3 ms·

I think simple flat design and simple color schemes was a good change, personally. The rest I don't really disagree with.

FabHK 9y ago
But you probably "grew up" with the prior, more easily discoverable interface versions. (Remember that when Steve Jobs presented the iPhone, he had to explain the "flick to scroll" gesture, because it was so new - previously, you'd have to touch a tiny triangle in the corner of the scroll view, with a stylus, to scroll... :-) When I gave my mom an iPad, which already came with the fancy new thin flat iOS design, I had to first switch to a larger, fatter font (thanks, Apple, for making this possible in the Accessibility settings!), and then spend quite some time explaining things, as many controls ("yes mom, that word is actually a button you can press") and gestures were not easily discoverable. The fat 3D buttons were much easier to discern. (Note that Apple also has a "Button Shapes" settings in Accessibility to re-enable them, though not as "3D". Maybe they could have a global "beginner" or "senior" setting that would switch these settings over from pretty to functional and discoverable...)
- ashark 9y ago
  iOS 6 was the pinnacle of iOS UI discoverability. I'm still baffled at some of their decisions. That slide-to-unlock element was perfection. It never needed to change because you almost certainly can't do any better (OK, sure, using the home button to trigger unlock now is better, but as far as on the screen unlock initiators, that's it). Any kid or oldster immediately understood it. And 3d-ish buttons are a thing for a reason. It's gotten a little better since the WTF-is-this-shit days of iOS7, but not much. It went from "what should my grandma use? Definitely an iPad, no question" to "what should my grandma use? Ugh, god, a Chromebook I guess?" Now force-touch, and new gestures, and crap sliding from the top and bottom of the screen, on top of everything else. It's much easier to get lost in for someone who's half-terrified of computers, which is still lots of people, and I'm not sure it's much better for the rest of us, either.
carsongross 9y ago
Flat design is bad UX because it took a useful and familiar dimension, simulated depth, out of the toolbox. I agree that simulated depth was over used and that the minimalist aspect of flat UI did improve aesthetics in many cases, but it was a net loss due to the UX problems it caused. The right thing was to do depth aesthetically correctly (only a few pixels are needed, and only on important elements) while still retaining the usability advantages of it. Unfortunately the design world (and the art world more generally) appears to be extremely prone to binary thinking: either something is obviously wonderful, or it must be discarded completely.

FabHK 9y ago

But you probably "grew up" with the prior, more easily discoverable interface versions. (Remember that when Steve Jobs presented the iPhone, he had to explain the "flick to scroll" gesture, because it was so new - previously, you'd have to touch a tiny triangle in the corner of the scroll view, with a stylus, to scroll... :-) When I gave my mom an iPad, which already came with the fancy new thin flat iOS design, I had to first switch to a larger, fatter font (thanks, Apple, for making this possible in the Accessibility settings!), and then spend quite some time explaining things, as many controls ("yes mom, that word is actually a button you can press") and gestures were not easily discoverable. The fat 3D buttons were much easier to discern. (Note that Apple also has a "Button Shapes" settings in Accessibility to re-enable them, though not as "3D". Maybe they could have a global "beginner" or "senior" setting that would switch these settings over from pretty to functional and discoverable...)

ashark 9y ago
iOS 6 was the pinnacle of iOS UI discoverability. I'm still baffled at some of their decisions. That slide-to-unlock element was perfection. It never needed to change because you almost certainly can't do any better (OK, sure, using the home button to trigger unlock now is better, but as far as on the screen unlock initiators, that's it). Any kid or oldster immediately understood it. And 3d-ish buttons are a thing for a reason. It's gotten a little better since the WTF-is-this-shit days of iOS7, but not much. It went from "what should my grandma use? Definitely an iPad, no question" to "what should my grandma use? Ugh, god, a Chromebook I guess?" Now force-touch, and new gestures, and crap sliding from the top and bottom of the screen, on top of everything else. It's much easier to get lost in for someone who's half-terrified of computers, which is still lots of people, and I'm not sure it's much better for the rest of us, either.

carsongross 9y ago

Flat design is bad UX because it took a useful and familiar dimension, simulated depth, out of the toolbox. I agree that simulated depth was over used and that the minimalist aspect of flat UI did improve aesthetics in many cases, but it was a net loss due to the UX problems it caused. The right thing was to do depth aesthetically correctly (only a few pixels are needed, and only on important elements) while still retaining the usability advantages of it. Unfortunately the design world (and the art world more generally) appears to be extremely prone to binary thinking: either something is obviously wonderful, or it must be discarded completely.