I'm having a real hard time accepting the claim that, replacing one abstract symbol (a symbol for a shopping card with the + symbol) added 'graphic clarity' and made the ui 'closer to the the app’s core functionality and absent of any design elements that can interfere with direct access to content'
I think that when you repeat that for every non core element, you end up providing a much lighter, cleaner look that allows you to focus on the core content. Check out the app now and wait a few hours for the iOS 7 version, I'd love to know if you disagree
If the takeaway from ios7's redesign is "my app doesn't have to have an intuitive UX anymore" then you're doing it all wrong. Apple has a little but of leeway because everybody already knows how to use it (and honestly I'm not a fan of any design that just assumes knowledge, no matter how ubiquitous).
It's not about not being intuitive. It's about the trade off that leads to an emphasis of the design elements for the content. Then functionality.
A way to think about it is that iOS 7 gets closer to real world interaction. You don't press a button to sit in your chair, you just sit on it because you know how to do it.
> You don't press a button to sit in your chair, you just sit on it because you know how to do it.
A microwave oven might be a better example, since a chair is inert.
On a microwave one has to have discoverable controls. Imagine if everything was just flat with the fascia, looking no different in presentation to the maker's logo.
It might say 'Cooking power: 80%' with no indication of how to adjust. Apparently, though, if you press on the word 'power' repeatedly you can change it!
Microwaves are one of my favorite examples of poor user interfaces. Why is it so difficult to figure out how to do the most obvious thing: turn microwave on at max power for X seconds?
> A way to think about it is that iOS 7 gets closer to real world interaction. You don't press a button to sit in your chair, you just sit on it because you know how to do it.
You explanation is just the contrary, you press the + button because you have tried to push it without knowing what will do.
The old graphic was helpful to a first-time user to understand immediately what it signified, but after they learned that, the card became graphic noise.
This mindset is the antithesis of good usability. OP admits the old graphic worked because it's immediately understandable, then throws the baby out with the bathwater in pursuit of some concept of visual perfection that doesn't exist.
I'm not so sure that designing the UX around the assumption that the first time user will try things enough such that they figure out what ambiguous buttons do is a great idea.
If you are trading ease of use / lower learning curve for reduced 'visual clutter' (which is pretty subjective, personally I liked the card with the + symbol) I am not sure you made the right trade-off.
It's not only about reduced visual clutter. It's about speed. You tend to use certain mobile apps dozens of times a day. A light, fast experience is crucial in this context
How does removing a helpful reminder allow me to work faster. IMO having this "visual clarity" on something that won't be used much other than the initial setup reduces speed. I'm not going to be adding new cards everyday. So only having the '+' causes me to pause and think, "What will this plus do again?"
> This runs the risk of a first-time user not understanding what this element does, but today’s experienced smartphone user is accustomed to try things out on first use.
And this was one of the things people criticised Android, lack of intuitivity.
Power users have grown up, but we'll see in the next few years whether or not the typical user will miss those metaphors or not. They seems to be taking the Windows 8 switch from the desktop ok.
Power users have begrudgingly accepted the Win8 approach, switched back to Win7 or figured out how to plain disable the Metro stuff.
Average Joe users that I know (that just happened to buy new computers after Win8 came out) are going insane every day to this day about their "behated" Win8 experience.
If anything, Win8 has driven even more casual non-power users to Android tablets... rather than to WinRT, that is ;)
I find the lengths to which Apple fans go to write about everything Apple has done and make it sound as if it's something masterful and like an 8th wonder of the world, unbelievable.
He dedicated almost a page to writing about the parallax effect. Really? The parallax effect? Translucency? Just like in Windows Vista? These things (exactly as they are) would be seen as nothing more than a gimmick on Android or other operating systems, and the same people praising Apple so much for them, wouldn't give them a second thought.
It's the same effect that helped Siri seem "real" for the first couple of years, and only now they are just waking up to the fact that it's mostly a gimmick. It's like the reality distortion field has made a comeback - or maybe it never disappeared.
