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A User Experience Designer Switches from iOS to Android

36 points by hillel 12y ago

jnks 12y ago
It might be more fair if the reviewer also put together a list of UI failings on iOS. It's far from perfect!
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- npsimons 12y ago
  Here's a start: http://blog.codinghorror.com/the-one-button-mystique/ http://blog.codinghorror.com/the-one-button-mystique/
Gracana 12y ago
The two-apps/choose-your-app problems are something that my mother has found very frustrating, and I haven't really been able to come up with a good solution for her. It bothers me as well, but I have enough experience with similar things to be able to deal with it. But for her, it's a bunch of new stuff that all conflicts and interoperates differently. It's a disaster.
- spinlock 12y ago
  Yup. I just cycle through the choices trying a different one each time. Once I find myself using one _all the time_ I set that as the default. I think a great solution for this would be to let power users distribute their own versions. That way, you could just find a designer you trust and install their version. It's still fragmented but at least you could go with people like the author who have thought through it rather than an awful corporate designed by committee mess.
  - npsimons 12y ago
    It's still fragmented but at least you could go with people like the author who have thought through it rather than an awful corporate designed by committee mess. Some people would argue that's what Apple is doing with iOS. Not that I agree (I'd never trust Apple, and I don't think their offerings are superior in any way, shape or form), but there are those who believe it.
- smrtinsert 12y ago
  This part is funny, app interoperability is a huge feature. Some people should just stay on iOS I guess. I love that I can click a link and have various ways of understanding or consuming it. I guess there needs to be some tweaking around how and when it saves preferences for these intents, but personally this is a big part of the reason I'm on Android.
  - MBCook 12y ago
    As an iOS user the concept is great and many people would LOVE something similar in the iOS world. It sounds like the implementation has some interface flaws that cause people problems. The core idea that I should be able to choose what app to use to manage my photos seems self-evident.
    - youngtaff 12y ago
      Biggest issue I have with it is there's no way of saying "No I don't ever want to see this intent again" i.e. control the sharing options so I can see a subset
  - Gracana 12y ago
    It's not necessarily the interoperability that's the problem, it's just that sometimes she can't do things that seem sensible (like send a photo to the email app), and why are there two calendars and two galleries and whatnot? Choice can be good, but when there is initially little differentiation between options, making choices becomes a burden.
wdmeldon 12y ago
There are some definite valid criticisms here (Photos/Gallery being the least understandable oversight), but you really need to try the Nexus 5. Fragmentation needs to be dealt with and OEM's need to stop "differentiating" themselves into UI hell, but pure Android is definitely worth experiencing. It will mainly make you more upset at HTC.
- MBCook 12y ago
  Unfortunately those 'improvements' afflict 95+% of Android users. Just like all the crapware that was/is shipped on every Windows computer by OEMs these decisions are effecting Google's image.
- fidotron 12y ago
  Yep. What's funny about HTC in particular is some of their additional features such as disabling apps and hiding them from the launcher, even if they're uninstallable, exist purely to work around some of the crap they've burdened the system with. I've worked with Android for basically the whole time it's been around, and in that time never saw a single manufacturer led user interface change that represented an improvement. Supposedly the Chinese ones do, but I've never had the chance. This isn't to say stock is perfect, but people underestimate just how much the OEMs have messed with in their efforts for software differentiation absolutely no one really wants.
- milesskorpen 12y ago
  The author specifically addressed this defense in his post — basically, Google owns Android. Whatever an OEM does, they're doing it with Google's tacit support. If that makes the experience awful, Google still has responsibility (though certainly not exclusive responsibility).
- bdcs 12y ago
