[thegamevg]

I've been following the progress on Windows 10 Mobile for as long as I remember... can't wait to get it on my Lumia 920 ( yup.. still hanging in there..) .

I can't help but feel that the whole simplicity and novelty and dare I say.. beauty of the OS is fading for me..
And before anyone mentions it, this isn't about the almighty hamburger button, or the lack of pivots even ( though I'd love to see them used more along the lines of WP 8.1).

My concern lies purely along the lines of aesthetics and visual appeal.. some examples of what I'm referring to are :

- Some of the font choices, like the headers for the messaging and photos app ( where it says CONVERSATIONS / COLLECTIONS/FOLDERS) just seems like a placeholder font, rather than something more polished .

- The over-reliance of text in a lot of the settings pages reminds me of text that's just in there for information.. without any emphasis on presentation - perhaps a carry-over of the 8.1 style

- Apps like OneDrive , too, seem to have gone backward with the over simplistic wireframe icons of Windows 10.. unlike the current 8.1 app which incorporates pivots and hamburgers in perhaps the cleanest and most functional implementation I've seen

- The Grey banners on top of a lot of screens really does seem out of place - use of the accent colour in these scenarios should really be the way forward.

- The Notification Center quick toggles, too, could use an overhaul.. I , for one, have always taken objection to the rectangular shape of the buttons .. just seem out of place.

The Start Screen , on the other hand, looks well thought-out, fixing the empty spaces of 8.1 and the added flexibility of transparency.

I guess the OS is moving in the right direction overall.. its just frustrating to look at some of the UI choices being taken ..
Windows 10 also suffers a bit of this same problem for me.. would love to see a bit more "refinement" in the UI as both the OS's evolve.

<-- Frustration ends here -->

[Wajeeh Maaz]

I agree with you on most points, but honestly, if we could just have a transparent notification center or interactive live tiles I would be satisfied.
Also I HATE that font so much. I hope MS can replace it with the classic Segoe UI light

[thegamevg]

Definite upvote on the Transparent notification center... Aero is probably the best thing to have come through Windows Vista / 7 and even in parts of Windows 10..

Would certainly add an immediate shine on the OS..

[PepperdotNet]

Definite upvote on the Transparent notification center... Aero is probably the best thing to have come through Windows Vista / 7 and even in parts of Windows 10..

Would certainly add an immediate shine on the OS..

I too like transparent effects, but isn't that and good battery life pretty much mutually exclusive? Reason I ask is pretty much everything I've ever seen explaining why Aero was ripped out of Windows 8 was "because battery drain"

[odin09]

Maybe I'm just easy to please but as far as design I love windows 10 mobile and desktop. I am sure that there could be improvements but I think it looks great. I was toying with the idea of trying out Android but turning on my Icon and seeing windows 10 makes it impossible to leave.

[thegamevg]

That's probably a valid concern... it would just fit in really well with the transparency/translucency on the start screen..

I guess I could live without it too .. the lack of coherence is a bit more jarring when it comes to the notification center.
We have generously sized toggles coupled with small text labels that provide a small sweet spot to touch...better space utilization perhaps.. ?

[thegamevg]

Maybe I'm just easy to please but as far as design I love windows 10 mobile and desktop. I am sure that there could be improvements but I think it looks great. I was toying with the idea of trying out Android but turning on my Icon and seeing windows 10 makes it impossible to leave.

I'm with you on one of those that loves Windows 10 mobile / desktop... have been in love with it since I laid eyes on the Lumia 900 and WP7..

I just have a vision of all it could be I suppose... coupled with admission that it is , indeed, a work in progress..

[Jason Gilbert]

I somewhat agree with you. I think WP8.1 was really nice, and the visual changes on W10 sometimes seem like change just for the sake of having change without any real unifying theme. Some things almost feel like Android now, while others still feel unique to WP. I've written before that other than the move to universal apps, W10 doesn't have a lot of new things to it for phones, and was mostly an effort to bring many of the phone features to tablets and desktops. I'm ok with that, I just hope they get better mobile adoption somehow so that the OS remains viable.

[elindalyne]

I'm pretty sure that's kind of the point... Make the UI more in line with IOS and Android. Also, you can turn the transparency off pretty easily.

[smartass1379]

I agree with a lot of the points but all I can advise is to go to the feedback app because for now Windows 10 Mobile is set in stone :-(

[thegamevg]

I agree with a lot of the points but all I can advise is to go to the feedback app because for now Windows 10 Mobile is set in stone :-(

Unfortunately, yes...
Here's hoping there's a 10.1 Update that brings enough to the OS , similar to what 8.1 brought

[Jon_Rubinstein]

sure....it is coming in 6 months...

[tekgurl]

I agree. I get that Microsoft is trying to unify the look and feel of Windows 10 for PC and Windows 10 for phones. I think Windows 10 for PC is beautiful. Unfortunately, those aesthetics don't necessarily translate to the phone. I think the wireframe icons are grotesque. The new font is boring compared to Segoe. I feel a change was needed to make the OS feel fresh, but this was a few steps in the wrong direction.

[Visa Declined]

I was initially excited to see the changes that were happening in Windows 10 Mobile, but I was expecting a lot more than what we've got now. The tiles look awesome, but everything else seems pretty low effort. I use Android and iOS as well, and I frequently discover delightful little animations and sequences make those OS's pleasurable to use. I'm not getting any of those sensations out of Windows 10. Our Lumia's need more than just a great start screen, and I hope more changes will come in the future.

[izik770]

That hamburger button is the thing i hate most in wp10.
But i love everything else...
The big problem is microsoft doesn't want to invest in this os, all changes are cosmetic, no real improvements.
It's all starts there.

[Qais Abu-Hasan]

I totally agree , and that was just what's in my mind all the time , I say you should post this in uservoice and windows feedback , i guess it'll get a good number of votes

[colinkiama]

That hamburger button is the thing i hate most in wp10.
But i love everything else...
The big problem is microsoft doesn't want to invest in this os, all changes are cosmetic, no real improvements.
It's all starts there.

No real improvements? Are you serious?!

[izik770]

No real improvements? Are you serious?!

I am!
New settings layout ?
More tiles on fast access bar ?
Can you mention 1 REAL CHANGE ?

Doing something sloppy without thinking like settings menu in wp8.1 - Then fix it to a normal one isn't improvements neither change.
Transparent tiles, and full background are the only real changes they made.

[pankaj981]

From all these years I've used Windows and WP, the only beautiful OS I've seen was Windows 8.1 (not the phone version). The W10/WM10 OS may be feature rich, not doubting that but Microsoft's UI/UX team is seriously lacking somewhere as far as polishing and aesthetics. I find IOS and stock Android far superior in those terms, and they've been consistent with that with all their OS versions released in the past 2 years. The start screen and overall OS fluidity is the only reason I'm with this platform (and some Android hate).
Again, all these are just my opinions and others may vary.

Microsoft should really revisit their OS UI/UX team goals.

[elindalyne]

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?

[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?

[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.