W10 Design - Worse than 8.1?
- Thread starter tohoshinki
- Start date
Slovenix
New member
About the new UI, yeah.. It's getting complicated, yet It kind of takes me no time to get used to it. I completely forget what the 8.1 looks like. Feels more PC-like which I prefer.
Anyways the real problem is how to perfectly mix Livetiles with 10 design.. Maybe by adding functions like active buttons or something
Anyways the real problem is how to perfectly mix Livetiles with 10 design.. Maybe by adding functions like active buttons or something
Slovenix
New member
I mean it would stand on it's own, only in MS-related apps. Just an idea I get from the new Outlook&Calendar switching
I'll start with the big gripes I have with the windows 10 UI.
I buy a big phone with a big screen so I can see more information. Windows 10 largely ignores this.
The contacts app on Windows Mobile 6.5 was more efficient than the new people hub design which pads the contact list with thick grey bars for each letter of the alphabet, and tab buttons up top, and a context menu on the bottom. Completely inefficient. On smaller displays like the 530 you can only see three contacts names at any given time because of all the grey space at the top and bottom of the screen.
The circular photos in the people hub? Completely inconsistent, again where else in windows phone have there ever been circular ui elements? Is this a placeholder?
The new toggles are tiny and the old ones looked better. Are they placeholders?
Windows phone 8.1 had solid high contrast icons, which were always easy to identify against a black background. These new wireframe icons, like the ones you see in the settings app, are ugly, don't fit with the rest of the OS and are more difficult to identify. For vision impaired users these new icons are more hindrance than help.
The new context menu on the bottom of the display is thicker and takes up more screen real estate than previously when in the past it didn't need to. Instead of bringing up a wide vertically scrolling list of options, it opens a tiny context menu not dissimilar to the right-click menu in windows desktop. Its smaller, and harder to read. Its not gently sliding up to reveal a list of options it just appears.
The background colours within core system apps are inconsistent and its jarring coming from previous versions of the OS. Everything felt cohesive in 8.1 because the dark background followed you from app to app. In w10 you get weird shades of grey, like the contacts app, and it separates the experience from the rest of the OS.
The new pop up notifications are ugly looking. The background is different, the font is bigger and doesn't render properly on small screen devices.
The new dialer, adds new functionality but has essentially swapped out the space efficient toolbar on the bottom of the screen (easy to reach also) for an android-esque toolbar up top. It feels dated.
Many elements of the UI that used large text labels are gone. These were great for vision impaired users and made navigating easier.
I'm concerned about this OS update because given the rate at which major apps are updated on this platform, old UI elements will always be a part of the experience for most users. Windows 10 will be highly inconsistent.
I buy a big phone with a big screen so I can see more information. Windows 10 largely ignores this.
The contacts app on Windows Mobile 6.5 was more efficient than the new people hub design which pads the contact list with thick grey bars for each letter of the alphabet, and tab buttons up top, and a context menu on the bottom. Completely inefficient. On smaller displays like the 530 you can only see three contacts names at any given time because of all the grey space at the top and bottom of the screen.
The circular photos in the people hub? Completely inconsistent, again where else in windows phone have there ever been circular ui elements? Is this a placeholder?
The new toggles are tiny and the old ones looked better. Are they placeholders?
Windows phone 8.1 had solid high contrast icons, which were always easy to identify against a black background. These new wireframe icons, like the ones you see in the settings app, are ugly, don't fit with the rest of the OS and are more difficult to identify. For vision impaired users these new icons are more hindrance than help.
The new context menu on the bottom of the display is thicker and takes up more screen real estate than previously when in the past it didn't need to. Instead of bringing up a wide vertically scrolling list of options, it opens a tiny context menu not dissimilar to the right-click menu in windows desktop. Its smaller, and harder to read. Its not gently sliding up to reveal a list of options it just appears.
The background colours within core system apps are inconsistent and its jarring coming from previous versions of the OS. Everything felt cohesive in 8.1 because the dark background followed you from app to app. In w10 you get weird shades of grey, like the contacts app, and it separates the experience from the rest of the OS.
The new pop up notifications are ugly looking. The background is different, the font is bigger and doesn't render properly on small screen devices.
