5 ms·

Has Google Finally Found Its Mobile Design Chops?

47 points by acremades 14y ago

hcarvalhoalves 14y ago
The iOS Google Maps is very well designed, full of gestures and meaningful metaphors, you learn how to operate it in no time and most panes make sense. I find all current Google interfaces lack character though, on the wrong side of minimalist. They took what worked on the search page and applied on everything else, but I don't think it works. Most interfaces suffer from poor iconography and minimal colors (everything's white or grey, basically). GMail is a good example: I gave up using the webmail altogether after the last redesign. Using most products feels like you're interacting with a robot in a laboratory. This minimalist trend worries me because it's a projection of a sci-fi future where technology should be precise, interactions should be ethereal. That's a mirage. I would rather see more honest designs, that acknowledge human imprecisions and emotions, instead of lobotomizing products.
panacea 14y ago
I'd say the answer is yes. It's interesting, because I'd imagine if Johhny Ive wanted to pivot away from skeumorphism to a far simpler and cleaner style, the new Google 'style' is exactly where he'd want to go. They seem to be occupying the middle ground between Apple and Microsoft's disparate design languages.
DigitalSea 14y ago
It was eventually bound to happen. Google have essentially taken the simplistic approach to their applications instead of favouring Apple's love for skeuomorphism combined with their own pieces of design flare. Less is more in the world of true design, I think Google are gearing themselves up for a design fight of sorts with Apple here and I'd say Google is already marginally ahead. For a company associated with innovative design, I feel as though Apple have truly dropped the ball the last couple of years and it's starting to show as others including Microsoft catch up quite rapidly.
thingummywut 14y ago
Google got Matias Duarte from WebOS at the end of Gingerbread so he had minimal effect on that / honeycomb. Android is a huge, slow beast so it took a while to improve.
sxcurry 14y ago
I agree - I find the clean crisp look of the new iOS GMail App to be very pleasing. On the small iPhone screen, it improves readability and functionality. Ditto for the new Maps App. Compared to where Google iOS apps were a year or two ago, they have really moved ahead. Contrast this to the abominable Apple Podcasts App! I'm a big Apple fan, but some of the latest software releases are beginning to really make me wonder what's going on in the heads of the Apple developers.
- rimantas 14y ago
  One of the latest releases was iTunes 11, and I'd say pretty good things are going on in the heads of Apple devs.
drivebyacct2 14y ago
Huh? Holo has been around for a while now (1 year, 3 months). Yes, people in the iOS/Blackberry/Symbian world: Android is not the same as it was during the 1.x/2.x series.
- galadriel 14y ago
  The way Google apps behave now is way different than they were when ICS came out initially, especially things like swiping to show menu on the side. While Holo has been there for about a year, the details were never filled in by Google with a flagship first party app. Holo provided the polish, the usability in Google apps come from the way they attach functionality to gesture. So I guess it is news-worthy for other people unfamiliar with how Google iterated their apps on Android to know that finally Google has nailed down pretty much all what it wanted to achieve.
- erikpukinskis 14y ago
  I don't think the apps OP is talking about (Maps on iOS, Google Now, etc) are Holo, are they?
lucian1900 14y ago
There's an entire mobile OS made by them, full of nice apps.
MatthewPhillips 14y ago
I was disappointed with ICS, I was expected an overhaul but what we got was polishing of the existing metaphors. Basically they chose 1 way to design things and stuck with it, whereas in the pre-ICS days the designs were all over the place. However they didn't really rethink any major UI aspect. The multitasking got the biggest overhaul, but that was just a superficial change. The UI is still a carousel of apps/widgets (most widgets being useless). Nothing like Windows Phone's pinning. Nothing like the N9's swipe. Still the same ole, just with a fresh coat of paint.
potatolicious 14y ago
Yes, and even as an iOS user I have to say it's very gratifying to see Google finding a unified and consistent design language. And executing on it - as others pointed out, this theme isn't new, but it wasn't until recently that we've seen this executed consistently across the board. I would go as far as to say that Google's current design out-Metros Microsoft at their own game. Which is to say, they have found a design that is "authentically digital", eschews skeumorphism, is simplistic and minimalistic, without going way, way off the deep end like MS did.
- taligent 14y ago
  >Google's current design out-Metros Microsoft at their own game. That makes no sense. Metro was a bold attempt at rethinking the mobile UI. And it's inarguable that it is unlike every UI released to date and has a number of unique concepts. Some work. Some don't. But there is absolutely nothing bold, unique, noble or impressive by what Google has achieved. It is a bland derivative in comparison.
  - potatolicious 14y ago
    I'm referring specifically to MS's claim that Metro is "authentically digital" - and that the simplicity (contrary to Apple's skeumorphic bent on everything) is a usability improvement in and of itself. The stated design goal is to develop a coherent design that separated itself from simple metaphors to real-life objects. e.g. no "radio dials" to change stations, no watch-like clock faces, no textured buttons that look like physical buttons, no "unfolding" address books, etc. A UI that would represent information in its own way without bowing to constant references to real-life. Having owned a Surface for a month now, and using Win8 on a desktop for about the same time, I have to say Google wins this one. Their UI design defies skeumorphism and over-complicated interactions without falling into the same holes MS has found themselves in with Metro - in particular the WinPhone flavor of Metro, which has particularly deep usability problems that IMO stem from MS's stubborn refusal to adopt even the most cursory amount of UI chrome.
    - taligent 14y ago
andrewroycarter 14y ago
I actually don't really like where Google has been going with their iOS apps. They don't look bad, but they don't look / feel like iOS apps. Microsoft and Google both like to try and bring the look and feel of their mobile OS's to their iOS apps, and I wish they would just make iOS apps that look like iOS apps.
- nwh 14y ago
  I'm not a fan either. I couldn't care less about the visual design, its that every interaction feels clunky and badly thought out.

