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A small change to fix one of the biggest complaints about iOS 7

C DM said:
Usability isn't about whether people get used to something or not or if it succeeds or fails, it's related to established concepts when it comes to interface design and even cognitive science in general..
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I'm not talking about succeeds or fails as far as sales go, obviously I'm talking about its acceptance and perceived efficiency by those who ultimately end up using it as a whole ( the real deciding factor on whether something is usable or not ).

The conventions in iOS 7 are new to iOS but they are NOT new. They are already established concepts that work and the target users already have plenty of experience with similar systems.

Interface design is not a static immovable entity and neither are usability considerations.
 
MacDevil7334 said:
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When I look at the above screenshot, I see "Settings Mail, Contacts, Calendars" all as one line of text on first glance. This is because the word settings is so close to the page title that it looks like it is part of it. It's only when I look more closely that I see that the word settings is actually separate. But, the point of a UI is that I shouldn't HAVE to look a second time to navigate it easily.
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How on earth can you mix it? Buttons have blue color and slightly lighter font. Titles are bold and black. Even if you are color blind, you can distinguish it, not as easy as people who can see colors, but still.

Another reason why buttons are gone, because we have "swipe-to-go-back" you don't have to use 'buttons' at all.

You are complaining for the sake of complaining.
 
Prabas said:
How on earth can you mix it? Buttons have blue color and slightly lighter font. Titles are bold and black. Even if you are color blind, you can distinguish it, not as easy as people who can see colors, but still.

Another reason why buttons are gone, because we have "swipe-to-go-back" you don't have to use 'buttons' at all.

You are complaining for the sake of complaining.
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You know, you're allowed to disagree with me. It's what leads to a good debate. But to say I'm complaining for the sake of complaining just because I don't like that Apple has decided to go to a more text-based UI is childish. That's like me saying you are an Apple fanboy and must love everything they do just because you like the change. I have every right to my opinion. You're welcome to disagree if you want. But personal attacks like that don't help the discussion.

To address the rest of your post, I didn't say it was impossible to distinguish actionable text from page titles. I said Apple had made it more difficult to distinguish these elements at a glance and supported my assertion with several reasoned posts that included screenshots. I also suggested a solution rather than just "complaining". While you can get used to the change, I bet people with poorer eyesight are going to have a hard time. In any case, I disagree with any UI change that makes something harder to do.
 
MacDevil7334 said:
You know, you're allowed to disagree with me. It's what leads to a good debate. But to say I'm complaining for the sake of complaining just because I don't like that Apple has decided to go to a more text-based UI is childish. That's like me saying you are an Apple fanboy and must love everything they do just because you like the change. I have every right to my opinion. You're welcome to disagree if you want. But personal attacks like that don't help the discussion.

To address the rest of your post, I didn't say it was impossible to distinguish actionable text from page titles. I said Apple had made it more difficult to distinguish these elements at a glance and supported my assertion with several reasoned posts that included screenshots. I also suggested a solution rather than just "complaining". While you can get used to the change, I bet people with poorer eyesight are going to have a hard time. In any case, I disagree with any UI change that makes something harder to do.
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I agree 100% with you. Also, the BB10 interface is terrible for some of these reasons. How am I supposed to teach old people to use this? A gentle line around the word would have been fantastic to tell you yes it is still a button but not be in your face about it.
 
MacDevil7334 said:
You know, you're allowed to disagree with me. It's what leads to a good debate. But to say I'm complaining for the sake of complaining just because I don't like that Apple has decided to go to a more text-based UI is childish. That's like me saying you are an Apple fanboy and must love everything they do just because you like the change. I have every right to my opinion. You're welcome to disagree if you want. But personal attacks like that don't help the discussion.

To address the rest of your post, I didn't say it was impossible to distinguish actionable text from page titles. I said Apple had made it more difficult to distinguish these elements at a glance and supported my assertion with several reasoned posts that included screenshots. I also suggested a solution rather than just "complaining". While you can get used to the change, I bet people with poorer eyesight are going to have a hard time. In any case, I disagree with any UI change that makes something harder to do.
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Are you telling me that you can't distinguish between colors at a glance? It is not impossible, it's not even difficult.

It's just a common sense, why would anyone do a multicolor title or a button? It just doesn't seem right.
 
Prabas said:
Are you telling me that you can't distinguish between colors at a glance? It is not impossible, it's not even difficult.