  To underscore your point, there was recently a speed test[1] conducted to compare the Moto E (~vanilla android, 120$ unlocked) vs Samsung Galaxy S5 (TouchWiz, ~700$ unlocked) in user tests (think Google+ load times, not MIPS). The Moto E was faster, despite having roughly 1/3rd the hardware metrics. Hardware vendors and carriers are to blame for a lot of this UX disaster (e.g., including their own superfluous app, causing the Intents Dialog confusion on day 1 rather than popping up after you choose to install a new app for X). Is Google to blame for not doing a better job of controlling fragmentation? In my opinion, in the past, no. Android might not have taken off without the freedom given to manufactures/carriers. In the future, Google DOES need to wrangle this crapware problem (I think of it as crap icing on a delicious vanilla cake). Google is doing exactly this with Android Silver [2]. Finally, what does Android do wrong? Well, just look at CyanogenMOD's features to see what Android is lacking: privacy and app permissions, data limiting (ads), firewalls, etc. [1]http://phandroid.com/2014/05/19/samsung-galaxy-s5-vs-motorola-moto-e-video/ http://phandroid.com/2014/05/19/samsung-galaxy-s5-vs-motorol... [2]http://www.businessinsider.com/android-silver-launch-date-2014-5 http://www.businessinsider.com/android-silver-launch-date-20...
izzydata 12y ago
Almost all of this guys problems are the result of giving the user options that simply don't exist in iOS. If you really need your OS to tell you how YOU want to do things then I guess you really should go back to the locked down iOS. Choices are hard. Apparently even choosing what phone was too hard.
- aaronem 12y ago
  I often see the same argument made in defense of desktop Linux vs. Windows and OS X. It's a little more justifiable there, I suppose, but a phone is an appliance. Its job is to do the things I need it to do, to do those things well without fail. Otherwise, it's worse than useless, because it complicates my life rather than simplifying it. Sure, as has been pointed out elsewhere, the iOS user interface is far from perfect. Judging by OP's experience, it's still a lot better than can be expected out of the vast majority of Android phones. It'd be one thing if that platform offered the options you so laud in a fashion which doesn't get in the way of satisfying the essential requirements of a pocket phone. Apparently, though, that platform fails to do so. You can be just as contemptuous as you like of people who find Android unworthy of their time and money as a consequence. (Certainly nothing I say will change your mind! I've had enough arguments with Linux partisans to have realized that long since.) Your contempt for such people doesn't change the fact that Android has a problem.
  - izzydata 12y ago
    A phone is a computer and a user should be able to configure it however they want. If that isn't for you then don't use it, but that doesn't make customization an inherent flaw because someone doesn't personally want to deal with it.
    - aaronem 12y ago
      Customization isn't a flaw. Obsessing over customizability, to the point where you fail to notice glaring flaws in the user interface and the behavior of the device, is a flaw.
  - 12y ago
robert_tweed 12y ago
I keep finding myself agreeing with the author whenever an encounter with the back button is mentioned. One of my favourite things about an old HTC phone I had running a 2.x version of Android was that the back button worked very consistently everywhere. It made using the native apps feel like navigating around websites: just what you'd expect from Google. On literally every Android device I've tried to use since then it's been a complete horror show. This should have been the best thing about the Android UI and it's ended up being the worst. I think the thing that might be worse than back button behaviour is the horribly broken app permissions system.
- npsimons 12y ago
  What's interesting is that other people have commented on the back button; see http://blog.codinghorror.com/the-one-button-mystique/ http://blog.codinghorror.com/the-one-button-mystique/ which I also find highly amusing for its link to the state diagram of what the one button does - simplicity? I think not!
blinkingled 12y ago
[Unreasonable expectations and little knowledge or inclination to try things out] Please don't read the previous bracketed sentence as snarky or insulting - it reflects the fact that he bought an unlocked phone and expected it to work great out of box with T-Mobile (including WiFi calling!) and he wasn't inclined to search the Play Store for TMobile Voicemail - so there is definitely substance to that sentence. But I merely wanted to point out that he is a user who is perfect fit for iOS/iPhone design goals. And not all people fall into that bucket. And neither should simplicity at all costs be a universal design goal for every product. Obviously if he is inflexibly tuned to the iOS way of doing things it's no wonder he's going to have issues with anything else. 1) Two Apps / Choosing Apps - This is why many people prefer Android over iOS. If you are bugged by it - select the one you like and choose "Always" the next time. Done. (If you are a UI designer at least shed some light on what is the way to do a better UX on this feature - simply saying you don't know which one to pick is not really adding any value. You have to try Hangouts, Gallery, Photos and then choose them as "Always" - that's the idea and I find it as intuitive as it can be.) 2) Hardware differentiation - yeah just install a launcher once and be done with it - oh you will have to choose the default once after you install it, but yeah after that it's even easier. Oh and Google autocompletes HTC disable blinkfeed - first result tells you how in two steps. 