The UI problem with Windows 10 for Phones

[Anubis4574]

Let me start by saying that I've owned Windows Phones for years as well as developed apps leisurely. I love Microsoft and WP, as well as many of the directions 10 is taking...with the glaring exception of UI. So, here are my two cents:

App Bar, Panorama, and Pivot. These amazing and unique Windows Phone continuities are now at risk for the future of the OS. This is evident, specifically in all of the new applications for Windows 10 for Phones (10051).

Let's start with App Bar. There have always been three dots which can be either tapped or swiped up in order to see more settings and other contextual 'buttons.' A subtle change they have made is making the three dots a physical button that can only be tapped and not swiped (which is the far easier approach).

Next is Panorama and Pivot. Look at the new apps Phone, Calculator, Onedrive, Photos, and the Outlook pair of apps. The Phone app is especially painful to use because of the three 'tabs': History, Speed Dial, and Dial Pad. Your instinct is to swipe from left to right in order to reach the second and third tabs, but this has been intentionally disabled. They want you to tap the tiny little icons at the top, just like an Android app. Speaking of the competitor OS, A hamburger menu has been added to most new apps (and a few new old ones, like OneDrive).
The Photos application is now almost entirely useless because you cannot swipe in between folders (and the same goes for the new Photo picker API).

Not a single new application in the preview can be swiped from left to right.
This should be hugely alarming to all veteran WP users and we must rally against such an obvious departure to what we recognize as Windows Phone.

Counterargument: "This is merely an early preview and these new changes are not likely to stay". Not unless we are sufficiently vocal about it. The team spent time designing a hamburger menu and messing with the controls. I do realize that UI wasn't their biggest priority on this build, but they could have easily just used the older Pivot controls that were already available with no extra time or thought needed. Every design change they have made has taken WP closer to its competitors in a last-ditch effort to make potential consumers more acquainted with the platform.

tl;dr: Microsoft has dumbed-down the UI of WP10 to make it much easier to pick up for Android and iOS users. But in the process, they have made it absolutely terrible from a UX standpoint.

 

[Laura Knotek]

I just don't see Windows 10 Technical Preview for phones as a copycat of Android, and I'm using Android Lollipop now.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

 

[Anubis4574]

WP10's app model may not necessarily be more like Android, but it definitely is a lot less like Windows Phone.

 

[PepperdotNet]

Agreed, why can they not add the new stuff without breaking the old. Put a hamburger and tabs on there if they like, but leave the pivots and appbar there too. Put toggles in settings so we can choose which is more visible.

 

[Kram Sacul]

Unfortunately MS' design team has lost it. It started slowly with some idiotic changes in 8.1 and became really obvious with the mangling of the WP OneDrive app. Now with the TP they've gone full Android. Not Android now but Android circa 2011. Never go full Android.

If the W10 TP wasn't an unstable mess I'd be using it and sending feedback about all these dumb and backwards changes. I don't expect them to listen though. They seem determined to throw out all that was unique about WP for their one UI fits all mentality which includes shoehorning a hamburger menu into every app and shoving the controls to the top.

 

[k0de]

WP10's app model may not necessarily be more like Android, but it definitely is a lot less like Windows Phone.

What is a lot less like Windows Phone?

Understand there is no longer Windows Phone. But Windows for Phones. Going forward its a UAP. Its Windows on every device imaginable to mankind. So do yourself a favor and delete the old WinPhone design language in your brain.

 

[hotphil]

If the W10 TP wasn't an unstable mess I'd be using it and sending feedback about all these dumb and backwards changes. I don't expect them to listen though.

A lot of people find it OK.
And if you think it's "dumb" but aren't prepared to use it and send them constructive feedback, then after school you'd better head off down the mall and grab an Android or iPhone.
Just because a design isn't to your taste, doesn't mean it's bad. I mean, I can't stand Bieber, but that's OK - I understand why kids might.

 

[cory1717]

They need to corporate the old and new ! N my opinion

 

[sisqo88]

I think it would be great if they would use both. The hamburger button, but in my opinion on the bottom. And they should bring back the swipe so that you can use both of them.

 

[GrandGerminator]

A lot of people find it OK.
And if you think it's "dumb" but aren't prepared to use it and send them constructive feedback, then after school you'd better head off down the mall and grab an Android or iPhone.
Just because a design isn't to your taste, doesn't mean it's bad. I mean, I can't stand Bieber, but that's OK - I understand why kids might.

