Certainly they can do better explaining the "design language". Cliches and corporate lingua such as: "... A material metaphor is the unifying theory of a rationalized space and a system of motion. Our material is grounded in tactile reality, inspired by our study of paper and ink, yet open to imagination and magic". Come again?
Top designers react to Google’s new ‘Material’ design language
61–70 of 86 posts
Re: Top designers react to Google’s new ‘Material’ design language
#62The death of flat/minimalism cannot come soon enough. Unfortunately Google Maps seems to have been swallowed up by it. The current (new?) UI is simply unusable. All I wanted to do earlier was drop the pin at my current location (which Google Maps couldn't divine due to no GPS) and then "Search Nearby" for eating places. Well the pin has gone and now all you get is the street view thingy (yay?) and search nearby is al…
> All I wanted to do earlier was drop the pin at my current location (which Google Maps couldn't divine due to no GPS) and then "Search Nearby" for eating places. /me goes to maps.google.com clicks on a random area of the map a "location" card pops up with lat/long and estimated name clicks on the card to validate the location a second card pops up below with a street view shot, "photos", "explore this area" with "se…
This discussion refers to the redesigned Android app.
> Also possible: type "restaurants near whatever", or simply "restaurants", which scopes the request on the current viewport.
This appears to work in the app as well, though.
Re: Top designers react to Google’s new ‘Material’ design language
#63Earlier quoted context omitted.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Design_language
I stand corrected. Seems wrong, but hey, I'm a programmer... not a designer ;-P
Don't drink the koolaid, man. You were right the first time. Calling it a "design language" is their way of obfuscating what they do, making it sound like it's something that only they can do. Therefore you, a mere programmer, should listen to them and do what they tell you, because you aren't qualified to "design" things. Hey, you didn't even know what a design language is!
I think we are witnessing the collision between two worlds: art and engineering. People that would have been designing books and magazines and advertisements and refrigerator facades a few years ago are now applying the same techniques to computer interfaces. They're actually trying to stake out their claim to this relatively young field, and they use their own jargon and obfuscated ideas to discourage non-designers from getting involved.
This is a problem because software interfaces are tools, not works of art that merely exist to be gazed upon. They should first be engineered, then made to look pretty. There is a reason you can walk into many places of business and see computer terminals with text-mode UIs, even monochrome ones: because they work and are efficient. Now those same interfaces could be made to look nicer by using high-res, color screens with nice widgets, without changing how they work--but hand that task to a designer and watch him pull back in disgust. No, it's got to look like a piece of modern, minimalist art, and all usable controls must be hidden away so as not to "distract" the user from what he "should be focusing on."
The average person who just wants a phone he can talk to people with and get directions with is left to suffer in bewilderment as he drowns in a river of constant, unnecessary changes. Every few weeks an app he uses suddenly looks and behaves differently--usually right when the person needs to use it for something, not relearn how to use it. This person is the collateral damage as the two worlds collide and deposit their flaming debris on the peasants below who can only take what they are given and try to fumble through.
Re: Top designers react to Google’s new ‘Material’ design language
#64I'm guessing some of the weird explanation used to describe the new design language is some of the design world's terms of art bleeding out into layman-land where it sounds ridiculous, but may be full of meaning inside the design world. It reminds me of this
http://adage.com/images/random/0209/pepsi-arnell021109.pdf
which, while full of similar sounding "nonsense" nevertheless became Pepsi's new design.
Re: Top designers react to Google’s new ‘Material’ design language
#65I'm guessing some of the weird explanation used to describe the new design language is some of the design world's terms of art bleeding out into layman-land where it sounds ridiculous, but may be full of meaning inside the design world. It reminds me of this http://adage.com/images/random/0209/pepsi-arnell021109.pdf which, while full of similar sounding "nonsense" nevertheless became Pepsi's new design.
While I'm sure that was all super meaningful to actual designers, that was probably the funniest thing I've read all week. Particularly page 21's "magnetic dynamics."
Re: Top designers react to Google’s new ‘Material’ design language
#66Earlier quoted context omitted.
I mostly agree, but I've found many Google UI changes to be lacking in terms of discoverability. On both Android and web apps I've been baffled by icons and buttons with no hints or explanation. Through trial and error I'm generally able to grok the new conventions, but I still get frustrated initially when presented with opaque symbology.
Google seems to love using those "mystery meat icons". They should always include a setting for text labels on clickables. Being able to long press or hover for a tooltip would also be a welcomed addition.
> Being able to long press or hover for a tooltip would also be a welcomed addition.
This is standard for Android ActionBar icons already. If the icon is custom the developer needs only to set the: android:title property of the item and the long press will display the title and/or read it to the user depending on accessibility settings.
Re: Top designers react to Google’s new ‘Material’ design language
#67Earlier quoted context omitted.
There is no way google, or anyone, could accomplish the extinguish phase of an eee operation against design.
Ah - I think perhaps what I meant wasn't clear. Its not against design - its against Apple. The medium the attack is conducted in is design. Also, because this is the internet and tone doesn't come through very well, my comment is meant to be a bit tongue in cheek. I think the idea that google wants to conduct eee against Apple using design is just a little too far fetched, though there may be a tiny grain of truth i…
Presumably the end purpose of design is differentiation. Whatever Google is trying to do, Google has borrowed heavily on flat UIs other designers have been producing for some time. Rather than leading the pack, 'Material' is getting all of the stragglers to catch up. If all cars looked like Ferraris, Ferrari would change.
Re: Top designers react to Google’s new ‘Material’ design language
#68I think that material is great design, but terrible strategy and in the end may land up resulting in the Android design space being worse, not better. For years google (and many members of the design community) made a very successful argument that android apps should look and act like android apps, and iOS apps should look and act like iOS apps and web apps should act like web apps. Trying to achieve design consisten…
>>Trying to achieve design consistency across platforms was going to annoy your users. Instead you should strive for _branding_ consistency across platforms and use native interaction patterns.
Yep. Case in point: the Windows 8 "Metro" fiasco.
Re: Top designers react to Google’s new ‘Material’ design language
#69Certainly they can do better explaining the "design language". Cliches and corporate lingua such as: "... A material metaphor is the unifying theory of a rationalized space and a system of motion. Our material is grounded in tactile reality, inspired by our study of paper and ink, yet open to imagination and magic". Come again?
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Re: Top designers react to Google’s new ‘Material’ design language
#70Earlier quoted context omitted.
I stand corrected. Seems wrong, but hey, I'm a programmer... not a designer ;-P
Don't drink the koolaid, man. You were right the first time. Calling it a "design language" is their way of obfuscating what they do, making it sound like it's something that only they can do. Therefore you, a mere programmer, should listen to them and do what they tell you, because you aren't qualified to "design" things. Hey, you didn't even know what a design language is! I think we are witnessing the collision be…
Your comment is a great example of not understand what design is. Design is not something that is applied at the end, or something that is in conflict with function.
Your contempt is the product of ignorance. You'd benefit greatly from some formal design education.