3) Fine print of an unlocked Android phone - he is troubled because WiFi calling isn't available on _all_ Android phones whether or not the carrier is T-Mobile - and if it was there he would be sure to complain about what's that WiFi calling thing that I don't understand on my Verizon HTC One. Hardly a UI problem and since it requires special firmware support it's hardly fair to have everyone put it in. 4) Unlocking - it's a HTC thing. Stock Android and even Samsung phones just swipe and unlock - plus you can thank slide to unlock patent for some of the differentiation there. 5) Back button - as much as inconsistent it is, having it still beats not having it altogether. But yes it can be a little annoying at times. 6) Navigation bar - he complains about there being differences in Samsung and HTC phones! I can't figure out why that is relevant as his target audience generally will stick to one phone. 7) He even complains about the Notification bar! (For crying out loud everyone pretty much copies this from Android - including iOS!) "I clear my notifications periodically, but inevitably a pile of tiny incomprehensible turds appear at the top of my screen, uglifying it to no end." Ugh, what? Does iOS magically know which ones you like and shows only those? 8) Copy/Paste - this is one point I agree with him on. It just isn't as elegant as iOS and neither is it consistent. But I stopped reading past that - too much personal preference stuff rather than valid points and being on a "User Experience Designer"'s blog I thought there would be insights on doing this right - I only saw "iOS is right" in some places.
magicalist 12y ago
I feel like this whole comments section just fell out of a time machine, which isn't surprising, as this article does as well. This would fit in well with all the 2011 "UX guy roughs it with Android" stories, but it feels weirdly archaic today. In today's world, it's like writing a story about the time you went to Kmart instead of Target and barely lived to tell about it. They didn't even have price scanners on the end of each aisle! Who cares? If you're a mobile developer (and do it all, apparently), you should have "lived with" an Android phone years ago. Talk about UX issues (and how about something actually interesting: as a new user, you might have insight on how people should be doing good UX for apps on Android), but leave the drama behind. Talking about it as some horribly broken experience you lived through sounds ridiculous to anyone who actually uses Android[1] [1] Exception made for the 17.3% of people on Android before version 4. That would be a journey still filled with terrors https://developer.android.com/about/dashboards/index.html https://developer.android.com/about/dashboards/index.html
- hillel 12y ago
  I would have thought this experience to be anachronistic as well as I thought Android had plenty of time to polish their experience since those stories 2-3 years ago. That's part of the reason I jumped into trying Android. I thought it would be a good experience - just different from iOS, which I welcomed. As for doing good UX for apps on Android, i think that's almost no different than doing good UX for apps on any smartphone platform. Aside from dealing with the back button and a few other platform specific issues, it's the same set of challenges around touch-based devices and limited screen real estate.
- ssmoot 12y ago
  This doesn't actually address any of his points. I feel like you could change the "4" in your comment to a "5" in a couple years and feel equally justified. If anything, it's a bigger sin today now that Android has been a player for so long. Things have improved. I guess. But the biggest issues (back button, notifications, messaging, the half-baked shovel-ware app store) seem pretty persistent. Battery life is marginally better. Most of the benefits eaten up by bigger screens (I'm not complaining much as long as it gets me through a whole day: I just bought a 6.4" Android). Getting rid of the dedicated Search button was a step in the right direction. Swapping the "Options/Menu" or whatever button for an "Open Apps" button was definitely a win. Some wins in some of the OTB apps (Camera). But some noteworthy losses as well (Messages). It should feel like an alternative. Not a compromise. And too often that's not the case IME.
visarga 12y ago
What I like is the fact that I could combine 2 or 3 apps to obtain a new functionality - this composability of Android. Example: I go to Flow (reddit app) and find an article I like. I am in the car at the moment, waiting at the traffic sign. I open the article in a TTS reader that does article extraction and automatically starts reading to me. The voice is separately installed from a choice of vendors. Some of the voices are high quality (I still love Alex from Mac OS better, but I can't find it anywhere on mobile - read back to be in the voice of Alex for text proofing - lol). So now I can drive while my mobile reads my press to me like a radio station. I couldn't do that on my iPhone. The apps aren't able to combine like that on iOS. I have just used 3 apps I found in the Play Store to improvise a functionality that didn't exist and probably most people don't care about.