47 points by acremades 14y ago

The iOS Google Maps is very well designed, full of gestures and meaningful metaphors, you learn how to operate it in no time and most panes make sense. I find all current Google interfaces lack character though, on the wrong side of minimalist. They took what worked on the search page and applied on everything else, but I don't think it works. Most interfaces suffer from poor iconography and minimal colors (everything's white or grey, basically). GMail is a good example: I gave up using the webmail altogether after the last redesign. Using most products feels like you're interacting with a robot in a laboratory. This minimalist trend worries me because it's a projection of a sci-fi future where technology should be precise, interactions should be ethereal. That's a mirage. I would rather see more honest designs, that acknowledge human imprecisions and emotions, instead of lobotomizing products.

panacea 14y ago

I'd say the answer is yes. It's interesting, because I'd imagine if Johhny Ive wanted to pivot away from skeumorphism to a far simpler and cleaner style, the new Google 'style' is exactly where he'd want to go. They seem to be occupying the middle ground between Apple and Microsoft's disparate design languages.

DigitalSea 14y ago

It was eventually bound to happen. Google have essentially taken the simplistic approach to their applications instead of favouring Apple's love for skeuomorphism combined with their own pieces of design flare. Less is more in the world of true design, I think Google are gearing themselves up for a design fight of sorts with Apple here and I'd say Google is already marginally ahead. For a company associated with innovative design, I feel as though Apple have truly dropped the ball the last couple of years and it's starting to show as others including Microsoft catch up quite rapidly.

thingummywut 14y ago

Google got Matias Duarte from WebOS at the end of Gingerbread so he had minimal effect on that / honeycomb. Android is a huge, slow beast so it took a while to improve.

