Dear Adobe, why are u so confusing?

[kelechio5467593]

Why is everything so difficult to do in Adobe? From illustrator to after effects to premiere pro to photoshop. Anything I do on adobe takes several hours before I actually get to the ACTUAL JOB I need to do. Youtube tutorial often require people to watch it several times and even then that's a crap shoot. You have inconsistency across products, you have redundancy with tools. The icons are often confusing even after reading the short explanation. Literally, none of the products Adobe has can be used right out of the box.  Part of functionality is a user interface design..in short, this is my suggestion adobe.

1. When you come out with a new product or feature don't just do in-house testing or get users who are already familiar with your products.

2. Hire people who have never use Adobe before

3. Ask them without giving them hint: What do you think this icon do? If 5 out of 10 get it wrong it needs to be redesigned.

4. Give a complete outsider a task to do with your product. A task for what the product is designed to do.

       a.If they don't know where to start without watching a video rethink the product. 

       b.If they haven't finished a project in a reasonable amount of time, redesign the product.

       c.If they have to watch a tutorial more than 2 times. Redesign the product.

       d.If they can't do the easiest task without watching a tutorial. Redesign.

You can't have just users who have been using your products for years test features or whatnot. Just because it makes sense to you guys or to people who have been using for years. I watch your youtube unveiling this year of the new Adobe products, I didn't see any beta testers that were brand new to adobe. Hell or even had a rudimentary knowledge of Adobe products.

I end this by saying the following: Just because it makes sense to you guys or your ardent fans doesn't mean it makes sense to people on the outside trying to come in. Most of us are not dumb either as I breezed through aviation electronics and before that a student for mechanical engineering.  When I created my app it made all the sense in the world to me. However, as soon as I gave it to complete outsiders...people who have a very superficial interest in the field (don't work in the industry), they said it didn't make sense to them. My app made all the sense in the world to me and people who were ardent fans but as soon as I saw it did not make sense to a casual observer? I went back to the drawing board. I highly recommend you guys give this some thought.  It is why Mark Zuckerberg makes his employees "eat dog food".  

[Nancy OShea]

Learning to use professional level software is like studying music.  Nobody said it was easy.  You need to be dedicated and spend many hours practicing to get good.  If all you want is consumer level software with a very low learning curve, try PS and PR Elements.

Picture & Video Editor Software | Adobe Elements 2019 Bundle

[Abambo]

I love the music comparision.

[denise5E9E]

i failed music but i am good at art. photoshop however is NOT uswer friendly. I often wonder if it's just that my computer isn't working. In the past i have been able to cut a paste one object from a phtoto and paste it into another. I just tried it agagin and after reviewing my note i still can't do it. I am considering deleting it. it's maddening. If i could figure it out it would probably be fun. 

[Abambo]

Copy/paste still works like in the earliest versions of Photoshop. But you need to check the layer, as it may be that the copy operation uses the current layer...

[Nancy OShea]

Please ensure your computer meets or exceeds the minimum system requirements to run Creative Cloud + all other apps you intend to use. Check each one. Keep in mind that Catalina alone requires 4 GB of RAM and 12.5 GB of HD storage.
https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/system-requirements.html

1. Open image A.  If its locked, double click the background layer to unlock it.
2. Click the Move Tool on your toolbar.
3. Open image B.  Hit Ctrl/Cmd + A to select all.  Hit Ctrl/Cmd + C to copy.
4. Switch to image A.  Hit Ctrl/Cmd + V to paste.

[Daniel E Lane]

If you want to use the top level professional software, you should probably realize that it takes a lot of time to learn to use it. The tool icons totally make sense if you know the historical reference to their origins. And the redundancy is not a bad thing what so ever. Once you learn the software, you will see that there are different ways to get the job done. Professionals like the options of doing it in the way that is most comfortable to them. Also, until you know how the tools all work, you might not actually understand how they all work together, how they work with layers, how they work with blend modes, etc. etc. etc.

Using YouTube to learn from, where any clown/idiot can post a video is not the best way to learn the software. Take some of the courses offered by Adobe. Check out Lynda.com. Anything that is actually professionally made, not just some joe recording in his basement.

[Abambo]

I’m sure that the CEO of Adobe, 5 minutes after your post, served his employes dog food.

For the rest: Yes, I agree, most youtube videos could do better.

And yes, from time to time you see that some programs are doing different things and have different developping teams and sometimes even come from different companies.

In general, however, I‘m happy that all is that complicated. Not that I like it like that. But I’m quite happy that for some tasks, my experience, knowledge and talent (if I have any) is still the driving force with my creations. Without that my customers would do their job themselves and I would starve...or would need to eat dog food. (Just to say: my dogs food is expensive...)

Nb. Not that I don’t take your complaints serious and that Adobe could not do additional efforts in usability, but I supose you to be quite pretentious. I suggest, you take an icon and create the icon that nine of ten newcomers interpret correctly. Adobe will hire you probably then to redesign their icons...

[EEB1915]

Adobe Really is dung!

Every once and I while I get a glimer of hope it actually seems somewhat intuitve then I don't use it for a while and go back only to be forced to subscribe to Creative Cloud DC which is dung PhD style Piled higher and Deeper, simple edits are worse than a cold water enima! How has this company stayed in business? What are my options?

[Test Screen Name]

Your option is to stop trying to guess how to use it and get professional training. If you don't want to study, you have the wrong tools.