their metrics on how people use the client.

[DiceDsx]

Originally posted by Spawn of Totoro:

They actually have changed the UI several times since they started. Every time, there is an outcry and the forums are blasted with "I hate the new UI!" spam.

About this point, I think they're changing the forums now since the results of a forum search look different compared to the past.

Can't say if it's a beta thing or it's also in the stable build, though.

[rawWwRrr]

Originally posted by DiceDsx:

Originally posted by Spawn of Totoro:

They actually have changed the UI several times since they started. Every time, there is an outcry and the forums are blasted with "I hate the new UI!" spam.

About this point, I think they're changing the forums now since the results of a forum search look different compared to the past

Can't say if it's a beta thing or it's also in the stable build, though.

Of all the areas that I've been waiting to get revamped, the forums tops my list. I don't care what they do with it. I'm just ready for the inevitable fallout of hate and vitriol that will spew forth because of it. I plan to call off work that day just to watch everyone's salty tears.

[Ben Lubar]

Moving stuff around has a much higher cost than just the time it takes to write the code changes to move the stuff. It also means that everyone who has muscle memory for the previous layout is now forced to re-learn the UI, like how YouTube recently made it so that clicking on a video thumbnail no longer goes to the page where you can watch the video.

[Zephyrus]

Originally posted by rawWwRrr:

Originally posted by Poplavok:

The problem is that Steam is breaking records like every month, company earns millions, but they can't change the UI for years, delete some useless duplicate links/buttons on many pages, they can't change the logic of some pages (when you click on something, it usually opens a new page, instead of just smoothly opening needed without opening a new page, like when you open a profile page, almost every button there is a new page, but it can be easily changed by hiring like 1? 2? developers and 1 UI engineer, who can spend some time (not years, not months) and make a better look of Steam. They just need to let some workers change the entire design at once, not by slightly updating 1 small peace (for example slightly updating the store won't help, because everything else on the store page will look old, but this peace, which they updated will look better and stand out). It looks like they don't care about what people want and how their main product looks like, because even if it looks quite old, it's still better then competitors' stores and they still earning money without spending few k on updating the design

Changing the client isn't as easy as opening photo/video editing software and moving objects around. And it isn't like Valve is just sitting on their hands. There have some major overhauls recently and in progress. Instead of focusing on the look and feel, they are changing the whole way it functions. Last big update was the shared cart, per game privacy settings, multiple gift recipients in a single purchase. Now they're working on updating the Family Sharing functionality to make it more user friendly for those in the family group.

So maybe they aren't changing it the way you want them to, but they are hardly letting it rot away.

Steam is definitely the best platform compared with others, like EGS, Uplay (or how is it called now), EA app? (origin ). It has so much features, I like that they are still improving it day by day, but the last big design update was so so long ago. I mean you can take Iphone 7 and Iphone 15, both are good, the CPU on Iphone 7 is still good, but if you choose which one to take, most people would take Iphone 15, just because it looks more modern (might be a bad comparison, but, I think you got the idea). And I'm sure such a big company can afford to hire some developers who will easily re-code everything in a short period of time.

Originally posted by Spawn of Totoro:

Originally posted by Poplavok:

The problem is that Steam is breaking records like every month, company earns millions, but they can't change the UI for years, delete some useless duplicate links/buttons on many pages, they can't change the logic of some pages (when you click on something, it usually opens a new page, instead of just smoothly opening needed without opening a new page, like when you open a profile page, almost every button there is a new page, but it can be easily changed by hiring like 1? 2? developers and 1 UI engineer, who can spend some time (not years, not months) and make a better look of Steam. They just need to let some workers change the entire design at once, not by slightly updating 1 small peace (for example slightly updating the store won't help, because everything else on the store page will look old, but this peace, which they updated will look better and stand out). It looks like they don't care about what people want and how their main product looks like, because even if it looks quite old, it's still better then competitors' stores and they still earning money without spending few k on updating the design

They actually have changed the UI several times since they started. Every time, there is an outcry and the forums are blasted with "I hate the new UI!" spam.

They also don't go by what people say they want, though they have implemented many suggestions in these discussions, they instead go by their metrics on how people use the client.

Ofc some people will cry and bag to return 2007's design as it was the best one, but if you just keep using the same design for years many people will start thinking why e.g. EGS has a modern look, but the best of the best STEAM has an old design and no one is speaking about it. Just because steam doesn't care about it?

Originally posted by Ben Lubar:

Moving stuff around has a much higher cost than just the time it takes to write the code changes to move the stuff. It also means that everyone who has muscle memory for the previous layout is now forced to re-learn the UI, like how YouTube recently made it so that clicking on a video thumbnail no longer goes to the page where you can watch the video.

Making UI UX design better is what do these staff should do and think of like super often and ofc there will be people who won't like because they moved some buttons there and there and they'll need to re-learn where these buttons are right now, but how long will it take to forget about the old button, if over all the changes are great, more comfortable and user friendly than the previous version? Like few days? I don't think it will be a problem in a few days.

For everyone - just check the video I attached on the topic, it's only 20 minutes, just put 2x speed and check how better is it comparing with the current version, or lmk if you disagree and why)

[Zephyrus]

Right now steam is the best platform for many things, but there are some disadvantages: e.g. market UI is quite cringe, every listed item is a new page, which sometimes opens, sometimes there is an error, sometimes it opens for 10 seconds (which is not long, but I'm sure everyone would like it to open in a few seconds, not 7-10+) and so on and so forth.

Just imagine the day when Valve update steam's design, remove dozens of duplicated buttons on each page, add some useful features (e.g. 24h price change for each item on market, and many many more), bring everything to a unified style, remove millions pages system, which surely can speed up interaction with it. I'm pretty sure after such update no one will be able to catch steam (like EGS, Uplay etc.), I mean they can't do it now, but after it.... no chance, unlucky for other companies