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It is worse than that.

Often the particular choices made for "visual appeal" actively detract from correct function. Designers notoriously insist on sans-serif typefaces, despite their objectively lower legibility. Most phone browsers and messagers make it impossible to select a face where lower-case L and upper-case i can be distinguished, thus: "lIIlllIlII". (Maybe they even differ slightly in your view, but which is which?)

It amounts to contempt for users.

Stewart Brand reported that Architectural Digest readers almost unanimously rejected a suggestion that their annual awards incorporate a measure of users' satisfaction with the building. Contempt for victims of designer malpractice is not just common, it is built into institutions.




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