Anybody else feel the UI needs .. to be... MORE ??

[Demian Mioc]

Notification center, volume control and navigation bar could use the same coloring option which is now available only to navigation bar. Transparency would be nice too, with toggle on/off option. Swipe left from Start menu is currently unused, All apps list should be there. Swipe right from Start menu would be awesome to show Action/Notification Center, like on Windows Pc.
Somewhere gray bars are unnecessary like in FileExplorer where are up left and down, occupying valuable space for information, files, etc. But overall, I'm pretty happy with the looks of interface, they did an awesome job, win8.1phone looks a bit outdated compared to win10mobile.

 

[Kram Sacul]

The OP's frustration and disappointment echoes mine for the most part except for the start screen in W10M which I find a few steps backwards. The cramped tiles and transparency is tacky. The app list is also pretty bad with everything shoved to the left and the amateurish search bar on the top. It's like they put it there temporarily and forgot about it.

Windows Phone 7/8/8.1 were visually distinct and beautiful. There was definite flow from app to app and it all looked so clean and elegant. W10M on the other hand is like if you took the worst elements of Android and iOS and put them in a blender and this was the result. Just embarrassing and an insult to everyone that came to the platform. Even the dark theme is weak. It's like MS fired everyone that worked on the previous versions and replaced them with two ex-Google interns who only have time to work on it on their lunch breaks. I wouldn't be surprised if it was true.

 

[theefman]

You got hamburgers, what more can anyone possibly want? :straight:

 

[pankaj981]

I don't really understand what you're talking about in terms of UI aesthetics between the two.

If this response was for me then I meant the desktop W8.1 OS

 

[thegamevg]

I don't really understand what you're talking about in terms of UI aesthetics between the two. I've got my 920 with 8.1 and my 640 with W10 mobile up. I'm looking at the stuff you mentioned and I don't get it.

Notification center is basically the same but with more options. The fonts are a little different, but they're consistent throughout all the native W10 apps.

Pivots vs Hamburgers - Sorry, pivots don't really work.

Icons - A lot of people like the wireframe icons. A lot of people don't even notice the difference.

Settings - New settings is 1000x better than the the old settings. I can actually find stuff now.

Not really sure what you're talking about with random grey bars?

Some of my points are applicable to both Windows 10 and Windows 10 Mobile...
Perhaps the attached screenshots from build 10586 would help explain my points ..

- As far as the notification center goes, I only mentioned the toggles - they take up way too much real estate and look a little too big when compared to the other links and icons in there.

- I don't favour pivots over hamburgers - don't think I mentioned that but I'd like to clear that up as well, in case I implied it.
I do support a middle ground though , similar to the current 8.1 OneDrive app, that makes good use of both implementations - with the hamburger hiding away the least used settings.

- Icons : A case of personal preference I guess , my point is that they currently lack the sophistication of a finished or final OS ( which I hope is the case for W10M)

- Settings : Totally agree with you on the usability being vastly superior than 8.1.
My point, is regarding the visuals ( E.g the attached screenshot 1 ) . Text is being presented in white , grey and blue hyperlinks , with grey buttons and blue toggles.. it's better than it WAS, but I think they can do a better job of making it more coherent.

Grey bars - To be fair , the grey bars seem to have turned into grey bands on top for both black and white themes now - which is an improvement ( Attached screenshots 2/3/4) .. I'm not on the insider build , so I can't pull up specific examples..

I'm pretty sure earlier builds had these bars in messaging and photos.. that's probably where my observations came from.

 

[thegamevg]

The OP's frustration and disappointment echoes mine for the most part except for the start screen in W10M which I find a few steps backwards. The cramped tiles and transparency is tacky. The app list is also pretty bad with everything shoved to the left and the amateurish search bar on the top. It's like they put it there temporarily and forgot about it.

Windows Phone 7/8/8.1 were visually distinct and beautiful. There was definite flow from app to app and it all looked so clean and elegant. W10M on the other hand is like if you took the worst elements of Android and iOS and put them in a blender and this was the result. Just embarrassing and an insult to everyone that came to the platform. Even the dark theme is weak. It's like MS fired everyone that worked on the previous versions and replaced them with two ex-Google interns who only have time to work on it on their lunch breaks. I wouldn't be surprised if it was true.

I'm with you on the Windows 7 / 8 /8.1 visual elements... it was unlike anything I had used or seen personally.
However, it definitely didn't favour functionality and usability.. a revamp was inevitable...

I just hope that visual refinements are in the queue .. right after they fill in the gaps for missing features.

 

[Leonel Funes]

I know what you mean... I posted my own concepts about what I want W10M to look like ( http://forums.windowscentral.com/wi...691-my-idea-windows-10-mobile-[concepts].html ) and showed them to family/friends. They liked it too, especially the colored bar on top.

http://1drv.ms/1iTpME6 - My OneDrive folder with all my ideas (so far, have a few more I want to make)

 

[Pierre Blackwell]

Well considering that Windows 10 mobile is still in beta, I think we can all expect MORE. I remember when I updated my then 530 with the first insider build of Windows 10 mobile. I was thinking..."what is MSFT doing?" There was a stark contrast to the other mobile window OS UI's. I had to take a step back and view things from the perspective of where MSFT was headed, not where it was coming from. We can see through the transitions of builds what things have been changed and updated and I will be the first to say that I am a big fan of the direction it's going. There are still some core issues that need to be addressed like the fine tuning of the integration of the Office suite, outlook mail and calendars, and Skype messaging with MSFT messaging before they look into things like fonts. I will advise everyone to continue to submit feedback and concerns as it appears we are being heard more than before.

