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iOS 7

mattgemmell.com

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Re: iOS 7

#231

Post by zw »

nish1500 wrote: post #71
jmduke wrote: post #34

Man, iOS 7 feedback is incredibly frustrating for no reason that actually matters. I feel like I spent the past few years falling in love with flat design, on mobile and on the web -- and I read article after article from historically pro-Apple bloggers/authors explaining that no, flat design was fundamentally a bad move: the strongest metaphor is that of the phone as a tool -- that we needed skeumorphism, we need hi…

The liberal use of fluorescent colours makes it an eyesore. Apply (or Ive) simply does not understand graphic design anymore. It's a disaster of epic proportions.

Things that are "disaster[s] of epic proportions": floods, genocide, NSA spying

Things that are not: fucking betas of mobile telephone software

Re: iOS 7

#232

Post by leoc »

tjoff wrote: post #83
jmduke wrote: post #34

Man, iOS 7 feedback is incredibly frustrating for no reason that actually matters. I feel like I spent the past few years falling in love with flat design, on mobile and on the web -- and I read article after article from historically pro-Apple bloggers/authors explaining that no, flat design was fundamentally a bad move: the strongest metaphor is that of the phone as a tool -- that we needed skeumorphism, we need hi…

what happened to Apple's relentless pursuit of quality before introducing something to the public? I has never existed. The secret is to not focus on versions. In time the quirks will get sorted out and if your users don't know when or at what version it became better they will assume that it has always been working well. First OS X? Terrible, barely usable even if there had been any applications for it. Current OS X…

It's been true of their second-Jobs-era mobile gadgets though. The first iPod and iPhone both delivered a polished experience from day 1, and their successors did too. The same was true of most Apple products since Jobs' return, including the Mac hardware. OS X was the big exception, but that was partly because Apple didn't have the luxury of time: it had to get out OS X as quickly as possible, while also continuing to patch up MacOS, in order to save the company.

Re: iOS 7

#233

Post by shock-value »

Vieira wrote: post #228
toyg wrote: post #61

I don't care about flatness or skeutransmogrification or whatnot, but the damn thing must WORK. Look at his iMessage screen comparison [1]: yes, the old screen looks a bit geocities, but you can actually read text very well; the new screen is almost unreadable. The prime aim of iMessage is to make people read text, not to look cool. It doesn't matter if there are options to thicken the font -- the whole point of OSX/…

> I don't care about flatness or skeutransmogrification or whatnot, but the damn thing must WORK. Absolutely. I don't understand how so many people are focusing on the highs and lows of the UI but are ignoring serious UX problems like the one you pointed. Apple says "Nothing we’ve ever created has been designed just to look beautiful. That’s approaching the opportunity from the wrong end." but then they change the pe…

I actually don't have anything to add to your comment, but I just wanted to say I agree 100% with literally everything you wrote here. These are my exact gripes with the new version, expressed better than I think I could have.

Re: iOS 7

#234

Post by gfodor »

Vieira wrote: post #228
toyg wrote: post #61

I don't care about flatness or skeutransmogrification or whatnot, but the damn thing must WORK. Look at his iMessage screen comparison [1]: yes, the old screen looks a bit geocities, but you can actually read text very well; the new screen is almost unreadable. The prime aim of iMessage is to make people read text, not to look cool. It doesn't matter if there are options to thicken the font -- the whole point of OSX/…

> I don't care about flatness or skeutransmogrification or whatnot, but the damn thing must WORK. Absolutely. I don't understand how so many people are focusing on the highs and lows of the UI but are ignoring serious UX problems like the one you pointed. Apple says "Nothing we’ve ever created has been designed just to look beautiful. That’s approaching the opportunity from the wrong end." but then they change the pe…

I hate posts like this that lay out some first-order criticism of a design as if the designers did not consider their obvious concerns. It also sounds like you are making judgements based upon screenshots without actually using the software.

