Oh wow. Thanks for reminding me!
Yeah, I actually legitimately
despise the way the menu's work. Not how they look, no. They are just so clunky and dumb and blakdghlaksghaugh.
For one thing, they hate the mouse. Clicking on a sub-category of a shopkeeper's stock causes me to mysteriously leave the shop window for whatever reason. Half the time, I click on a speech item and somehow end up saying something different because the item is highlighted wrong. I can't read other books in my inventory after I've read one thanks to the mouse losing all control of the menu. What the hell?
Then there's space distribution and information. Do we really need 7/8ths of the screen space to have a pretty 3d model of the item we're looking at? It only serves to solve a specific type of puzzle involving tombs and symbols. And that's it. That space could've easily been used for perhaps an easier way to look at, oh, I don't know, your health and other stats? A model of your character? Your level? Better information on your attack power, current effects, and armor rating without restricting it to a tiny bar at the bottom of the screen?
And then there's the partitioning of information. Why do I need to unpause to switch from the item menu to the spell menu in the case I accidentally chose wrongly? Why is my journal separate from the rest of my menu options? Why can't it be a big, happy menu like what we got in Oblivion or Morrowind? Granted, I don't want it crashing like it did in Oblivion, but whatever, times have changed, it could probably be way more stable now.
The design clearly had consoles in mind. If it had an easier way to switch between sections of menu, better mouse interactivity, or maybe perhaps just switched to an older menu type, then I'd be so very happy.