The new dialer, adds new functionality but has essentially swapped out the space efficient toolbar on the bottom of the screen (easy to reach also) for an android-esque toolbar up top. It feels dated.
Many elements of the UI that used large text labels are gone. These were great for vision impaired users and made navigating easier.
I'm concerned about this OS update because given the rate at which major apps are updated on this platform, old UI elements will always be a part of the experience for most users. Windows 10 will be highly inconsistent.
I agree that the people hub is mess, but I'd like to suggest that it's new and is very unfinished. (If it's finished, maybe we are, too. 
I don't like the circular contact buttons, but I think that they're trying to jump on a current design trend (Skype, Google+, etc.). App bar buttons were round because it facilitated smoothly rotating them when the phone switched from portrait to landscape. I think that the new toggle design is here to stay and that it's moving to the left, which might have been necessitated by the need to support large screens where the right-aligned graphic would be too far from the text to which it applies. The new wireframe icons are a mess for exactly the reasons that you enumerated. Filled solids is easier to read than the wireframe version, but might look overwhelming at large sizes on desktops.
I'm hoping that the lack of animation and the other app bar visual deficiencies are the result of this being an early build. Sadly, I think that the smaller popup context menus are the final deliverable so that the phone UI matches the tablet/laptop/desktop design. The fonts and design on popup messages is probably just a mistake that will be soon fixed.
Sadly, the addition of colors is probably here to stay. Color isn't bad, but the seemingly indiscriminate application of multiple colors is probably sticking around. Note how many folks asked for the ability to individually color tiles. That wild colors of the Windows 8 start screen is one of the things that weakens it for my uses. The colors overpower the content that the tiles are trying to convey. Still, if you want to decorate your PC instead of getting information from it, per-tile customizable colors is what you need.
Controls at the top and those without text labels also appear to be part of the new Microsoft Design Language 2.0. Some of this is likely to accommodate a range of device sizes; some of it may be to make it easier for brand new users to acclimate faster. (I'm sympathetic to this as I've seen users pick up a Windows phone, note that the text was cut off, put it down, and move on. Microsoft HAS to hold such folks for more than 30 seconds to generate sales.)
I don't like the circular contact buttons, but I think that they're trying to jump on a current design trend (Skype, Google+, etc.). App bar buttons were round because it facilitated smoothly rotating them when the phone switched from portrait to landscape. I think that the new toggle design is here to stay and that it's moving to the left, which might have been necessitated by the need to support large screens where the right-aligned graphic would be too far from the text to which it applies. The new wireframe icons are a mess for exactly the reasons that you enumerated. Filled solids is easier to read than the wireframe version, but might look overwhelming at large sizes on desktops.
I'm hoping that the lack of animation and the other app bar visual deficiencies are the result of this being an early build. Sadly, I think that the smaller popup context menus are the final deliverable so that the phone UI matches the tablet/laptop/desktop design. The fonts and design on popup messages is probably just a mistake that will be soon fixed.
Sadly, the addition of colors is probably here to stay. Color isn't bad, but the seemingly indiscriminate application of multiple colors is probably sticking around. Note how many folks asked for the ability to individually color tiles. That wild colors of the Windows 8 start screen is one of the things that weakens it for my uses. The colors overpower the content that the tiles are trying to convey. Still, if you want to decorate your PC instead of getting information from it, per-tile customizable colors is what you need.
Controls at the top and those without text labels also appear to be part of the new Microsoft Design Language 2.0. Some of this is likely to accommodate a range of device sizes; some of it may be to make it easier for brand new users to acclimate faster. (I'm sympathetic to this as I've seen users pick up a Windows phone, note that the text was cut off, put it down, and move on. Microsoft HAS to hold such folks for more than 30 seconds to generate sales.)
This is the key thing that converted me. When I first picked up a WP7 device in 2010 (for a development assignment), I did not like it. Compared to Windows Mobile 6.5.x, it was missing a lot of functionality, the information density was low, and it looked bland. Over the course of a week, it converted me because it felt finished. Not functionally -- 7.0 was missing a lot. It felt finished in the sense of being a consistent thing to which the final details had been attended to. I remarked to others that this must be what iPhone users felt and that Android users couldn't then know.