As far as messages go, it seems that the contrast is appropriate for the bubble at the bottom of the screen. The presumption, I think, is that users will scroll to read previous messages and the contrast will be fine where they are reading. The contrast for old messages is reduced to reduce the distraction from content the user is not reading, since it has already been read. How often do you read previous messages in a conversation vs. the last message? This difference clearly has dictated Apple's design.

Second, the concern about white text above the photo not being readable is laughable. If you really think Apple hasn't considered the idea that some photos will have lighter colors I don't know what to tell you. If you watch some of the intro WWDC videos it's very clear that Apple has thought through very carefully the various automatic treatments and text rendering they are applying to ensure they are readable by the user. Any places where things are not perfect will be corrected later.

If you want to criticize iOS 7 you can do better than conjuring up things that would only be true if Apple literally had zero design skills.

Re: iOS 7

#235

Post by fallwithme »

Vieira wrote: post #228
toyg wrote: post #61

I don't care about flatness or skeutransmogrification or whatnot, but the damn thing must WORK. Look at his iMessage screen comparison [1]: yes, the old screen looks a bit geocities, but you can actually read text very well; the new screen is almost unreadable. The prime aim of iMessage is to make people read text, not to look cool. It doesn't matter if there are options to thicken the font -- the whole point of OSX/…

> I don't care about flatness or skeutransmogrification or whatnot, but the damn thing must WORK. Absolutely. I don't understand how so many people are focusing on the highs and lows of the UI but are ignoring serious UX problems like the one you pointed. Apple says "Nothing we’ve ever created has been designed just to look beautiful. That’s approaching the opportunity from the wrong end." but then they change the pe…

> The most important "action" on that screen happens when you press a gray text on a gray background!

The "Send" text is gray because the input box is empty. When you typed in something, it will turn blue. Still not as intuitive as a button though.

> Also how can I reject a call?

It's exactly the same as in iOS 6. There've always been two different call screens since the first release of iOS. One is shown when your phone is locked, where you need to slide to answer and push the power button twice to reject. Another one is shown when your phone is not locked, where you have an answer button and a reject button. The screenshot causes the confusion because it is comparing the second call screen on iOS 6 with the first call screen on iOS 7.

Re: iOS 7

#236

Post by adnrw »

jlmendezbonini wrote: post #108
mintplant wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm volunteering at a center that teaches senior citizens various computer skills. One of the courses we teach is on how to use their iPhones. I'm dreading the moment that iOS7 is released: all of these people are going to have to start right back at the beginning in their understanding.

Would you mind sharing more details about why you think it's going to be painful for seniors to adjust? The answer might be obvious, but I'd love to hear more about the difficulties that you've faced teaching seniors.

I don't teach seniors per se, so I can't answer "professionally" but I have taught two of my grandparents how to use their phones (one old Motorolla flip phone, one on my old iPhone) and computers.

I found that they were very hesitant to engage with the phones, they have a preconceived notion that touching the wrong thing could break the entire device (which is generally an incorrect assumption but not completely).

The way to get around that fear, of course, is to make sure all the steps are followed in order in the way they were taught, eg: To Make a Phone Call: 1. Press the green icon with the phone on it at the bottom left 2. Press the picture of the star to bring up your favourites 3. Press on the name you want to call. 4. When you're finished, press the big red button.

In that example the four steps are largely unchanged, and every identifiable interactive element (green icon with phone, star, names, red button) has the same general description.

But everything has changed slightly - the green icon isn't the same colour, the star is a bit different, the names now have photos next to them and the red button is a big red strip.

This isn't a big deal for you or me, but it is certainly a big deal when they're looking for the clues in the interface that they are used to.

But things like "Slide the grey button to the right to unlock the phone" and "slide the green button to the right to answer the call" have changed significantly. There's no more grey or green box - there's no box to unlock and the green box is now a big green line.

My grandfather is doing pretty well with his iPhone by muscle memory, but he literally has a piece of paper in his phone case with all the steps written down in order so he can refer to them if he gets stuck.

