I think Maemo/Linux people in general prefer good features over gimmicky look. Just look at the OffScr "games", they all look "pretty" but they do absolutely nothing. Why does a "notepad" application need fancy background and fonts when it can be simple white background with lines and black sans-serif font?
Thats like saying why be with a fit blonde lady when you can have any old hag cause it works just as good.
Of course a normal app is functional and performs everything the way we want it. That is good for most members of the community, but if you put two apps together and one looks pretty. The nice one will win....hence why the iphone community has done so well....just a shame most of those apps ARE completely useless!
I think Maemo/Linux people in general prefer good features over gimmicky look. Just look at the OffScr "games", they all look "pretty" but they do absolutely nothing. Why does a "notepad" application need fancy background and fonts when it can be simple white background with lines and black sans-serif font?
You make an interesting point.
In fact, maybe we should do away with the gui completely and run everything from the terminal.
It would probably reduce the number of bugs present in Maemo.
Just think how much faster everything would run and how much disk space you would save.
Right UI design is not only about looks, but looks matter. As number of clicks matter. And then number of clicks vs time for looking on a screen matters. And also the time you spend the first time you use an app to find something versus the time you lose each time you use it again.
Want to find something with no clicks at all? Dump everything in a giant list and search around it for minutes
Want to run everything with a few key-presses? run terminal, but then it is impossible to imagine a command, you have to search on the net or a manual to do something you don't know how
Want to categorize everything specifically? You 'll need more clicks to get it.
There is always room for optimization though. Improving one thing without compromising the other. But as always optimization has it's limits. And then there is time spent on optimization vs time spent on implementing new features.
Finally a sleek and clean UI is easier on the users eyes, it's better for all of us.
________ Buy bubblers
I think this will be a survival of the fittest. As good looking apps appear this will create a standard and existing apps will have to shape up or will be forgotten about.
Agreed, I think UI app development comes down to experience of the developer and how long they want to spend writing it. If a users experience is properly taken into consideration then the app should look to encorporate the simple sleek UI for everyday use, with the added backend or admin access for those who want more power.
Little or no visual apparel might make it work quick as might a gfx heavy app might be the reverse. If someone can find the right balance between, just enough bling to look nice but not get in the way then it might be a working start!
Could we get to a more concrete level? What do you think is a good UI? A pretty UI? Is pretty a requirement for good? Is good a requirement for pretty?
Some app examples with good / bad / pretty / ugly UI?