Sorry hotphil, but no.
Bored to read that kind of things. We're here because we have a WP and we did not buy a Android or a iPhone so STOP to start childish talks. The design is a real problem in Windows 10 for phones. Pivots can be found in some Android apps and hamburger buttons are even disappearing, but W10 for phone is coming where Android were 3 years ago. Too late, again

 

[a5cent]

A)
I'm unconvinced that being more familiar to Android/iOS users is what's driving MS to make these UI changes. That's one of the most popular explanations floating around, but I just can't believe that MS' market research led them to conclude that WP would have more market share, had they only used more hamburgers and less pivots. No way...

B)
Whether or not WP is copying UI concepts from its competitors seems unimportant to me. IMHO MS should use what works best. However, I'm also of the opinion that the upcoming mix of app bars, pivots and hamburgers is not what works best (not to mention it being an inconsistent mess).

C)
Pivots are by far the most misunderstood UI control in the WP toolbox. Pivots were never intended to be used as a navigational "tool", yet many developers used them that way (due to a lack of simple alternatives), and users are now calling for that misuse to continue.

I'm sure someone within MS has pointed out that the calls for the continued misuse of Pivots for navigational purposes is precisely one of the reasons they should be axed.

The problem with Pivots is that they just don't work for apps that require navigational functionality, but simultaneously require swiping gestures for app related features. The W10M mail app is an example of that. Metro doesn't easily allow for both, but that is very common on Android. This is one of the reasons apps on WP are often less functional, compared to the competition. That's not surprising, considering an entire method of interaction is missing from WP. This is also why a configurable solution, where users could choose to use either hamburgers or pivots (based on personal preference) makes no sense... the two are completely different things, not two equivalent ways of solving the same problem:
- would an app just lose the swiping related features when running in Pivot mode?
- would a hamburger menu with 10 entries require me to swipe myself into an early grave when running in Pivot mode?
- etc etc etc

What WP needs is a standardized approach to navigation that:

• is separate from and unrelated to pivots
• allows apps to use gestures without compromising navigation
• doesn't hide navigation behind invisible UI that is hard to discover (Android apps often employ edge swiping to open the hamburger menu)
• allows the OS to automatically reconfigure the UI, without developer involvement, based on whether the app is running on large or small screens (which is the whole point behind the hamburger menu).
• is consistent with the Metro look and feel
• is optimized for one handed use

Here is an example of what I'd consider a better solution:

http://forums.windowscentral.com/wi...oncept-combining-hamburger-ellipsis-menu.html

 

[hotphil]

Sorry hotphil, but no.
Bored to read that kind of things. We're here because we have a WP and we did not buy a Android or a iPhone so STOP to start childish talks. The design is a real problem in Windows 10 for phones. Pivots can be found in some Android apps and hamburger buttons are even disappearing, but W10 for phone is coming where Android were 3 years ago. Too late, again

Well I agree. I was rocking Windows Mobile 6.x when Apple turned up with a UI that worked. Without a stylus. MS have been playing catch up ever since. But perhaps the time of being different just for the sake of being different is coming to an end. If something's the best way of doing something, then ignoring it and doing something else just to be different is foolhardy.

 

[a5cent]

But perhaps the time of being different just for the sake of being different is coming to an end. If something's the best way of doing something, then ignoring it and doing something else just to be different is foolhardy.

Agreed. But I'd also argue that being different just for the sake of it is a mischaracterization of Metro. As the W10M UI discussion started to heat up, many people on these forums were surprised when they realized just how much thought went into designing the Metro phone UI... thoughts that were intended to make using WP intuitive, finger-stretch-free, and consistent... not just different.

When I say Metro is better than where the W10M UI is headed, I mean the concepts and guidelines behind Metro, not necessarily its implementation on WP. When implemented well, those concepts resulted in a really nice UX on the phone. Navigation is the one big huge gaping hole. For many apps, Metro has nothing to offer in this department, neither in terms of implementation nor even conceptually.

The solution is not to throw out the entire UI paradigm and start anew (Microsoft's biggest problem whenever a new team takes over an existing project), but to work on those missing concepts and to fix those implementations that were poor (make it harder to misuse UI controls in a way they weren't intended to be used, and easier to use them correctly).

 

[Spectrum90]

I like the changes. Microsoft is finally developing a smartphone, not an improved feature phone.
Metro has too many flaws. I think Microsoft underestimated the role of the smartphone in people's life. Under pressure they rushed a weak product to market, based in wrong assumptions.

Many people here hate Android, but Android is what Windows Phone should have been. Metro a huge departure from Windows and Windows Mobile, in a wrong direction.

