Top designers react to Google’s new ‘Material’ design language • Hacker News Board

Re: Top designers react to Google’s new ‘Material’ design language

#81

Post by MaxDPS » Sat, Jun 28, 2014, 7:52 PM UTC

greggman wrote: post #46

I don't know if the Android camera app is considered to use "Material" but it's massively unintuitive to use. It's not obvious at all that to see a picture you just took you need to swipe to the left. Nor is it obvious that the small shutter icon once you have swiped means "edit" or "refocus" or whatever. Google's opinion seems to be "It doesn't have to be intuitive because you'll eventually learn it".

After you take a picture you can see that the picture is "stored" to the right. There is a little animation showing where the picture is going. I dont think its as hard to figure out as you are implying.

Re: Top designers react to Google’s new ‘Material’ design language

#82

Post by MaxDPS » Sat, Jun 28, 2014, 7:59 PM UTC

currysausage wrote: post #41

Not directly related to Material, but to Android L: I always thought that the battery/antenna icons in the taskbar are way too bulky, which becomes more annoying as everything else on the UI is becoming thinner and thinner. Actually, I think this might be of the most noticeable design flaws in Android 4. I'm surprised that they didn't fix this in L, which seems very polished otherwise, and surprised that nobody seems…

That may not be the final product. Here is a screenshot from my phone running stock Android L: http://i.imgur.com/Tu9Vqhc.jpg

As you can see, they are pretty compact. They even overlap each other, kinda.

Re: Top designers react to Google’s new ‘Material’ design language

#83

Post by zmmmmm » Sun, Jun 29, 2014, 2:47 AM UTC

mirsadm wrote: post #44

zmmmmm wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The same problem has plagued Android tablet apps. Google has tried to pursue the notion that you don't really need separate apps for phone and tablet; one single app can be made of fragments that rearrange in suitable ways to work on either phone or tablet. The problem is that this is only true if you accept a mediocre common denominator between the two platforms. If you are striving for pure excellence - the very be…

That's just not true. People forget that before smartphones we use to make applications that worked on lots of resolutions. It's not a new thing. In fact what Google is doing is fantastic. They provide the tools to make your app have different layouts on different form factors. Much easier than detecting when the resolution changed on a CRT screen and then trying to scale everything accordingly.

> They provide the tools to make your app have different layouts on different form factors

This is exactly what I stated above, and my argument is that it is suboptimal to having a design from the ground up for a specific form factor. I'm not saying it's bad, but it's never as good as designing from the start with the exact form factor in mind. And it's absolutely more work for the developer. But that's the point - Google is encouraging developers to take the easy road: not to develop a separate app but instead make a few tweaks to their phone app so that it lays out better on a tablet while not addressing the fundamental difference in scope and complexity that a tablet app can offer.

Re: Top designers react to Google’s new ‘Material’ design language

#84

Post by greggman » Sun, Jun 29, 2014, 3:12 AM UTC

MaxDPS wrote: post #81

greggman wrote: post #46

I don't know if the Android camera app is considered to use "Material" but it's massively unintuitive to use. It's not obvious at all that to see a picture you just took you need to swipe to the left. Nor is it obvious that the small shutter icon once you have swiped means "edit" or "refocus" or whatever. Google's opinion seems to be "It doesn't have to be intuitive because you'll eventually learn it".

After you take a picture you can see that the picture is "stored" to the right. There is a little animation showing where the picture is going. I dont think its as hard to figure out as you are implying.

I know it's hard because I'm actually an iOS user who happens to own a Nexus 5. I only use the Nexus 5 for testing. About once a month I pull it out to show someone the re-focus feature. It almost always takes me several minutes to figure out where it is. Finding the camera app is easy. Figuring out how to get to that feature is hard.

Re: Top designers react to Google’s new ‘Material’ design language

#85

Post by CmonDev » Sun, Jun 29, 2014, 9:45 AM UTC

"Some elements, like containers, feel almost like a direct copy of Windows UI, to be completely honest."

"I initially thought about Windows’ Metro design upon seeing the new UI, but it looks like they have added their own spin on it."

I am glad people are giving Microsoft a well deserved credit. And to think Google's top designer was bashing Metro in past. Now we just need Jonny Ive to confess.

Re: Top designers react to Google’s new ‘Material’ design language

#86

Post by CmonDev » Sun, Jun 29, 2014, 9:52 AM UTC

aashishkoirala wrote: post #40

aashishkoirala wrote: post #39

The first two reactions politely say that they essentially ripped off Windows, don't they?

Wow that was a speedy downvote. It's almost as if someone's got their finger on the trigger constantly. Stressed much?

You are not supposed to just go and say "The king is naked". Just politely say "iOS 7-8 and Android L are a nice spin on Microsoft's Modern GUI ideas".