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Confusing UI in iOS7

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Re: Confusing UI in iOS7

#31

Post by jamra »

I was reading a book on dashboard design by Stephen Phew. I don't have it in front of me so I can't remember the name exactly. One of the chapters was dedicated to Gestalt principles. Basically, it was about how your brain interprets data. An excellent read. The main feature iOS 7 does is it clears the visual clutter, making the content do the talking. That is a huge improvement. According to what I read in the book and from what I observed in iOS 7, it looks to me like they hit the nail on the head with cleaning up clutter. Having used iOS 7 for some time now, it's quite clearly less taxing on my eyes and brain to use.

Pointing out inconsistencies can be fun, but I believe that it distracts from the overall feel you get from using an improved OS.

The arguments of keeping a 90 year old grandmother up to date with the UI seems a bit ridiculous to me. They can always stay on old versions if they need to. You can keep their PCs on Windows XP as well. Progress should not wait for the lowest denominator of users.

Re: Confusing UI in iOS7

#32

Post by gfodor »

jamra wrote: post #31

I was reading a book on dashboard design by Stephen Phew. I don't have it in front of me so I can't remember the name exactly. One of the chapters was dedicated to Gestalt principles. Basically, it was about how your brain interprets data. An excellent read. The main feature iOS 7 does is it clears the visual clutter, making the content do the talking. That is a huge improvement. According to what I read in the book…

I think one of the major points of iOS7 is that grandma is getting kicked to the curb. iOS devices are designed for people who already know how to use them, or for young people, who will figure them out.

Re: Confusing UI in iOS7

#33

Post by interpol_p »

andyhmltn wrote: post #2

Nice post. The one that REALLY annoys me is reminders. If I want to add a reminder, I would assume subconsciously I have to press the add symbol. But that adds a new list. To add a new item you have to tap an empty white box with no visual cue . Brilliant.

The reminders app is an abomination and has been since iOS 6. I only use it through Siri ("Remind me to ..."). How did they ever let this app see the light of day?

Re: Confusing UI in iOS7

#34

Post by drharris »

Michael_Murray wrote: post #28
samnardoni wrote: post #4

Everything is confusing if you pretend to be an idiot.

Actually, that's backwards... You know that something is well designed precisely by pretending to be an idiot, and asking yourself if you still know what to do...

That's a very rudimentary view of UX. If I'm writing an app that helps radiological engineers calculate radiation dose, should I pretend to be an idiot? Likewise, in a world where kids have grown up with these devices, should we still think that way about UX? I think we can give users some benefit of the doubt. Each app should have a design that reflects the purpose of the app. Consistency is not always the top priority in UX.

Re: Confusing UI in iOS7

#35

Post by kalleboo »

masklinn wrote: post #14

> I have no idea why the calendar is in German although the rest is in English I had the same issue (with a different language). I really hope it's a bug because it makes no sense. Here goes: In General > International, you can set "language" to english. So far so good. Then you can set "region format" for things like date and time formatting to use a sensible local format instead of e.g. the crazy US date format. Bu…

It works the same in Mac OS and Windows since time immortal as well.

Re: Confusing UI in iOS7

#36

Post by Terretta »

tehwalrus wrote: post #27

This (among other examples) is why I'm sticking with iOS 6 for the foreseeable future. I haven't wanted any new substantive feature of iOS for several iterations - and while the design was tempting for me, if it comes with this much punishment I'm out.

You're missing the forest for a stump.

The overall experience is considerably smoother and more cohesive with less cognitive clutter. There is a definite transition period; stick with it and you'll be happier on the other side.

Re: Confusing UI in iOS7

#38

Post by melange »

gfodor wrote: post #32
jamra wrote: post #31

I was reading a book on dashboard design by Stephen Phew. I don't have it in front of me so I can't remember the name exactly. One of the chapters was dedicated to Gestalt principles. Basically, it was about how your brain interprets data. An excellent read. The main feature iOS 7 does is it clears the visual clutter, making the content do the talking. That is a huge improvement. According to what I read in the book…

I think one of the major points of iOS7 is that grandma is getting kicked to the curb. iOS devices are designed for people who already know how to use them, or for young people, who will figure them out.

Except this doesn't seem to be borne out in reality. I have installed it for people in their 60's, 70's and 80s who find a Mac barely usable, who have had no trouble at all with moving to iOS7 after using iOS6.

Re: Confusing UI in iOS7

#39

Post by melange »

EGreg wrote: post #29

Is it just me or is all that gray stuff kinda ugly? And I thought WE started the gray trend way back when... (see http://qbix.com ) :) I think iOS 7 is Apple's Vista :-( Except instead of functionality gaffes, it's the UI changes that no one really wants.

Presumably you haven't tried it and are just relying on blog posts for your opinion.

Re: Confusing UI in iOS7

#40

Post by Pxtl »

ripter wrote: post #9
andyhmltn wrote: post #2

Nice post. The one that REALLY annoys me is reminders. If I want to add a reminder, I would assume subconsciously I have to press the add symbol. But that adds a new list. To add a new item you have to tap an empty white box with no visual cue . Brilliant.

I hate that. I also hate the the details button for a reminder is a blue "i" with a circle. To me that means Info, not edit or details.

Appleism. They use the words "Get Info" where Windows says "properties" in OS X too, including cases where the properties/info are editable. One of those cases where Apple is stuck with a bad decision they made a long time ago.
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