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[Google] put serious resources into figuring out how people interact with their software, so if they say, "This is good enough to be our UI standard for the nex

by gone35 12y ago

[Google] put serious resources into figuring out how people interact with their software, so if they say, "This is good enough to be our UI standard for the next several years in _every_ product we ship." then the odds are, it really is pretty good. Not necessarily[1]. Especially in cases like this, where the org is large enough, the cash is endless enough, and the goal is fuzzy enough; that principal-agent problems are inevitably bound to prevail. Think Pontiac Aztec. Or Lotus Notes. Or, for that matter, the all-new Google Maps(TM). [1] http://brousseau.info/pdf/cours/grossman_hart_83.pdf http://brousseau.info/pdf/cours/grossman_hart_83.pdf

SwellJoe 12y ago
Not necessarily...but, the odds are good. I do find I'm very angry at Google Maps a lot of the time, though, so maybe Google is getting worse at interfaces and Material Design is going to go down in history as a massive failure. People seem to be tolerating Windows 8 "flat" design, though, and that is pretty much a nightmare for usability as far as I'm able to discern. In short, I don't now what's right and wrong, but I know what I like. I like my new tablet, and I dislike most other "flat" designs I've used in the build up to Material Design.
- meesterdude 12y ago
  > People seem to be tolerating Windows 8 "flat" design, though, and that is pretty much a nightmare for usability as far as I'm able to discern. FWIW, usability is being able to do something with as little thought or confusion as possible. So there is nothing inherently wrong with a flat UI - its the design choices made using it that matter.
  - SwellJoe 12y ago
    Agreed. I wasn't complaining about the "flatness" of the thing. Just the chaotic nature of it (to me). Though, I suspect that with experience Win8 would become more usable to me. I just don't spend significant time in a Windows environment, so it feels really confusing whenever I find myself in front of one. "Usable" often means "What I'm used to."

by gone35 12y ago

SwellJoe 12y ago

Not necessarily...but, the odds are good. I do find I'm very angry at Google Maps a lot of the time, though, so maybe Google is getting worse at interfaces and Material Design is going to go down in history as a massive failure. People seem to be tolerating Windows 8 "flat" design, though, and that is pretty much a nightmare for usability as far as I'm able to discern. In short, I don't now what's right and wrong, but I know what I like. I like my new tablet, and I dislike most other "flat" designs I've used in the build up to Material Design.

meesterdude 12y ago
> People seem to be tolerating Windows 8 "flat" design, though, and that is pretty much a nightmare for usability as far as I'm able to discern. FWIW, usability is being able to do something with as little thought or confusion as possible. So there is nothing inherently wrong with a flat UI - its the design choices made using it that matter.
- SwellJoe 12y ago
  Agreed. I wasn't complaining about the "flatness" of the thing. Just the chaotic nature of it (to me). Though, I suspect that with experience Win8 would become more usable to me. I just don't spend significant time in a Windows environment, so it feels really confusing whenever I find myself in front of one. "Usable" often means "What I'm used to."