It took them five years to ditch Metro. With hindsight it's easy to say that they should have canceled Windows 8 and WP8 to do what they're doing now.

 

[manicottiK]

When I say Metro is better than where the W10M UI is headed, I mean the concepts and guidelines behind Metro...those concepts resulted in a really nice UX on the phone. Navigation is the one big huge gaping hole. For many apps, Metro has nothing to offer in this department, neither in terms of implementation nor even conceptually.

Agreed. But how does the proposed solution (A concept for combining hamburger and ellipsis menu) address navigation at all? It seems to be a more full-featured commands area.

For what it's worth, I believe that Apple's tab bar is always supposed to go at the bottom of the screen. (Note: all of the blue text below is copied from Apple's iOS guidelines, however, the emphasis is mine.)

Apple starts off with a clear definition of what a tab bar should be and it sounds very much like the navigational function of the Splitview/hamburger control: You use tab bar controller to organize your app into one or more distinct modes of operation. However, other pages start to muddle that, just as pivots got muddled in WP: A tab bar gives people the ability to switch between different subtasks, views, and modes. Then, they seem to embrace the views and modes duality: Use a tab bar to display several peer categories of content or functionality.

Apple also has something called a segmented control. It's placed as the top of a screen and appears to be Apple's equivalent of what Microsoft intended pivots to be. A segmented control can give users a way to see different categories or aspects of the content on the screen; it doesn’t enable navigation to a new screen.

Both Apple and Microsoft appear to have a problem with their controls being "misused" by developers looking for a way to group related content that doesn't involve navigation. How does one define a set of controls and the accompanying UX to simplify navigation among distinct modes of operation, facilitate switching between different views of data, and the display of groups of related content?

 

[Tsang Fai]

"The Phone app is especially painful to use because of the three 'tabs': History, Speed Dial, and Dial Pad. Your instinct is to swipe from left to right in order to reach the second and third tabs, but this has been intentionally disabled. " - Well, it is a matter of your habit. I was an iPhone user before. Just switched to Windows Phone for less than two months. To me, swiping from left to right is not my basic instinct - my basic instinct is to tap the tabs near the top of the screen. (Well, we have been using this kind of UI in Windows desktop... isn't it?)

Even if we forget the habit perspective, I still like tapping on tabs more than swipping, because the app itself may take advantage of using swiping (leftwards or rightwards) to do meaningful actions - I think the most useful one is swipe to delete. I don't care whether swipe to delete is used by ios/android, as not as it is a good thing, I don't mind msft to follow some good features of the competitors.

I think WP 10 focuses more on potential users rather than existing users. Again, it's a matter of habit. For those who have used WP for several years, I believe they will get used to those new UIs soon.

 

[FAHMI BASSEM]

My opinion:
I don't like the UI of WP 10 (yes WP 10), everyday when I look at my Lumia, I feel sad that what I loved will be killed for no real reason, if I made a poll (and I will) about whether you like our don't like the UI of WP 10, most of the fans (not those who bought it because it's cheap) will say no, we don't like it, because simply, MS is killing WP, integration of social networks, rooms, and now the three dots and swiping gesture.
Sorry, but for me Windows phone 10 is a loss :-(

 

[a5cent]

Agreed. But how does the proposed solution (A concept for combining hamburger and ellipsis menu) address navigation at all? It seems to be a more full-featured commands area.

Yup, Apple and Microsoft both appear to have a problem with their controls being "misused" by developers. I think Apple is further along than MS is however. Their guidance is a bit vague and admittedly somewhat contradictory, but at least they provide more concrete software constructs to get the job done in a standardized way.

Anyway, to your question... how does the proposed solution address navigation at all?

In the exact same way a side drawer does. Panning that menu into view is just triggered and opened from the bottom, rather than being triggered from the top (hamburger button) and opened from the side (side drawer). More importantly, it addresses all the issues I listed at the end of my previous post.

To me the answer to your question seems so obvious, that I think we might be miscommunicating. Just to make sure we agree on our terminology:

Navigation = switching between unrelated and distinct modes of operation.

Switching between views, applying filters or sorting (or as Apple calls it, "seeing different aspects of content on screen...") are not navigational concepts, and therefore not what the solution I linked to is trying to solve. That's all about providing a navigational solution that is better than the traditional hamburger menu.

 

[Slovenix]

I just don't see Windows 10 Technical Preview for phones as a copycat of Android, and I'm using Android Lollipop now.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

That's what I'm saying all the time. All the "Looks like Android" is getting seriously old and misleading

 

[xandros9]

It looks like its taking off after Windows 8 on the PC instead.