It has been the sensible order of choosing the source account then choosing the destination account. Now they’ve switched it to where you have to first choose the destination account then choose the source account.
I understand this shouldn’t be a big deal but my brain just absolutely rejects it and even knowing full well they’ve made the change on several occasions I’ve moved money the wrong way. Sometimes without even realizing it for days.
I don’t think this is simply a muscle memory thing that I’ll eventually get used to; I feel like it’s fundamentally nonsensical and I’m curious if it’s just me. Or am I just being a stubborn old man stuck in his ways?
Honestly, picking the destination first makes more sense.
But the primary law of UX is you don’t change shit up on people. I’d have taken a stand if I was on that team
Curious why you think destination first makes more sense.
I just can’t get over the idea that when you move a thing to a different place, you go to where the thing is first so you can take it to the new place.
Sure… If I want $300 in an account, that’s my goal. I don’t want to decrease another account by that amount
So my goal is to move X money into Y account, or maybe all but X money into Y account
The second half is where it comes from. It’s not the goal, it’s the means
But again as I said, flipping this is a worse solution than either direction
We have very different brains in regards to this subject.
When I pay for something (moving money) the first thing to do is choose the source. Cash, credit card, venmo, etc. Only once I’ve decided that can I pick where to move it… The cashiers hand, credit card machine, scan a venmo barcode, etc.
I wonder if at least some of it come from western writing: from left => destination right
It affects a lot of descriptions that we use in the west
It’s funny, in all your examples, the need to pay comes first, then your selection of the source.
Like the cashier extends his hand, so the destination is clear, then you think about the source. The credit card machine is clear, then you choose which of your cards to use. The venmo scanner is there, then you choose how to fulfill that.
It’s not a perfect example. The need to pay sort of starts as soon as you put something in your shopping basket. I’m not transferring money to the cashier unless it’s cash – otherwise it goes somewhere else and eventually the store gets it.
It’s just a thought experiment about something reasonably similar, and the similarities for me start after everything is rung up and it’s time to move money.
Alternatively, you go to a store and decide you want to buy something. Now that you know what you want to buy are you doing to use cash, card, or barter?
A reasonable point.
Counterpoint: When I want to buy something, I first go to where the thing is; not where I wish it was.
I think that my flow is far more natural… But suffice to say I wouldn’t switch it on you either way
I looked at three of the banks/brokerages I use and the results are interesting!
The brokerages present you with step by step screens, and first have you choose the “to” account. Then you click ‘Next’ and choose the “from” account.
My bank presents them on the same screen, going top down. On top you pick the “from”, and below it you select “to”.
So, despite my strong opinion, apparently there hasn’t been any consistency in my experience, granted I don’t transfer money very often.
Yeah, it’s basically a UX issue. You can make either one seem more natural depending on how you present it, although if I’m transferring money I probably care more about where it’s going
You must be an electrical engineer or something, since you’re apparently so used to thinking about flows backwards.
Seems a convoluted way of looking at it to me, but i guess it’s just another case of different strokes for different folks.
I mean, I do this professionally, I took courses that break down what makes something feel intuitive
I don’t doubt that, but courses are selected/designed by their teachers - who likely select what fits their pre-existing biases. Virtually nothing humans do comes out without biases affecting things, which is what makes the “reproducibility” of studies such an important part of science - and even those reproductions need to be done numerous times by varying parties for the results to truly start to become trustworthy.
In short: there’s no pleasing everybody, but if you’re going to try then you must allow for differences in views and modus operandi.
When you pay a bill, do you select who you’re paying then the amount from whichever account, or do you select the amount from an account and then select the company you’re paying?
If you think of it in physical terms , when you move something you have to grab it from its source then go to the destination.
Like even moving money to pay for something, you take out of your wallet and hand to the cashier.
Even computer filesystem management is: copy source destination, move source destination
Can also think like this, “I have an invoice that I need to pay. So I need to pay to there, let me figure out where to get the money from”, i.e. impetus/problem-based thinking instead of process-based thinking.
The process is
move X to Y, but the need to get something toYactually came first, likeYis an invoice, or an account that is overdrawn, or whatever.Ycreated the “problem” initially, and thenmoving from Xis the “solution”.This is in a personal bank account though not inter company business