The UI doesn't follow a conventional way how people use UI in any form of mobile devices. There are differences in IOS, Android, Blackberry and PalmOS but those differences aren't huge. If you use either of those devices/OS who should be able to pickup any of the other devices relatively easily. At least this has been my personal experience with Android, IOS and WebOS. What Windows Mobile 7 is doing is a fundamentally different way of how you use a mobile device. You could argue that when IOS was first introduced it was also a different way of how people uses mobile phones. But it was different in the sense that it was not confusing, it was very intuitive.
In contrast Widows7 mobile UI is a confusing mess and very bland to be honest. There no "Wow" factor. Who thought big blocks of animated tiles taking up huge screen real-state to be a good idea? I think this is also a good example of different design philosophy with MSFT and Apple. IOS with its new update introduced folder with the goal of giving you more screen real-state so that if you have a lot of apps you don't have to keep sliding and MSFT adds huge block of tiles (and animated!) that will require you to slide around to find what you need.
It would have made an interesting showcase for concept design that car manufacturers always make, but I don't see this being much practical at all.
> In contrast Widows7 mobile UI is a confusing mess and very bland to be honest. There no "Wow" factor.
And that's the point, Albert Shum, a Nike-alum and now one of the folks behind this UI, is making. It's less about chrome/gloss but more about typography. Personally, I like it a lot. The "WP7 version of" Metro-UI seems to be inspired by direction signs (for travelers) you see at airports, train stations etc. that help people find their way.
>In contrast Widows7 mobile UI is a confusing mess and very bland to be honest. There no "Wow" factor.
Is this just your personal preference speaking? I actually was impressed when I first saw the UI, and the article describes it as useful and functional.
Of course its my personal opinion. I don't claim to speak for everyone nor did I run any public poll. Everything I said in my comment is my own opinion from my own experience (with other mobile OS), unless otherwise stated.
No, that's why I asked. You were stating something in direct contradiction with the article, and (going purely on prior) you probably haven't actually used a WP7 phone, so the implication was that you had more than opinion behind your comment.
iPhone is still basically in a class of its own for UI elegance and consistency but compared to the typical third party enhanced Android experience WM7 is looking pretty good in my opinion. At least it's consistent.
The UI doesn't follow a conventional way how people use UI in any form of mobile devices.
With this logic taken to the extreme, we'd all still be using phones with a typical Nokia-interface. I'm very glad we don't.
What Windows Mobile 7 is doing is a fundamentally different way of how you use a mobile device. You could argue that when IOS was first introduced it was also a different way of how people uses mobile phones. But it was different in the sense that it was not confusing, it was very intuitive.
Just noting I read this part and that I agree.
In contrast Widows7 mobile UI is a confusing mess and very bland to be honest. There no "Wow" factor.
Having used a Windows 7 phone I have to disagree. It's very simple to use. It may lack a "Wow" factor but it is sufficiently different to be interesting.
IOS with its new update introduced folder with the goal of giving you more screen real-state so that if you have a lot of apps you don't have to keep sliding and MSFT adds huge block of tiles
The Windows Phone 7 idea is that you shouldn't need as many "apps", but that apps should plug in to "hubs". I like this idea, but getting back to the actual implementation my personal complaint about this is that too few of the hubs on the phone are extensible by applications.
That's exactly what I was thinking...something like Android 2.1's pinch to zoom out on the home screen which brings up miniature versions of the 7 screens you could get to by scrolling left/right.
Could you elaborate on this?