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I find the colored tiles in the store very difficult to skim through. https://twitter.com/TDUupdaterHD/status/271344469108989952/photo/1 https://twitter.com/TDU

by jeswin 14y ago

I find the colored tiles in the store very difficult to skim through. https://twitter.com/TDUupdaterHD/status/271344469108989952/photo/1 https://twitter.com/TDUupdaterHD/status/271344469108989952/p... In other app stores, the white background lets you navigate quickly, as a simple list with icons.

dmix 14y ago
I know it's a tired cliche to bash Microsoft for poor UI design, but those small multi-color squares plus horizontal scrolling? Wasn't there someone at some level in the company who could point out how unusable that is?
- mkr-hn 14y ago
  I know it's hard to conceive, but you might not be the target market. Microsoft probably has people testing these things. I have no trouble skimming it.
  - Samuel_Michon 14y ago
    "Microsoft probably has people testing these things." It sure does. But what does Microsoft do with those recommendations? The company had a group test the Kin devices, too. The group decided the devices were unusable, and Microsoft decided to launch them as-is anyways. http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/11/unreleased-internal-microsoft-videos-show-why-kin-crashed-and-burned/ http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/11/unreleased-internal-m...
    - kenjackson 14y ago
      Actually they fixed the perf, which was the main complaint from those videos.
      - Samuel_Michon 14y ago
        From the article: "These internal Microsoft videos, provided to Wired by a person who worked on the project, show focus groups testing the ill-fated Kin. According to our source, these are pre-production models that changed very little from the shipping product, although “performance improved some prior to shipping.” Watch them, and you can readily see why the project tanked: Kin phones just weren’t usable."
        kenjackson 14y ago
        According to our source, these are pre-production models that changed very little from the shipping product, although “performance improved some prior to shipping.” This is obviously not true by just watching the videos. In the videos the delay between typing a number on the keypad and it coming up is something like 5 seconds. Watch any hands-on video after it launched and you can see no performance issues like that. Kin reviews noted some performance issues, but nothing to the degree noted by these videos. performance improved some prior to shipping I think that would be an understatement given how poor the perf in these videos were. It would be like doing a test group on the iPhone where dragging and tapping was delayed by a few seconds. There's no reason to even test that, because it will break everything else in the UI.
      - bradwestness 14y ago
        I actually have a Kin One and I really like it. The web browser kinda sucks because it's based on IE 6 but the messaging and actual phone parts are great and I love the UI.
  - mtgx 14y ago
    A lot of people may not be in that "target market" for the Metro UI, and yet Microsoft is forcing it on anyone who might want to still use Windows in the future.
    - drivebyacct2 14y ago
      Huh? They're forcing it as much as they're forcing the UI of the desktop mode. What does that even mean anyway.
      - joenathan 14y ago
        It means "I'm in the mood to bash Microsoft" and nothing more.
  - CamperBob2 14y ago
    Microsoft probably has people testing these things. Without knowledge of the test conditions and methodology, this is a meaningless statement.
    - mkr-hn 14y ago
      No more meaningless than declaring it unusable without that information.
  - danenania 14y ago
    Testing won't necessarily help when there's a complete lack of design sensibility. Tests can be poorly framed and misinterpreted. This ui fails on basic ux and design principles.
    - deleted 14y ago
      [deleted]
    - fumar 14y ago
      Can you elaborate how the UI fails? Is it the horizontal scrolling?
    - jeswin 14y ago
      Exactly. Even scrolling issues aside, how this is easier than black on white (with colored icons) is beyond me. Aesthetically, it looks like crap. It is one of those things that can't be explained so well though.
    - deleted 14y ago
      [deleted]
- jasonlotito 14y ago
  The scrolling isn't an issue. Not only is the expectation to scroll by touch, it also handles scrolling with a mouse just fine (scrolling down scrolls right, scrolling up scrolls left) and feels natural.
SquareWheel 14y ago
On a tablet, it's easier to swipe horizontally than vertically. I suspect that's the cause of this design decision.
- jeswin 14y ago
  Agree. But same design on my Windows 8 desktop. I can scroll with the mouse wheel, still somewhat a pain. :( I wonder what made them abandon the familiar web page layout where you can scroll down, and there is even keyboard support for 'Page Up/Down'.
dfxm12 14y ago
Do the different colors even represent anything, or are they just chosen at random?
- jeswin 14y ago
  I haven't tried this yet, but I think the developers choose a store-tile color for their apps.
- Encosia 14y ago
  It looks like they're some average of the colors in the app's icon. That's what Windows 7/8 (and Vista?) do for the mouseover highlight color of taskbar items too, though more subtly, so it would make sense.
Derbasti 14y ago
I came here to say this, too. On the Play Store and App Store, the combination of the icon and the name usually gives me a rough idea about the quality and purpose of the app. On the MS Store, all I see is colored rectangles and I really can't distinguish stuff. Also, I feel like the other stores are far better searchable for some reason. Incidentally, is there a way to see the most popular apps of all categories? I can't seem to find that. Or maybe I just haven't gotten used to it yet or no common marketing language has emerged yet.
badclient 14y ago
It's really simple: this was designed by someone who hasn't actually tried to use the App Store more than a few times. One thing I have noticed since I started doing Product is that there is no shortcut to simply using your product A LOT to do product well. A side effect is that I can generally get a feel abojt how much time someone spent using their own product because the more serious inefficiencies or features become universally obvious ... but after 10 or 50+ uses over a period of time.