36 points by hillel 12y ago

jnks 12y ago

It might be more fair if the reviewer also put together a list of UI failings on iOS. It's far from perfect!

deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
npsimons 12y ago
Here's a start: http://blog.codinghorror.com/the-one-button-mystique/ http://blog.codinghorror.com/the-one-button-mystique/

Gracana 12y ago

The two-apps/choose-your-app problems are something that my mother has found very frustrating, and I haven't really been able to come up with a good solution for her. It bothers me as well, but I have enough experience with similar things to be able to deal with it. But for her, it's a bunch of new stuff that all conflicts and interoperates differently. It's a disaster.

spinlock 12y ago
Yup. I just cycle through the choices trying a different one each time. Once I find myself using one _all the time_ I set that as the default. I think a great solution for this would be to let power users distribute their own versions. That way, you could just find a designer you trust and install their version. It's still fragmented but at least you could go with people like the author who have thought through it rather than an awful corporate designed by committee mess.
- npsimons 12y ago
  It's still fragmented but at least you could go with people like the author who have thought through it rather than an awful corporate designed by committee mess. Some people would argue that's what Apple is doing with iOS. Not that I agree (I'd never trust Apple, and I don't think their offerings are superior in any way, shape or form), but there are those who believe it.
smrtinsert 12y ago
This part is funny, app interoperability is a huge feature. Some people should just stay on iOS I guess. I love that I can click a link and have various ways of understanding or consuming it. I guess there needs to be some tweaking around how and when it saves preferences for these intents, but personally this is a big part of the reason I'm on Android.
- MBCook 12y ago
  As an iOS user the concept is great and many people would LOVE something similar in the iOS world. It sounds like the implementation has some interface flaws that cause people problems. The core idea that I should be able to choose what app to use to manage my photos seems self-evident.
  - youngtaff 12y ago
    Biggest issue I have with it is there's no way of saying "No I don't ever want to see this intent again" i.e. control the sharing options so I can see a subset
- Gracana 12y ago
  It's not necessarily the interoperability that's the problem, it's just that sometimes she can't do things that seem sensible (like send a photo to the email app), and why are there two calendars and two galleries and whatnot? Choice can be good, but when there is initially little differentiation between options, making choices becomes a burden.

wdmeldon 12y ago

There are some definite valid criticisms here (Photos/Gallery being the least understandable oversight), but you really need to try the Nexus 5. Fragmentation needs to be dealt with and OEM's need to stop "differentiating" themselves into UI hell, but pure Android is definitely worth experiencing. It will mainly make you more upset at HTC.

MBCook 12y ago
Unfortunately those 'improvements' afflict 95+% of Android users. Just like all the crapware that was/is shipped on every Windows computer by OEMs these decisions are effecting Google's image.
fidotron 12y ago
Yep. What's funny about HTC in particular is some of their additional features such as disabling apps and hiding them from the launcher, even if they're uninstallable, exist purely to work around some of the crap they've burdened the system with. I've worked with Android for basically the whole time it's been around, and in that time never saw a single manufacturer led user interface change that represented an improvement. Supposedly the Chinese ones do, but I've never had the chance. This isn't to say stock is perfect, but people underestimate just how much the OEMs have messed with in their efforts for software differentiation absolutely no one really wants.
milesskorpen 12y ago
The author specifically addressed this defense in his post — basically, Google owns Android. Whatever an OEM does, they're doing it with Google's tacit support. If that makes the experience awful, Google still has responsibility (though certainly not exclusive responsibility).
bdcs 12y ago
To underscore your point, there was recently a speed test[1] conducted to compare the Moto E (~vanilla android, 120$ unlocked) vs Samsung Galaxy S5 (TouchWiz, ~700$ unlocked) in user tests (think Google+ load times, not MIPS). The Moto E was faster, despite having roughly 1/3rd the hardware metrics. Hardware vendors and carriers are to blame for a lot of this UX disaster (e.g., including their own superfluous app, causing the Intents Dialog confusion on day 1 rather than popping up after you choose to install a new app for X). Is Google to blame for not doing a better job of controlling fragmentation? In my opinion, in the past, no. Android might not have taken off without the freedom given to manufactures/carriers. In the future, Google DOES need to wrangle this crapware problem (I think of it as crap icing on a delicious vanilla cake). Google is doing exactly this with Android Silver [2]. Finally, what does Android do wrong? Well, just look at CyanogenMOD's features to see what Android is lacking: privacy and app permissions, data limiting (ads), firewalls, etc. [1]http://phandroid.com/2014/05/19/samsung-galaxy-s5-vs-motorola-moto-e-video/ http://phandroid.com/2014/05/19/samsung-galaxy-s5-vs-motorol... [2]http://www.businessinsider.com/android-silver-launch-date-2014-5 http://www.businessinsider.com/android-silver-launch-date-20...

