Usability

It's not about HTML5 or skeuomorphism, it's about usability

By Rene Ritchie, Tuesday, Sep 11, 2012 a 8:55 pm

There were a couple of interesting comments on user interface today, one coming from Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, who acknowledged they bet wrong on HTML5, and the other from unnamed sources who suggest Apple is deeply split along Scot Forstall vs Jonathan Ive lines when it comes to skeuomorphic vs more digitally authentic design.

Kindle Fire usability tests confirm Steve Jobs' criticism of 7-inch form factor

By Rene Ritchie, Tuesday, Dec 6, 2011 a 1:09 am

For those still holding out hope for a 7-inch iPad, noted usability guru Jakob Nielsen has run tests on the Amazon Kindle Fire's user interface and come away with the interesting observations about the challenges involved.

iPhone, Android, and the difference between usability and functionality [Sticky]

By Rene Ritchie, Wednesday, Dec 22, 2010 a 11:16 am

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Last night I quoted Marco Armant asking if Android phones would ever achieve iPhone-level polish and usability and a lot of Android enthusiasts fired back that they could do things on Android that they couldn't do on iPhone, so Android was more usable.

Well, no.

That's not usability, that's functionality. Those two can be as diametrically opposed as simplicity and complexity...

Will Android phones ever achieve iPhone's level of polish and usability?

By Rene Ritchie, Tuesday, Dec 21, 2010 a 3:53 pm

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Current Instapaper and former Tumblr developer Marco Arment wonders out loud if Google Android phones can ever achieve the levels of usability and polish Apple's iPhone has arguably had since day one:

Android will continue to exhibit what Google does best: great low-level engineering and tight integration with Google’s other services. But it’s never going to be Apple-like in user experience, polish, or design.

Attention to detail, like most facets of truly good design, can’t be (and never is) added later. It’s an entire development philosophy, methodology, and culture.