iOS7 – Why Is Everyone Suddenly A Design Critic?

http://www.compylr.com/post/ios7-or-why-is-everyone-suddenly-a-design-critic

by mpconlen • 13 years ago

17 24 13 years ago

beat• 13 years ago

+1.

Now, how do I kill people on this MUD?

That antique joke aside, most people don't know enough to know that they don't know. People who think Edward Tufte is a cartoon rabbit pontificating on design... is this really any worse than listening to them pontificate on Turkish politics, or the prime lending rate, or the relative merits of three star restaurants in foreign countries where they'll never eat?

andrewsass7• 13 years ago

you're right it's not any worse :(

cfinke2• 13 years ago

I may not know anything about design, but I know what I like.

andrewsass7• 13 years ago

congratulations. don't like ios7. dont buy it

cfinke2• 13 years ago

More importantly, no one outside of this conference has even used the iOS7, so really, truthfully, everyone needs to shut the fuck up.

False. I'm thousands of miles away, and I've been using it since a couple hours after it was announced, which was about 20 hours before this post was published.

andrewsass7• 13 years ago

truth. should update to "most people outside of this conference"

altcognito• 13 years ago

"Before iPods, suburban normals gave zero fucks about their obtuse, bulking heaps of plastic that spun CDs of boy bands from their hips."

Elitism aside, this seems contradicted by the fact that Steve Jobs used Sony as his model corporation. You know: the company that made the Sony Walkman etc...

http://www.dailyfinance.com/2012/04/12/sony-outlook-steve-jo...

uh_oh• 13 years ago

Who are those users to have an opinion of their own? If that's the way you think about your users, you probably don't deserve having them.

Maybe some people don't like the design, but can't move because they have already invested too much into the platform? A brand is a promise to not mess things up.

If users love everything Apple does we criticize them (The sheep!). If they form an opinion while still using Apple devices we criticize them as well (Those "experts"!).

Btw, I actually like the design. I was sort of shocked when I first saw it, but it grows on you pretty quickly.

thatswrong02• 13 years ago

A lot of the criticism seems to be directed at the icons. They really don't look that great to me. Sorry that I have an opinion on the matter, you can direct your vitriol at me if it makes you feel better. Here's a redesign posted to HN earlier that I think looks quite a bit better: http://dribbble.com/shots/1109343-iOS-7-Redesign/attachments...

actionscripted• 13 years ago

My only real negative criticism is with the icons. Everything else I can learn to love -- or already love -- but there are some fundamental issues with the gradient directions, shape details and overall consistency.

I think your redesign is a great step in the right direction! The gradients are going light-to-dark in a consistent manner, the scale of the shapes within each icon feels appropriate and you even simplified some of them further to make them more obvious. If your icons were the ones presented, I'd have much less to complain about.

thatswrong02• 13 years ago

These aren't mine, but here's the link to the HN post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5861681

jack-r-abbit2• 13 years ago

I am not a design expert. Far from it. I don't know shit about design. You know what I AM an expert in? What I like and don't like. You don't have to be a design expert to love something or hate something. You just need to know what you love or hate. I don't know who Andrew Sass is and don't give a shit how many awards his designs have earned... fuck him for telling me I can't have an opinion of what I like or don't like just because I'm not a design expert. You don't have to be a chef to know when someone is feeding you shit.

andrewsass7• 13 years ago

You can have an opinion as a non design expert. Don't expect anyone to give a fuck about it. Especially Apple, while they continue to make huge profits from the products that you, non-design expert "don't like".

lysa• 13 years ago

You can have an opinion as a random moron posting on the Internet. Don't expect anyone to give a damn about it.

jack-r-abbit2• 13 years ago

But, clearly I can't have an opinion because you told me (and a lot of other people) to just shut the fuck up about it. Nice! Classy! Award-winning attitude!

Many, many, many companies make huge profits selling crap I don't like. So what? I don't expect anyone to give a fuck about my opinion. But I also don't expect anyone to tell me to shut the fuck up for having it. So why don't you take your own advice with your opinion. And we can go our separate ways.

ArekDymalski2• 13 years ago

TL;DR "You can't express your opinion on design unless you can do better". I'm curious how the author watches football or movie. Silently for sure.

andrewsass7• 13 years ago

I never watch football, or any sports for that matter, and I do watch movies silently - would be rude to my fellow moviegoers to do otherwise

ArekDymalski2• 13 years ago

Regarding the movies that's very nice of you. Do you discuss the movie with anyone after watching it?

general_failure• 13 years ago

Why is Everyone Suddenly having a blog and an opinion? Why can't everyone just shut the fuck up and not say a word about things that they are not an expert on?

Seriously, can't down vote this enough. The irony of a blog asking people to stfu.

andrewsass7• 13 years ago

yet, you're commenting on it...?

teaneedz2• 13 years ago

How does this dribble make it to HN? This article represents such an elitest out-of-touch opinion.

When designers forget that users or potential users are the final authority that matters, they're walking the path of irrelevance.

andrewsass7• 13 years ago

"When designers forget that users or potential users are the final authority that matters"

In the case of Apple, I disagree. Apple doesn't need to impress these users who bitch about their products, yet use them anyway.

Also "drivel"

teaneedz2• 13 years ago

Whoops - thanks for the drivel alert. I dribbled a bit.

I think Apple historically has done a great job overall and set a bar where the user experience is concerned. Recently, that hasn't been as true for me with certain Apple products and services. The brand deserves credit for mostly getting things right though.

However, to imply that users who have concerns about products they use are just complainers unworthy of being listened to, undervalues the process that leads to better products.

I believe, negative sentiment accumulates to a tipping point that can easily lead a once loyal and happy customer to another solution when or if one is available.

Whether a hybrid flat design approach works for iOS 7 or not, it's the users who will decide but no brand can afford to ignore those who are unhappy with a design BUT still use it.

daughart• 13 years ago

Did anyone read the comments? Troll alert.

iOS7 – Why Is Everyone Suddenly A Design Critic?

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