Changes on this scale break the muscle memory that they've been trained to use, but more importantly makes the steps he's been taught incorrect. It's no small feat to have to learn everything over again. Especially so when things aren't brand new anymore and the changes are only slight.

Does that answer your question?

Re: iOS 7

#237

Post by barista »

karlshea wrote: post #204
rralian wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe I don't spend enough time in the forums, but I don't think I've ever seen anyone say anything bad about windows phone, other than the lack of apps, which really isn't the fault of the OS. I've seen pretty universal praise.

Even Gruber at Daring Fireball has heaped praise on Windows Phone's design since it came out.

Maybe that explains the similarities in Windows phone and ios7 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DM8NSSzxNGM

Re: iOS 7

#238

Post by Vieira »

gfodor wrote: post #234
Vieira wrote: post #228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I don't care about flatness or skeutransmogrification or whatnot, but the damn thing must WORK. Absolutely. I don't understand how so many people are focusing on the highs and lows of the UI but are ignoring serious UX problems like the one you pointed. Apple says "Nothing we’ve ever created has been designed just to look beautiful. That’s approaching the opportunity from the wrong end." but then they change the pe…

I hate posts like this that lay out some first-order criticism of a design as if the designers did not consider their obvious concerns. It also sounds like you are making judgements based upon screenshots without actually using the software. As far as messages go, it seems that the contrast is appropriate for the bubble at the bottom of the screen. The presumption, I think, is that users will scroll to read previous…

That kind of thinking adds very few to the discussion. I respect Apple and I know they are a reference in terms of UI/UX. This does not mean however that they are immune to making mistakes. Your argument is, from what I understood, that as they are very good they must have thought of it and if they choose to do it anyway then it must be the best way. I do not agree.

Even for the message at the bottom of the screen there was more contrast before when the text was black. In a room it does not matter much but out, in the sun, you can tell the difference. Anyway, even if you read the most recent message most often than others (which is probably true) you often need to read the previous ones for context if the reply arrives some minutes or hours later. If you are out, previously you could read the last two or three messages without problems. No you have to scroll so that the previous message is under focus to be able to read. And what is there to be gained? Isn't the fact that older messages appear before the new ones not enough to hint about their order?

Again you raise the argument that Apple always knows best and therefore it's laughable that I point out such a thing. Of course Apple would never make such a mistake. Just look at both photos and ask yourself which one can you read best. Also look at screen of the (beautiful) weather app and see if you can check your signal or even the time[1].

Also do you think that yellow text on a light background is a good idea in terms of readability? Because that's the color of the "actionable" elements in the Notes app.

[1] http://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/ios7-app...

Re: iOS 7

#239

Post by anuraj »

While I loved the general feel of iOS 7, there is too much white on the screen - which makes me increase contrast - and few parts feel less thought out and rough at edges - So overall a welcome change, but needs further work.

Re: iOS 7

#240

Post by Vieira »

fallwithme wrote: post #235
Vieira wrote: post #228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I don't care about flatness or skeutransmogrification or whatnot, but the damn thing must WORK. Absolutely. I don't understand how so many people are focusing on the highs and lows of the UI but are ignoring serious UX problems like the one you pointed. Apple says "Nothing we’ve ever created has been designed just to look beautiful. That’s approaching the opportunity from the wrong end." but then they change the pe…

> The most important "action" on that screen happens when you press a gray text on a gray background! The "Send" text is gray because the input box is empty. When you typed in something, it will turn blue. Still not as intuitive as a button though. > Also how can I reject a call? It's exactly the same as in iOS 6. There've always been two different call screens since the first release of iOS. One is shown when your p…

You are completely right on both. I'm sorry, my mistake. Regarding the Send button, or lack of thereof, it is much better blue than gray but, as you said, it is not as intuitive as a button. There is a lack of perceived affordance. It's one of the top 10 mistakes in application design that Nielsen[1] points. Of course Nielsen can be wrong and Apple can be right.

[1] http://www.nngroup.com/articles/top-10-application-design-mi...

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