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"Gone are the fundamental principles of good design: discoverability, feedback, recovery, and so on. Instead, Apple has, in striving for beauty, created fonts t

"Gone are the fundamental principles of good design: discoverability, feedback, recovery, and so on. Instead, Apple has, in striving for beauty, created fonts that are so small or thin, coupled with low contrast, that they are difficult or impossible for many people with normal vision to read. We have obscure gestures that are beyond even the developer’s ability to remember. We have great features that most people don’t realize exist." OMG have you guys tried to navigate the Apple Music iOS app?? You wouldn't think they could make it harder to use than iTunes... but they did! Almost impossible to find features, and when you finally do figure something out, it's hard to remember by the next time you run the app. The bloated number of swipe gestures on iOS is ridiculous too... I am always cursing after swiping in some direction by mistake. (I am generally a big apple fan...)

robbyking 11y ago
> I am always cursing after swiping in some direction by mistake. Spotify is the same way. If you swipe the wrong way when trying to queue a song it removes the song from your library without the (shake) option to undo. It's infuriating.
- hussong 11y ago
  Also, the app gets slower and slower with every update, having become mostly useless on older hardware, to the point where it reminds me of my grandma's radio, where you had to warm up the tubes for a minute before you could listen to music...
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
gnicholas 11y ago
I agree that Apple's fonts are too thin and low-contrast, but it's pretty ironic for this to be called out by a publication whose standards are no better (and probably a tad worse). Talk about the pot calling the kettle gray!
- scholia 11y ago
  ... though obviously you can't blame the authors for the website's design. Maybe you could have a go at http://www.nngroup.com/ http://www.nngroup.com/ Talking of which, Alertbox never had that problem. I rather miss it ;-)
- Tloewald 11y ago
  I think Apple's move to San Francisco actually addresses this issue quite well. The move to ultra thin Helvetica weights was a tad too much.
DigitalJack 11y ago
Discoverability is a big deal. It's what makes or breaks the new user experience, and that is (arguably) the most important time to please the user. So many things have become undiscoverable in the name of "clean" interfaces. Apple's not alone in this.
jonahx 11y ago
A good article with data from facebook and others on the value of discovery over cleanliness: http://deep.design/the-hamburger-menu/ http://deep.design/the-hamburger-menu/ It contradicts current trends and the preferences of many designers.
- Tloewald 11y ago
  In general UX at the expense of usability is an annoying trend that last was a major issue when Flash became popular. I don't think Apple is giving design a bad name, this is what design is usually about. Apple's (usual) focus on usability actually gave design a good name which designers strive to damage with their over-emphasis on aesthetics.
- codeddesign 11y ago
  The issue is really a catch-22 usability testing rather than saying 1 way works better than another. On mobile app's you have more screen real-estate to play with, while in the browser you have less. A website with a header anf floating footer cause many site's to become un-readable and un-navagatable. You then have the issue of responsive design that allows for the bun to come into play nicely rather than having to change a site's design to fit within multiple viewport sizes. I get the argument in a mobile application, but in a browser-based site you are left with either mystery meat, leaving out part of the navigation, or changing a responsive design completely to allow for easier mobile navigation. Options are limited and purely based upon time and budget - and even then it's a geusing game without proper split testing.
- iSnow 11y ago
  I think that guy is seriously wrong, not every hidden part of a user interface is evil. The hamburger menu tells the user that he will find the first-level navigation if he taps it. It is about as bad as a right-click context menu on the desktop.
  - fkistner 11y ago
    Indeed, and that's why Apple discourages the use of a contextual menu as the sole means to offer functionality as well [1]: Always ensure that contextual menu items are also available as menu commands. A contextual menu is hidden by default and a user might not know it exists, so it should never be the only way to access a command. In particular, you want to avoid using a contextual menu as the only way to access an advanced or power-user feature. [1]: https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/documentation/UserExperience/Conceptual/OSXHIGuidelines/ContextualMenus.html https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/documentation/UserEx...
robwormald 11y ago
I love most of my OS X and iOS stuff, and find it easy to use with no major issues. The Apple Music app, however, is the single most frustrating application I have ever used. It is just so, so bad.
Tloewald 11y ago
Like you a big Apple fan who is horribly confused by the iOS music app — which, functionally is all I could hope for (the play list manager is something I've wanted forever) but seriously wtf?
dionidium 11y ago
That app is the worst. Is there even any way to go to an album listing from the "now playing" screen (i.e. the album that the song currently playing is on)? I tried yesterday and couldn't figure it out. That's simply the most recent of my many complaints.