izzydata 12y ago

Almost all of this guys problems are the result of giving the user options that simply don't exist in iOS. If you really need your OS to tell you how YOU want to do things then I guess you really should go back to the locked down iOS. Choices are hard. Apparently even choosing what phone was too hard.

aaronem 12y ago
I often see the same argument made in defense of desktop Linux vs. Windows and OS X. It's a little more justifiable there, I suppose, but a phone is an appliance. Its job is to do the things I need it to do, to do those things well without fail. Otherwise, it's worse than useless, because it complicates my life rather than simplifying it. Sure, as has been pointed out elsewhere, the iOS user interface is far from perfect. Judging by OP's experience, it's still a lot better than can be expected out of the vast majority of Android phones. It'd be one thing if that platform offered the options you so laud in a fashion which doesn't get in the way of satisfying the essential requirements of a pocket phone. Apparently, though, that platform fails to do so. You can be just as contemptuous as you like of people who find Android unworthy of their time and money as a consequence. (Certainly nothing I say will change your mind! I've had enough arguments with Linux partisans to have realized that long since.) Your contempt for such people doesn't change the fact that Android has a problem.
- izzydata 12y ago
  A phone is a computer and a user should be able to configure it however they want. If that isn't for you then don't use it, but that doesn't make customization an inherent flaw because someone doesn't personally want to deal with it.
  - aaronem 12y ago
    Customization isn't a flaw. Obsessing over customizability, to the point where you fail to notice glaring flaws in the user interface and the behavior of the device, is a flaw.
- 12y ago

robert_tweed 12y ago

I keep finding myself agreeing with the author whenever an encounter with the back button is mentioned. One of my favourite things about an old HTC phone I had running a 2.x version of Android was that the back button worked very consistently everywhere. It made using the native apps feel like navigating around websites: just what you'd expect from Google. On literally every Android device I've tried to use since then it's been a complete horror show. This should have been the best thing about the Android UI and it's ended up being the worst. I think the thing that might be worse than back button behaviour is the horribly broken app permissions system.

npsimons 12y ago
What's interesting is that other people have commented on the back button; see http://blog.codinghorror.com/the-one-button-mystique/ http://blog.codinghorror.com/the-one-button-mystique/ which I also find highly amusing for its link to the state diagram of what the one button does - simplicity? I think not!