sxcurry 14y ago

I agree - I find the clean crisp look of the new iOS GMail App to be very pleasing. On the small iPhone screen, it improves readability and functionality. Ditto for the new Maps App. Compared to where Google iOS apps were a year or two ago, they have really moved ahead. Contrast this to the abominable Apple Podcasts App! I'm a big Apple fan, but some of the latest software releases are beginning to really make me wonder what's going on in the heads of the Apple developers.

rimantas 14y ago
One of the latest releases was iTunes 11, and I'd say pretty good things are going on in the heads of Apple devs.

drivebyacct2 14y ago

Huh? Holo has been around for a while now (1 year, 3 months). Yes, people in the iOS/Blackberry/Symbian world: Android is not the same as it was during the 1.x/2.x series.

galadriel 14y ago
The way Google apps behave now is way different than they were when ICS came out initially, especially things like swiping to show menu on the side. While Holo has been there for about a year, the details were never filled in by Google with a flagship first party app. Holo provided the polish, the usability in Google apps come from the way they attach functionality to gesture. So I guess it is news-worthy for other people unfamiliar with how Google iterated their apps on Android to know that finally Google has nailed down pretty much all what it wanted to achieve.
erikpukinskis 14y ago
I don't think the apps OP is talking about (Maps on iOS, Google Now, etc) are Holo, are they?

lucian1900 14y ago

There's an entire mobile OS made by them, full of nice apps.

MatthewPhillips 14y ago

I was disappointed with ICS, I was expected an overhaul but what we got was polishing of the existing metaphors. Basically they chose 1 way to design things and stuck with it, whereas in the pre-ICS days the designs were all over the place. However they didn't really rethink any major UI aspect. The multitasking got the biggest overhaul, but that was just a superficial change. The UI is still a carousel of apps/widgets (most widgets being useless). Nothing like Windows Phone's pinning. Nothing like the N9's swipe. Still the same ole, just with a fresh coat of paint.

potatolicious 14y ago

Yes, and even as an iOS user I have to say it's very gratifying to see Google finding a unified and consistent design language. And executing on it - as others pointed out, this theme isn't new, but it wasn't until recently that we've seen this executed consistently across the board. I would go as far as to say that Google's current design out-Metros Microsoft at their own game. Which is to say, they have found a design that is "authentically digital", eschews skeumorphism, is simplistic and minimalistic, without going way, way off the deep end like MS did.

taligent 14y ago
>Google's current design out-Metros Microsoft at their own game. That makes no sense. Metro was a bold attempt at rethinking the mobile UI. And it's inarguable that it is unlike every UI released to date and has a number of unique concepts. Some work. Some don't. But there is absolutely nothing bold, unique, noble or impressive by what Google has achieved. It is a bland derivative in comparison.
- potatolicious 14y ago
  I'm referring specifically to MS's claim that Metro is "authentically digital" - and that the simplicity (contrary to Apple's skeumorphic bent on everything) is a usability improvement in and of itself. The stated design goal is to develop a coherent design that separated itself from simple metaphors to real-life objects. e.g. no "radio dials" to change stations, no watch-like clock faces, no textured buttons that look like physical buttons, no "unfolding" address books, etc. A UI that would represent information in its own way without bowing to constant references to real-life. Having owned a Surface for a month now, and using Win8 on a desktop for about the same time, I have to say Google wins this one. Their UI design defies skeumorphism and over-complicated interactions without falling into the same holes MS has found themselves in with Metro - in particular the WinPhone flavor of Metro, which has particularly deep usability problems that IMO stem from MS's stubborn refusal to adopt even the most cursory amount of UI chrome.
  - taligent 14y ago

andrewroycarter 14y ago

I actually don't really like where Google has been going with their iOS apps. They don't look bad, but they don't look / feel like iOS apps. Microsoft and Google both like to try and bring the look and feel of their mobile OS's to their iOS apps, and I wish they would just make iOS apps that look like iOS apps.

nwh 14y ago
I'm not a fan either. I couldn't care less about the visual design, its that every interaction feels clunky and badly thought out.