shouldn't every professional UI/UX designer know this? Why is BG3 UI so awful?
I think because Dragon Age: Origins UI was awful - Larian seems to be more inspired by that game (hotbar, "party chain", underdeveloped cinematic dialogue) more then anything else. I think a important detail to mention is that - dragon age offered very few skills with no way to swap between them, and even less items - meaning I never had to use a second hot bar, and it worked differently (more on tha below). As to chaining, there was little to no reason to seperate/switch control to other characters.
So to clarify further, the design philosophy behind the sort of hotbar which Larian has adopted comes out of the Real-Time tradition. Specifically real-time massively multiplayer games, where the player cannot pause the game state (because that would be putting the good of the one ahead of the many.) In that context, where Time is ultra-sensitive, a hotbar of this sort is very desirable. It allows the player to graft the rows of the hotbar onto keys on the keyboard, typically F1-F12 or the numpad. Also to rapidly cycle between hotbar rows of like twelve or twenty+ (F1-F12 or 0-9 with like a shift click say), since there are generally more abilities than a few dozen, to quickly execute the commands when time is of the essence.
I find even that questionable. I am playing Starcraft2 a lot at the moment - I don't think the system would be more efficient if all available options were listed in the row. It's easier to tap multiple buttons in proximity (either physically on keyboard, or with mouse), then have to jump all over the place.
Never played an MMO, but I think important detail is that Dragon Age: Origins and Divinity:Original Sin1&2 were using
cooldown based abilities. Meaning there was a handful of abilties/spells that you would constantly in every encounter. It made sense to have it all hotbared because:
1) things like levels didn't matter - all spells use the same resource and work the same way, so the order they are listed in is irrelevant. Some organization might make it easier to find spells, but there isn't much that they have in common.
2) You will be using same skills over and over again in every encounter. Be it DA:O or D:OS2 just attacking is not the best approach - you will have sequence of skills that you will use over and over again. Having them grouped together is more desirable, then having them seperated.
None of those apply to BG3. Skills work differently, some can be used once per short rest, some per long rest, some use resources, some use actions, some use bonus actions. There is really no such thing as "skills I always use" as once I use those couple times they can become unavailable sometimes for hours of playtime. Sure, have a generous hotbar, especially for items with otherwise will be forgotten about only filling the inventory, but BG3 UI has to support BG3 systems, not follow design of games with a completely different design.