blinkingled 12y ago

[Unreasonable expectations and little knowledge or inclination to try things out] Please don't read the previous bracketed sentence as snarky or insulting - it reflects the fact that he bought an unlocked phone and expected it to work great out of box with T-Mobile (including WiFi calling!) and he wasn't inclined to search the Play Store for TMobile Voicemail - so there is definitely substance to that sentence. But I merely wanted to point out that he is a user who is perfect fit for iOS/iPhone design goals. And not all people fall into that bucket. And neither should simplicity at all costs be a universal design goal for every product. Obviously if he is inflexibly tuned to the iOS way of doing things it's no wonder he's going to have issues with anything else. 1) Two Apps / Choosing Apps - This is why many people prefer Android over iOS. If you are bugged by it - select the one you like and choose "Always" the next time. Done. (If you are a UI designer at least shed some light on what is the way to do a better UX on this feature - simply saying you don't know which one to pick is not really adding any value. You have to try Hangouts, Gallery, Photos and then choose them as "Always" - that's the idea and I find it as intuitive as it can be.) 2) Hardware differentiation - yeah just install a launcher once and be done with it - oh you will have to choose the default once after you install it, but yeah after that it's even easier. Oh and Google autocompletes HTC disable blinkfeed - first result tells you how in two steps. 3) Fine print of an unlocked Android phone - he is troubled because WiFi calling isn't available on _all_ Android phones whether or not the carrier is T-Mobile - and if it was there he would be sure to complain about what's that WiFi calling thing that I don't understand on my Verizon HTC One. Hardly a UI problem and since it requires special firmware support it's hardly fair to have everyone put it in. 4) Unlocking - it's a HTC thing. Stock Android and even Samsung phones just swipe and unlock - plus you can thank slide to unlock patent for some of the differentiation there. 5) Back button - as much as inconsistent it is, having it still beats not having it altogether. But yes it can be a little annoying at times. 6) Navigation bar - he complains about there being differences in Samsung and HTC phones! I can't figure out why that is relevant as his target audience generally will stick to one phone. 7) He even complains about the Notification bar! (For crying out loud everyone pretty much copies this from Android - including iOS!) "I clear my notifications periodically, but inevitably a pile of tiny incomprehensible turds appear at the top of my screen, uglifying it to no end." Ugh, what? Does iOS magically know which ones you like and shows only those? 8) Copy/Paste - this is one point I agree with him on. It just isn't as elegant as iOS and neither is it consistent. But I stopped reading past that - too much personal preference stuff rather than valid points and being on a "User Experience Designer"'s blog I thought there would be insights on doing this right - I only saw "iOS is right" in some places.

magicalist 12y ago

I feel like this whole comments section just fell out of a time machine, which isn't surprising, as this article does as well. This would fit in well with all the 2011 "UX guy roughs it with Android" stories, but it feels weirdly archaic today. In today's world, it's like writing a story about the time you went to Kmart instead of Target and barely lived to tell about it. They didn't even have price scanners on the end of each aisle! Who cares? If you're a mobile developer (and do it all, apparently), you should have "lived with" an Android phone years ago. Talk about UX issues (and how about something actually interesting: as a new user, you might have insight on how people should be doing good UX for apps on Android), but leave the drama behind. Talking about it as some horribly broken experience you lived through sounds ridiculous to anyone who actually uses Android[1] [1] Exception made for the 17.3% of people on Android before version 4. That would be a journey still filled with terrors https://developer.android.com/about/dashboards/index.html https://developer.android.com/about/dashboards/index.html

hillel 12y ago
I would have thought this experience to be anachronistic as well as I thought Android had plenty of time to polish their experience since those stories 2-3 years ago. That's part of the reason I jumped into trying Android. I thought it would be a good experience - just different from iOS, which I welcomed. As for doing good UX for apps on Android, i think that's almost no different than doing good UX for apps on any smartphone platform. Aside from dealing with the back button and a few other platform specific issues, it's the same set of challenges around touch-based devices and limited screen real estate.
ssmoot 12y ago
This doesn't actually address any of his points. I feel like you could change the "4" in your comment to a "5" in a couple years and feel equally justified. If anything, it's a bigger sin today now that Android has been a player for so long. Things have improved. I guess. But the biggest issues (back button, notifications, messaging, the half-baked shovel-ware app store) seem pretty persistent. Battery life is marginally better. Most of the benefits eaten up by bigger screens (I'm not complaining much as long as it gets me through a whole day: I just bought a 6.4" Android). Getting rid of the dedicated Search button was a step in the right direction. Swapping the "Options/Menu" or whatever button for an "Open Apps" button was definitely a win. Some wins in some of the OTB apps (Camera). But some noteworthy losses as well (Messages). It should feel like an alternative. Not a compromise. And too often that's not the case IME.

visarga 12y ago

What I like is the fact that I could combine 2 or 3 apps to obtain a new functionality - this composability of Android. Example: I go to Flow (reddit app) and find an article I like. I am in the car at the moment, waiting at the traffic sign. I open the article in a TTS reader that does article extraction and automatically starts reading to me. The voice is separately installed from a choice of vendors. Some of the voices are high quality (I still love Alex from Mac OS better, but I can't find it anywhere on mobile - read back to be in the voice of Alex for text proofing - lol). So now I can drive while my mobile reads my press to me like a radio station. I couldn't do that on my iPhone. The apps aren't able to combine like that on iOS. I have just used 3 apps I found in the Play Store to improvise a functionality that didn't exist and probably most people don't care about.