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

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.