When Skyrim came thundering onto the scene last year, it was received with cries of "Epic!" and "Wow, dragons!" and "What's with this awful UI?" There's no denying that it's a little bit wonky, and especially on PC it's plagued by giant text, odd limitations that seem to have little reason for existing, and questionable design choices that make doing what you need to do when you need to do it a little harder than it needs to be. But that's what the modding community is for. I'm going to show you the most useful and interesting mods to slap onto your vanilla Skyrim to spice it up a little.
The problems with the obviously console-oritented menus run deep, and to fix issues like oversized text, mouse-unfriendly layout, and endless sub-menus (which aren't any fun on any platform) we'll require an extra-strength mod. Enter SkyUI, which takes that clumsy inventory screen (where we spend entirely too much of our time) and replaces it wholesale, turning it into a comprehensive, easily navigated spreadsheet. I know, it sounds pretty dull, but it's really rather simple and elegant. It divides items by type, along the top axis, and then just lists them all underneath, taking full advantage of your higher resolution and proximity to the screen.
And you can search by typing! Imagine that.
It's such a major overhaul that unfortunately installing it isn't quite as simple as just hitting the "subscribe" button in Steam Workshop. You need to download the Skyrim Extension Loader first, and then place both the .dll files and the .exe into your Skyrim folder (find that in your Steam/steamapps/common folder). You'll want to create a shortcut to that .exe, because you need to use it to launch Skyrim for SkyUI to work. But the slight increase in time to get into the game is more than offset by the lack of frustration once you're there.
Where we're going, we need roads. And maps with roads on them.
The other big way to change your Skyrim experience for the better is to fix the map. As pretty as it is, the amount of information it gives you stays resolutely on the side of vague, with all the detail coming from the icons that hover over it. Quality World Map improves the textures on the map, and adds roads. It sounds like a minor change, but it drastically improves the readability of the map, making it far clearer where you're supposed to get when you're trying to get from point A to point B. There's also an option to include highlighted borders for each of the seven holds in Skyrim, which is handy if you're the sort to commit crimes and need to know what territory to stay out of to avoid the wrath of the law.
That's... actually still pretty good advice.
Finally, just to inject a little life into your loading screens, there's Uncle Sheogorath's Hints and Tips, which replaces the loading screen text with words of advice from the Daedric Prince of Madness himself. They're more hit than miss, and there seem to be more than enough of them in there that you'll rarely see the same one twice. And even if you do, these rantings are still more interesting an entertaining than being told how a short bow works, or having the lie that bears only attack you when provoked thrown in your face again.