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Sensible Defaults do not exist, and neither do Best Practices. New video: youtu.be/deKtxzvf92g Whenever next anyone asks me what 'Sensible Default' to use, or what the 'Best Practices' are, I will link this video. It explains my arguments, includes examples, and hopefully finally puts it to rest.

Most of all, I hope this finally helps convince more teams that their tools need customization of their UI, so that users can get the best workflows out of them. And for people to stop applying 2000's website UX/UI paradigms to professional daily use tools. Please stop, you can't blindly do that!

I have received many nice comments on this video so far, thank you! One in particular stood out to me: "You are so correct in all of this, you can really tell you have a lot of experience!" But, my thoughts on Tool Design haven't changed, since about 2014. I was called nuts back then. Times change

It's really strange to have things I used to be ridiculed for, now be shown as examples instead I'm not going to let that happen to the next generation. It's one of the big reasons I always listen to arguments from students, juniors, and others who are just starting out. All we have to do is listen

Thanks for the 10.000 views folks! I am glad to see this is resonating.

A comment I get a lot on this is video: "If we build 'defaults' instead of 'sensible defaults', then defaults will be bad!" And that's like someone telling you to make 'a design' will make you make a bad one, but if they tell you to make a 'good design' then it'll be better. What nonsense is that?

My problem isn't with the word 'sensible'. If folks were to call it a 'proper default', a 'best default', or a 'wise default', they all still carry the same sentiment, and it is that sentiment which discourages thinking about customization, and so we lack it in the software we use, and build.

That is also why I make the comparison to 'Best Practices'. If someone were to call Agile a best practice, and use it on your project, but you hate it, would you still consider it best, because someone else thinks so? And similarly, calling it 'best' will cause that person to use Agile everywhere