Ultimately I don't expect to see what Windows mobile is capable of until they release the new phones as some features won't be achievable with current models. Either way I'd hold off any real expectations until everything is official.

 

[thegamevg]

Well considering that Windows 10 mobile is still in beta, I think we can all expect MORE. I remember when I updated my then 530 with the first insider build of Windows 10 mobile. I was thinking..."what is MSFT doing?" There was a stark contrast to the other mobile window OS UI's. I had to take a step back and view things from the perspective of where MSFT was headed, not where it was coming from. We can see through the transitions of builds what things have been changed and updated and I will be the first to say that I am a big fan of the direction it's going. There are still some core issues that need to be addressed like the fine tuning of the integration of the Office suite, outlook mail and calendars, and Skype messaging with MSFT messaging before they look into things like fonts. I will advise everyone to continue to submit feedback and concerns as it appears we are being heard more than before.

Ultimately I don't expect to see what Windows mobile is capable of until they release the new phones as some features won't be achievable with current models. Either way I'd hold off any real expectations until everything is official.

Agree with you on being a fan of the direction it's going... have certainly seen a lot of UI aspects improve through multiple insider builds.

I do tire of the "Windows 10 mobile being in BETA " comment though But I don't mean that as a rub on anybody..
It's been a blessing and a curse to actually see the OS through the development process .. I'm in software development myself, so I know how ugly things are at the start...

We are literally days away from RTM though.. I think its safe to assume that visual refinements , not visual glitches, are low priority at the moment..As they should be.

 

[elindalyne]

Actually visual refinements are generally high on the priority list the closer you get to RTM. They're usually easy but tedious to do and have a low chance of breaking something.

 

[Zachary Boddy]

Of course it needs refinement but I'm happy with it. Can't wait to put it on my daily driver (I have it on my secondary device now).

 

[thegamevg]

Actually visual refinements are generally high on the priority list the closer you get to RTM. They're usually easy but tedious to do and have a low chance of breaking something.

Definitely easy-to-do .. Being in software development though, I see such refinements being looked at as "minor annoyances" and "nice-to-haves" compared to regression defects and performance bugs.. such changes seldom get prioritized or fast-tracked in my world ..

 

[elindalyne]

Eh... different strokes for different folks then. We usually have a UI cleanup sprint while things are going through final regression testing to give things a final spit shine before it goes out to the client.

 

[Chris Sandiford]

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The kerning in the font headers has long bothered me, but I'm happy to say the last updates (last week) to the Store and Messaging+Skype apps have sorted it out. You can still see it in the Photos app which has not been updated. They've gone all caps across the board now as you can see. And yes - Glance STILL won't install!

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[thegamevg]

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The screenshots you posted are a great example of the point I raised..
Happy to see it moving in the right direction though... the Before pic looks atrocious !

 

[ninjaap]

I have to agree. I feel W10M is... Boring? I guess? I dunno, every time I install it on my 1520 I end up uninstalling it and reverting back to 8.1, which I did just last night. I think it is the font that bothers me. Especially the app list. The font is so small on the 1520, almost like the wrong screen resolution is being used. I'll probably never upgrade my 1520.

 

[thegamevg]

I have to agree. I feel W10M is... Boring? I guess? I dunno, every time I install it on my 1520 I end up uninstalling it and reverting back to 8.1, which I did just last night. I think it is the font that bothers me. Especially the app list. The font is so small on the 1520, almost like the wrong screen resolution is being used. I'll probably never upgrade my 1520.

I think the size of the font is a fallout of the task MS has taken upon themselves - One OS to rule them all...
I have a Non-touch Lenovo laptop on Windows 10.. In desktop mode, for example, the notification center is faaaaar too large, quick toggles included..

I'm sure they'll keep working on scaling and adjusting the UI to different screens and resolutions.. I'm not sure but I thought I read about an option in W10M to make the fonts larger..

 

[AgentTheGreat]

Dude...tell me about it. What made us fall in love with WP is no longer there, in what I believe to be a panic move to resemble other OSs just like WP7 lacked features to resemble the basic iOS at the time. I know you understand UI when you see OneDrive and go "beautiful". I wish Microsoft could distinguish good design and see how having a Settings page on a giant desktop, with 80% empty, barren space doesn't make sense. They either don't see or don't care anymore.

 

[Krystianpants]

I don't like the wireframe icons either. Like the send button in e-mail, etc.. What is most annoying is that when I go to save a picture in say Edge. I have go to through so many screens to save my picture to a place I like, and I have to do it each time I save a picture. There should be a default folder you pick and then a "Save as" button for those who wish to save it outside of their default.

I've already sent feedback on settings for windows 10 mobile. It got maybe 1 upvote. The premise is to have icons in all the settings not just the main screen. If I want to find "display". I can find an icon of a monitor much quicker and then confirm the text, rather than skimming through text. The settings just seems unfinished by having icons only on the main page. It's so damn weird.

 

[Krystianpants]

I have to agree. I feel W10M is... Boring? I guess? I dunno, every time I install it on my 1520 I end up uninstalling it and reverting back to 8.1, which I did just last night. I think it is the font that bothers me. Especially the app list. The font is so small on the 1520, almost like the wrong screen resolution is being used. I'll probably never upgrade my 1520.

You know you can increase the font size? Go to the dpi settings.

Also under Ease of access, go to more options and use text scaling to make text bigger.