What do y’all think about config files, ‘option menus’ and settings? Especially interested in papers/writing that explores these things, and the ways we may be able to rethink them, or abolish them altogether.

I've been looking for the same for a while

https://linear.app/blog/settings-are-not-a-design-failure Maybe th discussions is even better https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30181291 I think the movement of no settings went too far and hurt the advanced user, so we are seeing a swing the other way a little.

@Tom Larkworthy thanks for those links! In my mind at least, decisions and choices are not the same as settings and configs. I agree with the assertion in the article that users want choices and the power to make decisions but I think it's wrong to equate this with needing settings. Settings feel like the buttons, switches and knobs that are hidden on the backside of an appliance because they're considered ugly.

Even in the best of all possible worlds, user agency comes in degrees if only because users are different and agency comes with some learning curve. I tend to be among those who want as much agency as possible in their core tools, but I am also perfectly happy with a "preferred locations" setting in the weather app on my phone: just what I need with zero learning curve.

@Konrad Hinsen yeah that makes sense to me, setting a baseline and allowing people to move “up the curve” without limiting them, and without forcing them to build from nothing.