This UI-Update is not it

[wnwka]

Just here to give my feedback as a daily user of multiple of your apps... This UI update is not it; it has no benefit. It kills my workflow because I have to reread the simplest menus because you made them more diffuse, less intuitive, or changed positions slightly. You know that many of your customers work by muscle memory, right? You know that such changes are slowing things down in the daily process?

I wouldn't say anything if a UI update would actually have a benefit; it doesn't.

Looking forward for a legacy option. 

[D Fosse]

I think you need to be more specific. What UI update?

If you mean the simplified right-click menu, this can be reverted in Preferences/Settings.

[wnwka]

Stuff like this as seen below. Slightly changes or rearrangements in some spots, which begs the question why here and why in general. Little things that feel off. For example, the little gap in the InDesign Font panel on top (probably because they added a "all smallcaps option"?). Or the "Add New Layer" Window in Photoshop. - The color field is not even clickable, but for some reason they got rid of the pretty crucial info that it's a 50% grey - I came across both while working, and both times it dragged me out of flow.

I must admit it was late and stress was high, which led to this post. In hindsight, maybe the post is too much, but then I think it is still annoying, especially because it did drag me out of my work, so there is something to it.

Before you ask, yes I do not update frequently for good reasons. So even if this change is a couple of updates old, the point I'm making still stands. No benefit, but annoying impact, at least in my workflow.

[rayek.elfin]

Just a basic guess on my part: the new New Layer dialog was probably redesigned with wide screens in mind and the fact that the average user nowadays tends to work with larger and higher resolution screens. 

In my opinion the new UI layout of this particular dialog feels less cluttered and is much more readable, so I do not mind it all - the opposite, in fact.

That said, I do agree with you that we could argue in favour of "neutral gray (50%)" or "neutral color (50 % gray)" rather than "neutral color", because the term "neutral color" by itself doesn't make sense at all to me.

[wnwka]

I wouldn't say it is clearer because both drop downs look greyed out. Which confused me at first (+ the weird color select field, which made no sense). In the original, every clickable button is distinctive.

But, the design was not the point I was making. It was the lack of benefit of the change and the impact it had on my workflow. The rearrangement and change in UI elements made me stop and think, which is bad UI. 
I don't judge the UI visually detached from its habitat. It feels different enough to force you to think, which is bad. BTW the UI is not even coherent; I did not come around other windows with the same button and dropdown layout, which is even more confusing.

[Conrad_C]

Are you seeing the different New Layer UI in the public beta release? Because I still see the traditional UI in the normal installation.

Or the "Add New Layer" Window in Photoshop. - The color field is not even clickable, but for some reason they got rid of the pretty crucial info that it's a 50% grey - I came across both while working, and both times it dragged me out of flow.

By @wnwka

I don’t know the exact reasons because I don’t work at Adobe, but I will make these observations:

They might have decided that it wasn’t important to put all that text in there, because in the current regular (non-beta) version, all that text tells you is the neutral color (if any) for the selected blend mode. Maybe they thought that it will save space to just show a compact color swatch to let people know what the neutral color is for that blend mode.

As for why it isn’t clickable…what would you expect to be able to do if it was? If there is a neutral color for the blend mode you chose, there can be only one. For some modes, it’s 50% gray, for others it’s white, for others it’s black, but in all those cases the neutral color can only be that color and not any other. So it should not be an editable color, right? If a blend mode does not have a neutral color, does it dim that whole section? If so, that would be correct too. Meaning that color should never be clickable/editable for any blend mode that‘s selected. It should only show what the color is, if any.

[wnwka]

I don't expect it to be clickable, but it looks like it is clickable. That is why it is bad UI.

So, they did widen the window but made the neutral-color field more compact by deleting crucial info, even if they now have more space? Think about that.

The changes were in all 26. versions.

[Conrad_C]

The changes were in all 26. versions.

By @wnwka

I don’t see that New Layer dialog box design in Photoshop 26.4.0 20250215.r.171 3bf61d7 , and there are no updates available. 

That’s why I’m wondering if you have installed the Photoshop Beta and are seeing it in that build.

[wnwka]

Double-checked, it is not the Beta (I also tested other versions of the 26 build, and the changes were there).
Maybe there's an option to deactivate it; I didn't find any option on first glance.

[Frans v.d. Geest]

What UI update??