The software, the development tools, and the documentation all worked together to let developers write apps that reinforced a consistent and coherent design that produced a cohesive environment. When the tools came out to develop Windows 8 Store apps, the documentation was lacking as compared to what we got with WP7. I suspect that Windows 10 will be the same and that we will head toward a loss of cohesion. I really hope that I'm wrong.
prasath1234
New member
Only thing wp had in its favour to attract people is its unique ui.Now that is lost with windows 10 for phone. who is going to go android like os with very little apps.Wp has lost its sheen .In India low end competition is going neck nd neck even Samsung is going to be killed in low or mid end.Wp has no chance even in low or mid end in India with devices from lenevo Yu xiaomi huwaei all Chinese OEM.Am sure it is impossible for MS to compete with features offered by this OEM.They are giving 2gb ram for $150.
hotphil
New member
The coloured bars aren't present on my version. And sound like the ones I've seen on handsets with just GDR2. I reckon your test device doesn't have the latest app installed correctly(?).
As for the other points, well there's a long way to go. With it only being a Technical Preview at this stage, there's a lot of hope for UI changes before release.
Not in my view. It's looking really good so far, in my opinion.
I'm glad to see the weirdly large text getting phased out, and the poorly laid-out pages that such content-light pages necessitated.
I found it quite hard to get a look I liked, more so than with 8.1, but now I've cracked it I like what I get with W10 more than with W8. Really, it's quite remarkable to me how good it looks considering this is pre-alpha, and it'll get even better from here. I'm really looking forward to using a desktop OS that shares so much in common with its phone equivalent.
I'm glad to see the weirdly large text getting phased out, and the poorly laid-out pages that such content-light pages necessitated.
I found it quite hard to get a look I liked, more so than with 8.1, but now I've cracked it I like what I get with W10 more than with W8. Really, it's quite remarkable to me how good it looks considering this is pre-alpha, and it'll get even better from here. I'm really looking forward to using a desktop OS that shares so much in common with its phone equivalent.
Kram Sacul
New member
I guess when the MS guy in this video was talking about how MS still cares about one handed operation he meant for the extra hand you need to hit the hamburger button.
My favorite part of that video is when the MS guy talks about adaptive UX while showing off the bland and badly designed mockups of the People and Calendar apps in Windows 10. He even mentions that the hamburger control is one of the number one things that people asked for. Uh, yeah.
theefman
Active member
Don't bet on anything changing, its all about the iphone Ex-Microsoft Windows Phone designer explains the move to the Hamburger menu in Windows 10 Mobile - WMPoweruser.
So the question is, when they all look similar what's the reason anyone would go with Windows, seeing as ios and android have all the apps including Microsoft's own? And please don't say "universal apps", as we've seen with outlook those same apps will be on ios and android too.
So the question is, when they all look similar what's the reason anyone would go with Windows, seeing as ios and android have all the apps including Microsoft's own? And please don't say "universal apps", as we've seen with outlook those same apps will be on ios and android too.
prasath1234
New member
Exactly zero incentive to stay with wp if it behaves like android.I can be sure wp will become erstwhile android .
I hate wp10 UI! It most look like android! Specially the hamburger menu! I have a great user experience with one hand in wp8.1 just swipe everywhere u got everything, i can't imagine how can i use hamburger menu with one hand in my L1320
MS should make it an alternate UI option in every app to relocate Hamburger to lower right hand corner and have it function as the 3 dots did. Problem solved.
hotphil
New member
It might do, but it also fragments the UI. And I'd question the sensibilities of yet another UI setting item to fit somewhere.
hotphil
New member
hotphil
New member
What attracted me to a Windows phone was the entire interface design. Totally different, beautiful, and useful - compared to the Android and iOS devices I previously used. My concern is if Windows 10 makes everything look/act like my other options, is it worth if for me to stay with a Windows phone just for the tiled home screen?
Similar threads
Trending Posts
-
Did the Fallout TV show just make a Fallout 4 ending canon?
- Started by Windows Central
- Replies: 3
-
Quake 2, State of Decay 2, and more get mouse and keyboard support on Xbox Cloud Gaming
- Started by Windows Central
- Replies: 0
Members online
No members online now.
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram