5 ms·

Palm loses their lead webOS designer to the Google Android team

89 points by dzlobin 16y ago

jackfoxy 16y ago
What a coup for Android. (Assuming the reporter knows what he's talking about, which I can't vouch for.)
- vito 16y ago
  Engadget confirmed it here: http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/palms-matias-duarte-has-joined-google-as-user-experience-direct/ http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/palms-matias-duarte-has-j...
ashishbharthi 16y ago
Absolutely right move Google. User interface has been one of the weakest part of Android. Looking forward to see totally revamped UI in 2.3!
- studer 16y ago
  Can you give concrete examples of things that needs to be totally revamped, or are you just parroting the Apple fanboism here?
  - buster 16y ago
    While i think that the current 2.2 UI is great, one thing that always striked me is the inconsistency of colors on widgets (well, since there are widgets, not always ;) ). For example, the google buzz widget, youtube widget and settings widget is black.. facebook and twitter (facebook came preinstalled) is white/blue. It'd be ok for non preinstalled apps.. also atleast it should be skinnable. LevelUpStudios widgets are a good example of skinnable (Beautiful *). That's more of an issue of 3rd party components though, as i believe widgets (like apps) use the correct theme per default and 3rd parties have to change it. Apart from that, i have no complains. But what do you know.. maybe the PalmOS design god comes up with some surprise :)
  - ashishbharthi 16y ago
    Yes currently I have iPhone but I don't like the fact that I will have to pay Apple $100 per year to run my own apps on my phone. I am a Java Developer and I love the fact that I can write Android apps in Java. For that reason I always wanted to move to Android. I went to stores every time new Android device launched but I am not satisfied with the User Interface and touch screen sensitivity. Android UI is not quite up to the level where iPhone UI is or for that matter Palm WebOS UI.
    - endtime 16y ago
      You really haven't answered the question - what UI things need to be changed? I have very little exposure to Android, so I'm just asking out of curiosity rather than defensiveness.
      - studer 16y ago
        Extensive downvoting and contentless replies is good enough of an answer for me :)
        endtime 16y ago
        I think that was more a result of the unnecessary comment about "Apple fanboism" than your actual question.
      - jcl 16y ago
        There are lots of things that could be improved. Here's my pet peeve: Android regularly checks the Android Market for updates available for your apps. It doesn't just check for updates to apps you currently have installed, but for any app you ever installed, including ones you later removed. I guess the logic is that if you uninstalled an app because of a bug, you will want to know when it is updated so that you can try it again. If Android finds any updates, it posts a little "market" icon in the notification bar. If you select the notification, it takes you to a screen showing your downloads, which lists every app you have ever installed. From that screen you can update installed apps (one-at-a-time only), and you can reinstall uninstalled apps. The problem is that the download screen only tells you an app is updated if it is currently installed. There is no way to tell which uninstalled apps have been updated. So if you have tried out a large number of apps, you can easily be in a situation where the notification icon tells you several apps have updated, but when you go to the download page, all your apps appear up-to-date. This greatly reduces the value of update notifications.
  - replicatorblog 16y ago
    The fact that the Android Marketplace lists apps in Dollars, Pounds, Euros, Yen, and other currencies. You need a currency conversion app just to use it. That is an example of TERRIBLE UI.
    - jrockway 16y ago
      Well, it's going to charge your account in that currency. It's up to your bank (or maybe Google payments) to do the conversion. One thing is certain: you aren't going to be getting the market price on the exchange. (If they did it the other way around, charging you in your native currency, then it's the developer that would pay the currency exchange fee.)
      - replicatorblog 16y ago
        Right, but the Android OS should convert it into the units of measure of the country so there is no confusion on the user's part. This is just one example of where Google supposdly A/B tests the thickness of lines, but don't care about the big picture issues that will hinder adoption.
        cma 16y ago
        How does Apple handle this? USD only?
        aaronbrethorst 16y ago
        Pricing tiers. Currency conversion rates cause the amount of money you make elsewhere in the world to fluctuate. http://www.onlinenerd24.de/2009/03/02/iphone-appsore-tier-price-list/ http://www.onlinenerd24.de/2009/03/02/iphone-appsore-tier-pr...
      - theBobMcCormick 16y ago
        I gotta agree with him on this one. There's no reason the market app couldn't display the current conversion into your local currency whenever you browser the market.
  - pkulak 16y ago
    The app launcher is in 3D and snaps to the closest row, so that right before you click on an app, it bounces forward or back about half a row and you miss or hit a different row. To tell the difference between a tap and a scroll, you need to wait some period of time. Just a fraction of a second. However, if it's a scroll, that means that by the time you figure it out, the finger will be a centimeter or so from where it started. On Android (in the browser mostly), when it learns it's a scroll, the page jumps ahead the distance that it missed, totally taking you out of the "scrolling" metaphor because of the sudden, jerky movement. The iPhone and WebOS (I think) just start moving without skipping to make up ground. This makes it just seem like your finger slipped a tiny bit before gaining traction, which is seamless. And forms. Do I need to say anymore? They just look terrible. Like a website from the late '90s. There are some more, but I can't think of them right now.
whereareyou 16y ago
Gruber, "If true, Google may be serious about taking the ugly stick out of the Android development process. This is a seriously big hire." http://daringfireball.net/linked/2010/05/27/paczkowski http://daringfireball.net/linked/2010/05/27/paczkowski
- stcredzero 16y ago
  Google needs guidance like this all around. (To be fair, recent trajectory is already good.)
  - rimantas 16y ago
    One just has to wonder will the new hire bow to A/B testing for 40 shades of green Android logo should be colored…
    - robryan 16y ago
      You'd have to think there would be a lot more freedom on something relatively new and moving as fast as android. It may not always be that way though.
- Tichy 16y ago
  What ugly stick?
  - not_an_alien 16y ago
    That guy is just a prick who hates everything Google/Android.
mortenjorck 16y ago
I have to admit I'm suddenly just a bit worried about the future of WebOS. Not for HP/Palm's loss of one (or possibly more) smart UI designer, but for who or what will replace him. If Duarte's shoes end up filled by some HP design committee and not a strong UX leader who can earn the respect of his teams, there's trouble brewing. WebOS is far too immature right now to be left to grow in that kind of bureaucratic environment. I really hope they treat this search with the gravity it deserves instead of just dumping a suit in the seat.
- megaduck 16y ago
  Too bad Aza Raskin's already got a gig.
latch 16y ago
A win for Google, and a loss for HP. These types of thing tend to lead to cherry picking. Google will end up with many of the people Matias Duarte considers to be winners, while leaving HP with a higher % of dead weight

89 points by dzlobin 16y ago

jackfoxy 16y ago

What a coup for Android. (Assuming the reporter knows what he's talking about, which I can't vouch for.)

vito 16y ago
Engadget confirmed it here: http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/palms-matias-duarte-has-joined-google-as-user-experience-direct/ http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/palms-matias-duarte-has-j...

ashishbharthi 16y ago

Absolutely right move Google. User interface has been one of the weakest part of Android. Looking forward to see totally revamped UI in 2.3!

studer 16y ago
Can you give concrete examples of things that needs to be totally revamped, or are you just parroting the Apple fanboism here?
- buster 16y ago
  While i think that the current 2.2 UI is great, one thing that always striked me is the inconsistency of colors on widgets (well, since there are widgets, not always ;) ). For example, the google buzz widget, youtube widget and settings widget is black.. facebook and twitter (facebook came preinstalled) is white/blue. It'd be ok for non preinstalled apps.. also atleast it should be skinnable. LevelUpStudios widgets are a good example of skinnable (Beautiful *). That's more of an issue of 3rd party components though, as i believe widgets (like apps) use the correct theme per default and 3rd parties have to change it. Apart from that, i have no complains. But what do you know.. maybe the PalmOS design god comes up with some surprise :)
- ashishbharthi 16y ago
  Yes currently I have iPhone but I don't like the fact that I will have to pay Apple $100 per year to run my own apps on my phone. I am a Java Developer and I love the fact that I can write Android apps in Java. For that reason I always wanted to move to Android. I went to stores every time new Android device launched but I am not satisfied with the User Interface and touch screen sensitivity. Android UI is not quite up to the level where iPhone UI is or for that matter Palm WebOS UI.
  - endtime 16y ago
    You really haven't answered the question - what UI things need to be changed? I have very little exposure to Android, so I'm just asking out of curiosity rather than defensiveness.
    - studer 16y ago
      Extensive downvoting and contentless replies is good enough of an answer for me :)
      - endtime 16y ago
        I think that was more a result of the unnecessary comment about "Apple fanboism" than your actual question.
    - jcl 16y ago
      There are lots of things that could be improved. Here's my pet peeve: Android regularly checks the Android Market for updates available for your apps. It doesn't just check for updates to apps you currently have installed, but for any app you ever installed, including ones you later removed. I guess the logic is that if you uninstalled an app because of a bug, you will want to know when it is updated so that you can try it again. If Android finds any updates, it posts a little "market" icon in the notification bar. If you select the notification, it takes you to a screen showing your downloads, which lists every app you have ever installed. From that screen you can update installed apps (one-at-a-time only), and you can reinstall uninstalled apps. The problem is that the download screen only tells you an app is updated if it is currently installed. There is no way to tell which uninstalled apps have been updated. So if you have tried out a large number of apps, you can easily be in a situation where the notification icon tells you several apps have updated, but when you go to the download page, all your apps appear up-to-date. This greatly reduces the value of update notifications.
- replicatorblog 16y ago
  The fact that the Android Marketplace lists apps in Dollars, Pounds, Euros, Yen, and other currencies. You need a currency conversion app just to use it. That is an example of TERRIBLE UI.
  - jrockway 16y ago
    Well, it's going to charge your account in that currency. It's up to your bank (or maybe Google payments) to do the conversion. One thing is certain: you aren't going to be getting the market price on the exchange. (If they did it the other way around, charging you in your native currency, then it's the developer that would pay the currency exchange fee.)
    - replicatorblog 16y ago
      Right, but the Android OS should convert it into the units of measure of the country so there is no confusion on the user's part. This is just one example of where Google supposdly A/B tests the thickness of lines, but don't care about the big picture issues that will hinder adoption.
      - cma 16y ago
        How does Apple handle this? USD only?
        aaronbrethorst 16y ago
        Pricing tiers. Currency conversion rates cause the amount of money you make elsewhere in the world to fluctuate. http://www.onlinenerd24.de/2009/03/02/iphone-appsore-tier-price-list/ http://www.onlinenerd24.de/2009/03/02/iphone-appsore-tier-pr...
    - theBobMcCormick 16y ago
      I gotta agree with him on this one. There's no reason the market app couldn't display the current conversion into your local currency whenever you browser the market.
- pkulak 16y ago
  The app launcher is in 3D and snaps to the closest row, so that right before you click on an app, it bounces forward or back about half a row and you miss or hit a different row. To tell the difference between a tap and a scroll, you need to wait some period of time. Just a fraction of a second. However, if it's a scroll, that means that by the time you figure it out, the finger will be a centimeter or so from where it started. On Android (in the browser mostly), when it learns it's a scroll, the page jumps ahead the distance that it missed, totally taking you out of the "scrolling" metaphor because of the sudden, jerky movement. The iPhone and WebOS (I think) just start moving without skipping to make up ground. This makes it just seem like your finger slipped a tiny bit before gaining traction, which is seamless. And forms. Do I need to say anymore? They just look terrible. Like a website from the late '90s. There are some more, but I can't think of them right now.

whereareyou 16y ago

Gruber, "If true, Google may be serious about taking the ugly stick out of the Android development process. This is a seriously big hire." http://daringfireball.net/linked/2010/05/27/paczkowski http://daringfireball.net/linked/2010/05/27/paczkowski

stcredzero 16y ago
Google needs guidance like this all around. (To be fair, recent trajectory is already good.)
- rimantas 16y ago
  One just has to wonder will the new hire bow to A/B testing for 40 shades of green Android logo should be colored…
  - robryan 16y ago
    You'd have to think there would be a lot more freedom on something relatively new and moving as fast as android. It may not always be that way though.
Tichy 16y ago
What ugly stick?
- not_an_alien 16y ago
  That guy is just a prick who hates everything Google/Android.

mortenjorck 16y ago

I have to admit I'm suddenly just a bit worried about the future of WebOS. Not for HP/Palm's loss of one (or possibly more) smart UI designer, but for who or what will replace him. If Duarte's shoes end up filled by some HP design committee and not a strong UX leader who can earn the respect of his teams, there's trouble brewing. WebOS is far too immature right now to be left to grow in that kind of bureaucratic environment. I really hope they treat this search with the gravity it deserves instead of just dumping a suit in the seat.

megaduck 16y ago
Too bad Aza Raskin's already got a gig.

latch 16y ago

A win for Google, and a loss for HP. These types of thing tend to lead to cherry picking. Google will end up with many of the people Matias Duarte considers to be winners, while leaving HP with a higher % of dead weight