It's just a common sense, why would anyone do a multicolor title or a button? It just doesn't seem right.
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Nobody is proposing a multicolored title... As far as buttons go, iOS has used them for the last 6 years. Are you saying iOS has lacked common sense all this time?
 
jtfolden said:
I'm not talking about succeeds or fails as far as sales go, obviously I'm talking about its acceptance and perceived efficiency by those who ultimately end up using it as a whole ( the real deciding factor on whether something is usable or not ).

The conventions in iOS 7 are new to iOS but they are NOT new. They are already established concepts that work and the target users already have plenty of experience with similar systems.

Interface design is not a static immovable entity and neither are usability considerations.
Click to expand...
But the fact that your brain will take much less to recognize an actual button vs simply a button label is something that still stands nonetheless. Of course we are talking about milliseconds here, but that's still a completely valid consideration when it comes to usability and design. Heck, they even flash some tasty food for a millisecond on the screen during a commercial to make you want it and all because they actually know it works.

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Prabas said:
Are you telling me that you can't distinguish between colors at a glance? It is not impossible, it's not even difficult.

It's just a common sense, why would anyone do a multicolor title or a button? It just doesn't seem right.
Click to expand...
But cognitively speaking there is an actual difference in perception. Just because most people might not really realize it or really cage about it doesn't change the fact that it's there and has an effect.
 
C DM said:
But the fact that your brain will take much less to recognize an actual button vs simply a button label is something that still stands nonetheless.
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Well, it's not an "actual button" in reality, it's a faux representation of one that can carry it's own usability issues.

An interface more cluttered with extraneous elements can also create issues as the user must discern one element from another before choosing. In a more minimalist UI, context, color and placement can be more beneficial than an arbitrary border as the actual commands stand out on their own.
 
Casiotone said:
Once you figure out that colored text is clickable it becomes easy and intuitive. I got startled when I started using iOS 7 and felt lost, but it quickly became obvious and a second nature.

Actually, I think it's easier to spot colored clickable targets on a clean background without those distracting lines and bevels that are attributed to buttons.

There's borderless clickable text everywhere on the Web (sometimes without even a distinctive colour) and people in general don't seem to have a problem with it.
Just look at the top of this page, sure the first row looks like tabs, but the User CP, FAQ / Rules etc. buttons have no borders. Never seen anyone complain about that.
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Good point.
 
I agree with keeping the option for bordered buttons; when multiple plain-text buttons are close together, it's hard to know if they're two separate buttons or a space.

The back button is fine as it is, though. It's a universal part of navigating hierarchies on iOS: the back button is always in the top-left corner.
 
Not a massive fan of the borders, but agree the buttons need more to differentiate themselves from the rest of the page. I'm thinking something more like they've done in iTunes, where they've added a subtle background to the Repeat, Create and Shuffle buttons across the bottom of the 'now playing' view.
 
MacDevil7334 said:
After the terrible icon designs, I think the most commonly voiced complaint about iOS 7 is Apple's decision to replace navigation buttons with colored text. This ostensibly makes the interface "cleaner" (a term that seems to be used to justify any change made in iOS 7, no matter how questionable). But, it also makes it way more difficult to navigate the UI at a glance. Since the navigation bars are now white (the same color as most content backgrounds) and the navigation text "buttons" are the exact same size and font as the page title, it is rather difficult to tell the difference between actionable UI elements and the content. This is ironic since Apple made a huge deal about how iOS 7 is supposed to defer to your content.

What's even more bizarre is that buttons haven't been completely eliminated from the UI. There are a few instances (like in the AppStore screenshot below) where actionable text has a blue outline. This makes a sort of "virtual button" that is instantly recognizable as something that can be pressed.
Screenshot1.jpg


My proposal would be for Apple to redo all action buttons in this style. It doesn't fundamentally alter the iOS 7 style. But, it makes nav bars much more user-friendly.

Before
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After
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Also, notice how the existing outlined buttons in iOS 7 use a smaller text size. This would reduce instances in the UI of action text being shortened (see the Messages app) to the point of being unreadable. I have no idea if Apple will ever do this. But, I live in hope!

What do you all think? Is this an improvement over the current iOS 7 UI?
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No.
 
haydn! said:
Not a massive fan of the borders, but agree the buttons need more to differentiate themselves from the rest of the page. I'm thinking something more like they've done in iTunes, where they've added a subtle background to the Repeat, Create and Shuffle buttons across the bottom of the 'now playing' view.
Click to expand...

You mean in the music app? I see no background behind those buttons.
 
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