by jeswin 14y ago

dmix 14y ago

I know it's a tired cliche to bash Microsoft for poor UI design, but those small multi-color squares plus horizontal scrolling? Wasn't there someone at some level in the company who could point out how unusable that is?

mkr-hn 14y ago
I know it's hard to conceive, but you might not be the target market. Microsoft probably has people testing these things. I have no trouble skimming it.
- Samuel_Michon 14y ago
  "Microsoft probably has people testing these things." It sure does. But what does Microsoft do with those recommendations? The company had a group test the Kin devices, too. The group decided the devices were unusable, and Microsoft decided to launch them as-is anyways. http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/11/unreleased-internal-microsoft-videos-show-why-kin-crashed-and-burned/ http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/11/unreleased-internal-m...
  - kenjackson 14y ago
    Actually they fixed the perf, which was the main complaint from those videos.
    - Samuel_Michon 14y ago
      From the article: "These internal Microsoft videos, provided to Wired by a person who worked on the project, show focus groups testing the ill-fated Kin. According to our source, these are pre-production models that changed very little from the shipping product, although “performance improved some prior to shipping.” Watch them, and you can readily see why the project tanked: Kin phones just weren’t usable."
      - kenjackson 14y ago
        According to our source, these are pre-production models that changed very little from the shipping product, although “performance improved some prior to shipping.” This is obviously not true by just watching the videos. In the videos the delay between typing a number on the keypad and it coming up is something like 5 seconds. Watch any hands-on video after it launched and you can see no performance issues like that. Kin reviews noted some performance issues, but nothing to the degree noted by these videos. performance improved some prior to shipping I think that would be an understatement given how poor the perf in these videos were. It would be like doing a test group on the iPhone where dragging and tapping was delayed by a few seconds. There's no reason to even test that, because it will break everything else in the UI.
    - bradwestness 14y ago
      I actually have a Kin One and I really like it. The web browser kinda sucks because it's based on IE 6 but the messaging and actual phone parts are great and I love the UI.
- mtgx 14y ago
  A lot of people may not be in that "target market" for the Metro UI, and yet Microsoft is forcing it on anyone who might want to still use Windows in the future.
  - drivebyacct2 14y ago
    Huh? They're forcing it as much as they're forcing the UI of the desktop mode. What does that even mean anyway.
    - joenathan 14y ago
      It means "I'm in the mood to bash Microsoft" and nothing more.
- CamperBob2 14y ago
  Microsoft probably has people testing these things. Without knowledge of the test conditions and methodology, this is a meaningless statement.
  - mkr-hn 14y ago
    No more meaningless than declaring it unusable without that information.
- danenania 14y ago
  Testing won't necessarily help when there's a complete lack of design sensibility. Tests can be poorly framed and misinterpreted. This ui fails on basic ux and design principles.
  - deleted 14y ago
    [deleted]
  - fumar 14y ago
    Can you elaborate how the UI fails? Is it the horizontal scrolling?
  - jeswin 14y ago
    Exactly. Even scrolling issues aside, how this is easier than black on white (with colored icons) is beyond me. Aesthetically, it looks like crap. It is one of those things that can't be explained so well though.
  - deleted 14y ago
    [deleted]
jasonlotito 14y ago
The scrolling isn't an issue. Not only is the expectation to scroll by touch, it also handles scrolling with a mouse just fine (scrolling down scrolls right, scrolling up scrolls left) and feels natural.

SquareWheel 14y ago

On a tablet, it's easier to swipe horizontally than vertically. I suspect that's the cause of this design decision.

jeswin 14y ago
Agree. But same design on my Windows 8 desktop. I can scroll with the mouse wheel, still somewhat a pain. :( I wonder what made them abandon the familiar web page layout where you can scroll down, and there is even keyboard support for 'Page Up/Down'.

dfxm12 14y ago

Do the different colors even represent anything, or are they just chosen at random?

jeswin 14y ago
I haven't tried this yet, but I think the developers choose a store-tile color for their apps.
Encosia 14y ago
It looks like they're some average of the colors in the app's icon. That's what Windows 7/8 (and Vista?) do for the mouseover highlight color of taskbar items too, though more subtly, so it would make sense.

Derbasti 14y ago

I came here to say this, too. On the Play Store and App Store, the combination of the icon and the name usually gives me a rough idea about the quality and purpose of the app. On the MS Store, all I see is colored rectangles and I really can't distinguish stuff. Also, I feel like the other stores are far better searchable for some reason. Incidentally, is there a way to see the most popular apps of all categories? I can't seem to find that. Or maybe I just haven't gotten used to it yet or no common marketing language has emerged yet.

badclient 14y ago

It's really simple: this was designed by someone who hasn't actually tried to use the App Store more than a few times. One thing I have noticed since I started doing Product is that there is no shortcut to simply using your product A LOT to do product well. A side effect is that I can generally get a feel abojt how much time someone spent using their own product because the more serious inefficiencies or features become universally obvious ... but after 10 or 50+ uses over a period of time.