robbyking 11y ago

> I am always cursing after swiping in some direction by mistake. Spotify is the same way. If you swipe the wrong way when trying to queue a song it removes the song from your library without the (shake) option to undo. It's infuriating.

hussong 11y ago
Also, the app gets slower and slower with every update, having become mostly useless on older hardware, to the point where it reminds me of my grandma's radio, where you had to warm up the tubes for a minute before you could listen to music...

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

gnicholas 11y ago

I agree that Apple's fonts are too thin and low-contrast, but it's pretty ironic for this to be called out by a publication whose standards are no better (and probably a tad worse). Talk about the pot calling the kettle gray!

scholia 11y ago
... though obviously you can't blame the authors for the website's design. Maybe you could have a go at http://www.nngroup.com/ http://www.nngroup.com/ Talking of which, Alertbox never had that problem. I rather miss it ;-)
Tloewald 11y ago
I think Apple's move to San Francisco actually addresses this issue quite well. The move to ultra thin Helvetica weights was a tad too much.

DigitalJack 11y ago

Discoverability is a big deal. It's what makes or breaks the new user experience, and that is (arguably) the most important time to please the user. So many things have become undiscoverable in the name of "clean" interfaces. Apple's not alone in this.

jonahx 11y ago

A good article with data from facebook and others on the value of discovery over cleanliness: http://deep.design/the-hamburger-menu/ http://deep.design/the-hamburger-menu/ It contradicts current trends and the preferences of many designers.

Tloewald 11y ago
In general UX at the expense of usability is an annoying trend that last was a major issue when Flash became popular. I don't think Apple is giving design a bad name, this is what design is usually about. Apple's (usual) focus on usability actually gave design a good name which designers strive to damage with their over-emphasis on aesthetics.
codeddesign 11y ago
The issue is really a catch-22 usability testing rather than saying 1 way works better than another. On mobile app's you have more screen real-estate to play with, while in the browser you have less. A website with a header anf floating footer cause many site's to become un-readable and un-navagatable. You then have the issue of responsive design that allows for the bun to come into play nicely rather than having to change a site's design to fit within multiple viewport sizes. I get the argument in a mobile application, but in a browser-based site you are left with either mystery meat, leaving out part of the navigation, or changing a responsive design completely to allow for easier mobile navigation. Options are limited and purely based upon time and budget - and even then it's a geusing game without proper split testing.
iSnow 11y ago
I think that guy is seriously wrong, not every hidden part of a user interface is evil. The hamburger menu tells the user that he will find the first-level navigation if he taps it. It is about as bad as a right-click context menu on the desktop.
- fkistner 11y ago
  Indeed, and that's why Apple discourages the use of a contextual menu as the sole means to offer functionality as well [1]: Always ensure that contextual menu items are also available as menu commands. A contextual menu is hidden by default and a user might not know it exists, so it should never be the only way to access a command. In particular, you want to avoid using a contextual menu as the only way to access an advanced or power-user feature. [1]: https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/documentation/UserExperience/Conceptual/OSXHIGuidelines/ContextualMenus.html https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/documentation/UserEx...

robwormald 11y ago

I love most of my OS X and iOS stuff, and find it easy to use with no major issues. The Apple Music app, however, is the single most frustrating application I have ever used. It is just so, so bad.

Tloewald 11y ago

Like you a big Apple fan who is horribly confused by the iOS music app — which, functionally is all I could hope for (the play list manager is something I've wanted forever) but seriously wtf?

dionidium 11y ago

That app is the worst. Is there even any way to go to an album listing from the "now playing" screen (i.e. the album that the song currently playing is on)? I tried yesterday and couldn't figure it out. That's simply the most recent of my many complaints.