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Welcome to IWETHEY!

New Well, they're working on it
But yes, this is what you get when you let developers design UIs.
Regards,
-scott
Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson.
New But still...
I'm not finding anything really wrong with the Jelly Bean build I have. Its fast, it works its very fluid its automagic on many things. Some of the things he points out as problems... aren't exactly the same in my build of Jelly Bean, specifically the Calculator isn't like he shows. Things like the ICONS, yeah aren't grand, but its not really noticeable to the user... it looks just fine IMO. It bugs interface designers.

Sure, there are apps that just don't look right or are screwed up, but those aren't typically Google or Android Core Apps or even apps that are popular.

I'm sure the best thing they could do at this point is to vet apps in the market and make the developers do a better "first shot" rather than shoot and go, shoot and go, shoot and go...

For example:
I use an app, I like it a lot called "aNag"... dude, some of the *Multiple Multipe* recent fixes are just plain dumb mistakes. Like leaving out options needed to be able to check an instance... if they were configured before that new version... it worked, but if you had to make a new one... no can do, nor could you disable the existing one.

Slow down, check you schtuff... test, test, reset (aka clear or Factory reset), test. I know malraux, the sheer number of devices, but dang the errors I've seen in this one app, lead me to believe much of the angst people are experiencing is due to lack of QA and testing and then a good vetting and well, real world programming experience.

Whatever.
New No, icons are important
Let me use an example. We have a friend who is a fantastic editor. She can take a piece of text that you'd swear was perfect and find a dozen things to change for the better. She's also extremely good at pointing out text sizes, kerning, spacing, any number of visual things that don't affect the message, but do degrade the presentation.

When she's done with this type of editing, even people who don't notice the individual changes can tell that her version is significantly easier to read and understand.

This is what we call "fit and finish" in the world of development. You may not notice the individual items, but overall the effect on usability is significant. Usability testing with average users bears this out. I've seen it in the real world.

Now take the icons. Notice the text, and how it wobbles across the screen because the heights are different. This type of inconsistency categorically causes issues with visual tracking and targeting. One of my classes in college over 20 years ago pointed this out, using as a case study the UI on the Space Shuttle. When it was redesigned to have even rows and columns, error rates went down drastically.

You're not a good sample case either. You're an extremely technical systems administrator who uses Linux on the desktop. Your world is not the world of the average user. :-)
Regards,
-scott
Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson.
Expand Edited by malraux Sept. 19, 2012, 12:10:19 PM EDT
New (Obsolete.)
Expand Edited by Another Scott Sept. 19, 2012, 12:11:26 PM EDT
New No, looks like my software did.
Bleah. Thanks.
Regards,
-scott
Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson.
New No problem. :-)
New Ok...
So, I'm not a good example.

What about my Wife, Daughters and Son-in-Law?

I honestly don't help them at all... they all helped themselves. Things are working for them gangbusters and they figured things out without me even having to help them.

I still have to help them out with the iTunes and iPods they own.
New Re: Ok...
Anecdotal evidence is one step away from useless. Testing and analysis needs to be done in a controlled situation with specific test cases, cameras, and UI experts who know how to watch people use things.

If you do a controlled test with and without the problems that were identified in the article, I can guarantee you the issues and inefficiency will become obvious.
Regards,
-scott
Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson.
New Yeah yeah...
I know... I'm not important.

I sometimes just don't get it how people make things this hard.

If people *thought* through things... much of this stuff just wouldn't matter.

Of course, this is me talking.
     Android Back Button Mayhem. - (Another Scott) - (14)
         I'm thinking Google need to start again. - (static) - (4)
             No way - (crazy) - (3)
                 It's interesting - (pwhysall) - (1)
                     I said android, not google - (crazy)
                 IIRC, I think I did. - (static)
         Well, they're working on it - (malraux) - (8)
             But still... - (folkert) - (7)
                 No, icons are important - (malraux) - (6)
                     (Obsolete.) -NT - (Another Scott) - (2)
                         No, looks like my software did. - (malraux) - (1)
                             No problem. :-) -NT - (Another Scott)
                     Ok... - (folkert) - (2)
                         Re: Ok... - (malraux) - (1)
                             Yeah yeah... - (folkert)

Hail Eris.
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