P: New user interface lacks contrast and many usability cues, lots of other problems

What prevents you from simply returning to the easy to read white text field boxes?

Hi everyone,

Adobe employees continue to read this thread. Thanks for your feedback.

We are focusing our efforts around the selection color right now for the next release. This is specifically #12 from our list in my previous post. We are looking at making that a user preference.

12) We are investigating the selection colors. For example, the selected layer color that was light blue in the previous release.

Thanks,
Jeff

Since this product is used by people who are very sensitive to design issues (and presumably Adobe knows this), they could have given us a more expressive "interface" prefs panel. Instead of boxing us into the several gray-on-gray options (don't get me started...) I would have liked the ability to use a set of slider controls to set the background color, text color, and highlight color for the entire interface. That would have prevented 90% of our griping.

>  and is even worse in the (2nd) lightest color theme where I work in>

Oh dear. That one, imo, is the only scheme that is unusable. You might try the lightest scheme. It's really not as light as people who want the light scheme want it to be. I think it's much closer to what the 2nd lightest scheme would be. The light schemes aren't good for my eyes, and the darkest scheme still has too much contrast in too many places (with not enough where no one seems to see enough differentiation).

There are some lovely features (Select and Mask being a great idea but not making the grade yet as lovely feature), so it's mostly nice to work with the latest release. But not in that 2nd lightest. I'd work in broad daylight or blackout before I'd work in that muddy environment.

Just be sure, if you decide to try it for yourself, you click on Advanced in the Creative Cloud app when it asks you about installing, and say DO NOT REMOVE previous apps. Maybe someday that design team will understand how dangerous and unnecessary it is to put anything under Advanced in the Installation screen. (sigh)

By installing the one without uninstalling the other, you can try for yourself, even jump into the latest if there's a feature or two worth it, and then back into an earlier version for the rest of it.

It's like Adobe made a deal with Google to fold Google's material design standards into theirs, even if they are detrimental to the user experience. 

Adobe has lost sight of the primary design rule: form follows function.
Any first semester art school student knows this.

Is there not one (big)  shareholder that uses Photoshop and thinks: WTF?!
🙂

Sure. It's been a year since they foisted the swampy mess of gray upon us. It would not take more than a few weeks to add some contrast -- unless of course, they have no plan on doing that.
My bet is the delicate and fragile egos of the Millennial UI designers have been bruised and they have retreated to their safe spaces so our words can't trigger micro agressions against them.

Yeah, contrast is worse on the lighter themes. Adobe has replied that they are aware of it and is working on it for a future version.

Aha, your reply's answer my (not so good formulated) question and confirm my suspicions.
No upgrading for me... yet.

I also suspect the UI is designed only (OK, mainly) for the dark color theme and is even worse in the (2nd) lightest color theme where I work in.  (So much better for my eyes. I get tired a lot sooner when working with the dark color theme.)

Anny way...
Thanks for the reply's all!


Aha, your reply's answer my (not so good formulated) question and confirm my suspicions.
No upgrading for me... yet.

I also suspect the UI is designed only (OK, mainly) for the dark color theme and is even worse in the (2nd) lightest color theme where I work in.  (So much better for my eyes. I get tired a lot sooner when working with the dark color theme.)

Anny way...
Thanks for the reply's all!