User Interface Design: Peepshow Windows

By Xah Lee. Date: . Last updated: .

I have a 20 inch screen, but modern software forces it to 2 inch screen.

Modern software user interface often forces your screen into a tiny box.

twitter peepshow window 2021-04-06
twitter peepshow window 2021-04-06
Windows 10 sound UI dialog 2021-01-09 96Jkc
windows 10 sound UI dialog 2021-01-09
Internet Explorer 9 UI design tiny window 2012-03-07
Internet Explorer 9 options modal box.
Oracle VM VirtualBox setup
Oracle VM VirtualBox setup, 2011.
Twitter direct message screen 2012-04-06
Twitter's interface for direct message, as of .

Google Plus Peepshow Windows

Google Plus peepshow window 2013-06-24
Google Plus peepshow window . This pops up when you want to post a new message. It encourages one-sentence posts.

Sometimes you just wonder, what are the designers thinking??

what are the possible reasons they do this?

so, am guessing, vast majority of people feel comfortable scrolling around a tiny window to compose? Or, perhaps, 99% of posts are 2 sentences?

Google Plus UI tiny comment box 2013-05-17
Google Plus's new UI, .

Code Snippet Scroll Peepshow Window

Many programing sites use a small scroll box for code snippets. It forces you to scroll, vertically and or horizontally.

StackOverflow peepshow windows screenshot 2013-06-18
StackOverflow code snippet peepshow windows screenshot
code block peepshow window 2013-06-15
code snippet peepshow window

Wrap it, my friend. [see CSS: white-space Line Break]

Microsoft Windows 10, still peep show windows. It cannot be resized.

Windows 10 folder options 2021-07-09
Windows 10 folder options 2021-07-09