11–20 of 49 posts
"Good design is design that surprises, something that is unexpected but immediately comprehensible and pleasing."
Source: http://info.psu.edu.sa/psu/cis/phalloran/Teaching_Learning/g...
I must admit I'm not really surprised to see Gruber suddenly claim non-uniform application design is a good thing when everyone starts critizing Apple for 1. inconsistent UIs and 2. bad design. Also note how he completely focuses on the inconsistent UI-issue and completely ignores the part about bad design in the OSX App Store, probably hoping it will go by unnoticed. Really though. Isn't it always this way with Grub…
This has been a long and gradual transition (not even all that much of a transition), what he wote shouldn’t be surprising to any longtime reader of Gruber.
This piece is also mostly about Twitter for Mac, an app that was not developed by Apple.
– edit: I found one relevant article from 2004: http://daringfireball.net/2004/10/does_brushed_metal_matter
“I’ve been thinking about brushed metal windows and Apple’s inconsistent use thereof at least since Panther shipped a year ago. So, why wait until now to write about it? Well, because I just wasn’t sure it actually mattered. And I’m still unsure.”
“This is precisely at the heart of my uncertainty as to whether these brushed metal issues really matter. Maybe it is just aesthetics — merely the color of pixels, rather than how the interface truly works — and I’m looking for serious implications that aren’t there, simply because I happen to think brushed metal windows look stupid.”
(Just as a side note, all the articles on Daring Fireball from around that time – about brushed metal, clickthrough and poofing – are in my opinion some of Gruber’s best. I would very much like him to write more about stuff like that.)
I must admit I'm not really surprised to see Gruber suddenly claim non-uniform application design is a good thing when everyone starts critizing Apple for 1. inconsistent UIs and 2. bad design. Also note how he completely focuses on the inconsistent UI-issue and completely ignores the part about bad design in the OSX App Store, probably hoping it will go by unnoticed. Really though. Isn't it always this way with Grub…
It's true that he rarely criticises Apple's design choices. But I don't think it's because of any sycophantic defence of Apple, but rather because his design aesthetic is very similar to that of the lead designers at Apple. Still, I wouldn't be surprised to see him do a piece soon on the sub-par design of the Mac App Store, because it is sub-par (at least in some aspects).
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Maybe. But if the HIG is not that important anymore, I think that should also imply that Apple should allow for other UI toolkits in its stores, such as Qt.
There's a difference between "ugly attempt at matching the standard controls" and "extending nicely into a different style of UI".
Twitter's (or the App Store's) deviation from the Mac look and feel, on the other hand is very noticeable. And I am not sure it is proven that we are talking about "extending nicely into a different style of UI". The Twitter UI is plainly confusing (where do you drag this window?) and having the backward/forward buttons next to the window controls is questionable at the very least.
For me personally, I love Apple hardware, love the iPhone and like the iPad. I am just not a fan of OSX. I was, for about a five year period, but have gone back to Linux this past year in Ubuntu and have not looked back.
I bought my first mac in 2003/2004, Power Book G4. Tolerated the slowness that the UI had b/c it gave me something I didn't have in any other OS: A *nix base w/ a great UI.
Over time I feel that OSX's lead in this eroded as Ubuntu kept getting better and better and OSX stagnated. Now I feel I can have a rock solid Linux (Debian based Ubuntu) with a really good UI that just works without weird restrictions. OSX isn't the only player in town anymore in that front and since I can install it on cheaper hardware, that is awesome.
I must admit I'm not really surprised to see Gruber suddenly claim non-uniform application design is a good thing when everyone starts critizing Apple for 1. inconsistent UIs and 2. bad design. Also note how he completely focuses on the inconsistent UI-issue and completely ignores the part about bad design in the OSX App Store, probably hoping it will go by unnoticed. Really though. Isn't it always this way with Grub…
For better or worse, I think he is right. Non-uniformity has been the norm in Apple's apps for a while, Garageband, Aperture, every iTunes release, among others. I believe the majority of third party mac developers used to be pre OS X developers, and because of that they had and incredible amount of respect for the HIG, but now, the (problematic) apps in the Mac App Store are coming from iOS developers, who didn't gr…
Maybe. But if the HIG is not that important anymore, I think that should also imply that Apple should allow for other UI toolkits in its stores, such as Qt.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
the (problematic) apps in the Mac App Store are coming from iOS developers, who didn't grow up with the guidelines. A different UI has given them an edge in the iOS App Store, and the are gonna try the same on the mac. So we can retire the meme that any random iOS app has a more consistent user interface than any random Android app? Sometimes it takes seeing the apps all next to each other to realize it like http://w…
What about games? They have inconsistent interfaces in their platforms (and across platforms) and still work well. I think it has something to do with the input methods. When all you do is to click buttons and fill in forms, it makes sense to have a consistent interface. On the other hand, some iPad apps produce a great experience based on their inconsistent interfaces (as in http://www.algoriddim.com/djay-ipad and h…
http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l9iz9hfWvl1qazfelo1_400.jp...
http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l9iz9hfWvl1qazfelo1_400.jp...
http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l26vemSib51qazfelo1_400.pn...
http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l1illmwHTD1qazfelo1_400.jp...
And there's not really anything wrong with that. But one can't say that they prefer the iPhone vs something else because the apps are more consistent UI-wise and ignore the trend away from consistent user interfaces.
Then, there's something to be said for things like Sally Park, which is effectively a limited function app that doesn't have a lot of complex user interaction. A lot of these kinds of apps are commodity, so the way to differentiate is by the "prettiness" of the UI. And that's too bad in some sense, because I think usability suffers -- but maybe usability doesn't matter because, since they are one-trick pony apps, you spend more time looking at the screen than figuring out which button to hit or learning it (because the functionality is limited, not because the UI/UX is "obvious" or "consistent").
When it comes down to it, many iOS apps are do-one-thing (and hopefully do-it-well) independent apps, mainly because they don't integrate with other apps on the phone. You kind of expect standard widgets (or icons or labels for functions) (even if you think they are "ugly") on Android because of the integration. I have an Android app that adds a Flickr option to all "share via" functions on the entire phone. This isn't a standalone app that needs its own UI, and it would be dumb if it had its own UI as an independent app, partitioned off from the rest of the functionality of the device. It needs to integrate (hopefully smoothly) with everything else. When I select "share via flickr", uploading to flickr shouldn't be significantly difference in experience or widget selection than sharing with a contact, otherwise it would be too jarring. It shouldn't look like I'm going to some place else to do this, it should look like I'm sharing it without having to leave the app I found the thing I wanted to share in.
