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James Kendrick

The Android sloppy interface: When guidelines are not enough

By James Kendrick | January 18, 2012, 4:00am PST

Summary: The lack of enforced interface design prevents Android from providing a good user experience.

No place is the need for consistent user interface design more important than on mobile devices that are used by touch. Intuitive operation plays a tremendous role in how a user interprets the user experience, with controls located where they make the most sense. Most importantly, the consistent location and function of interface controls is vital to allow trouble-free operation of apps and interfaces.

Platforms that enforce developers to follow concise rules for interface design, Windows, OS X and iOS among them, go a long way to avoid user frustration by preventing free-form app controls. Google’s recently published “guidelines” to interface development on Ice Cream Sandwich won’t do any good for the end-user as the premises behind them are not mandatory.

I use different platforms on a nearly daily basis, and of all the systems I use Android is the most jarring when jumping from one app to another. A common scenario while using Android tablets is starting to do a simple function in an app, only to discover that the control is not located where similar controls are found in most other apps. The workflow is interrupted while time is spent looking around the interface to find where the developer placed the function and how it was implemented. It can be a steady stream of start and stops using Android just to get things done.

Other platforms have developers follow simple guidelines, putting controls in consistent locations, working in expected ways. Using these platforms is intuitive and the user experience is natural and flows smoothly. You know where things will be, even when using an app for the first time. That is the cornerstone of good interface design, something totally lacking on Android.

Google understands that, as the release of Ice Cream Sandwich developer guidelines is a step in the right direction. Unfortunately, by refusing to enforce the design principles, Google is allowing the wild west atmosphere to continue, with developers continuing to do what they will in their apps. The focus remains on letting developers do what they prefer, rather than protecting the end user with a consistent implementation of simple controls.

It should be clear by now that without enforcement participants will just do what they want, to the detriment of the platform. We’ve seen Google attempt to get folks in line with the OS update alliance last year, but failing to enforce that has done no good. The same will probably be the result of the design guidelines. Use them if you want, ignore them if you prefer. The end user will adapt.

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Topics

Developer, Google Inc., Control, Application Development, James Kendrick

James Kendrick has been using mobile devices since they weighed 30 pounds, and has been sharing his insights on mobile technology for almost that long.

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RE: The Android sloppy interface: When guidelines are not enough

ksaldutti@... 29th Jan

After owning an iOS device (iPhone 4) and because of horrible call dropping problems went to an Android device and I felt refreshed and fluid in stead of feeling boxed in with Apple. Using a borrowed iPad2 on a trip I again felt boxed in. Sure it was pretty and with other iPad users on the plane and in restaurants etc. you feel you joined some sort of club and you where with the in crowd. Really if that what it has become then this is crazy because using an iPad in the field is NOT productive but it is fun. Productive is a note book or a laptop with an air card/stick. Android has a great future if they would get real serious about polish and standards. Windows though may become the front runner in mobile if they get rid of the old guys in the front office in the day to day operations. The real winners will be the most polished, fluid, secure and useful OS built. The hardware devices are already there and they are very brilliant and functional.

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RE: The Android sloppy interface: When guidelines are not enough

yoroto 18th Jan

It seems that the solution would be.... something like.... Metro........

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RE: The Android sloppy interface: When guidelines are not enough

Harvey Lubin 18th Jan

@yoroto

In Windows 8, Metro is just the top layer. The major portion of the OS is Windows 7, and all of the current Windows applications that you use on your desktop or notebook PCs. These are NOT designed or scaled for use on multi-touch tablets, with small 7" to 10" displays.

If the entire Windows 8 OS and all of the Windows 8 applications used the Metro-style, multi-touch designed interface, it would be comparable to Android and iOS (which are fully optimized for small, multi-touch interaction)... but unfortunately it's not!

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Message has been deleted.

Return_of_the_jedi Updated - 18th Jan

"I use different platforms on a nearly daily basis, and of all the systems I use Android is the most jarring..."

Stupid problem with a stupid fix: Don't Use Android
Simple fix: Get an Apple product.

Stupid article.

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RE: The Android sloppy interface: When guidelines are not enough

John Hanks 22nd Jan

@Return_of_the_jedi
Better yet, switch to BlackBerry and be efficient and productive.

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RE: The Android sloppy interface: When guidelines are not enough

tallbruva 18th Jan

You get screenshots of the app before you install it. If you don't look at them, they're non-existent or you don't want to look at them, too bad for ya.

Stop whining like an infant.

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Agreed

richstokoe 18th Jan

@tallbruva Exactly what I said (although I went a bit further). My comment doesn't seem to have appeared.

Strange, that.

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RE: The Android sloppy interface: When guidelines are not enough

non-biased 23rd Jan

@tallbruva You sound more like your whining than he does. I have not idea but do the screen shots show all the different windows within the app? Do they show every setting and where it is located? If not, what the point of your post?

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RE: The Android sloppy interface: When guidelines are not enough

mejohnsn 27th Jan

@tallbruva you are the one who is not being reasonable here. The shopper can tell very, VERY little from the minimum required screenshots. Nowhere near enough to evaluate the UI.

No, rather, though Kendrick is obviously showing a strong bias for the Apple attitude, he is quite right about the excellent effect Apple's rules have had for the high quality UI not just on iPhone, but also in versions of the Mac OS going at least as far back as System 7.

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RE: The Android sloppy interface: When guidelines are not enough

brother451 18th Jan

Hmmmm. I can't say I've ever been frustrated by an Android app. A few iPad apps have left me aggravated however due to the lack of a back button. I actually got stuck once in the National Geographic app and couldn't figure out how to get to a previous page. Android fixes this by having a consistent back button that you can always count on.

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RE: The Android sloppy interface: When guidelines are not enough

Aerowind 18th Jan

@brother451 Yup. Back and Menu buttons are a dealbreaker for me.

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RE: The Android sloppy interface: When guidelines are not enough

God of Biscuits 18th Jan

@brother451 back button working consistently? uh huh.

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RE: The Android sloppy interface: When guidelines are not enough

os2baba 19th Jan

@brother451 I couldn't agree more. I agree with Kendrix that it would be nice to have a consistent feel on all apps. But then guess what, you shut the door for that really cool app that revolutionized everything (iTunes looked like no Windows app at the time). Over time, developers will gravitate towards the design guildelines and market forces will eventually promote well designed apps.

But there are fundamental problems with iPhone For all it's consistency across apps, the lack of a back button that went back to the previous screen, the lack of genuine multi-tasking, the lack of file system acces and the lack of Intents makes usability cumbersome and awkward. The last two are particularly noticeable when I look at how KeePassDroid and Dropbox developed by separate developers works seamlessly and how poorly the respective apps work on the iPhone.

I have never used a Windows 7 phone, so have no idea how usable it is. Too often we associate UI with looking good. It's important, but in my books, usability make a significantly greater impact on the user experience. I think over time, Android apps will have greater consistency, but because of the inherent attributes of the OS, will be notches ahead of other OSes.

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RE: The Android sloppy interface: When guidelines are not enough

non-biased 23rd Jan

@os2baba None of those items you mentioned have been an issue for me but to each their own. As far as Dropbox, works flawlessly on my iPhone and iPad.

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RE: The Android sloppy interface: When guidelines are not enough

mejohnsn 27th Jan

@brother451 That was once my objection to iOS too. But since then, I have noticed that, for example, the TableView widgets used together with a NavigationController are even better than a back button: they provide something very much like a back button, always in a consistent location, but with a label bearing the name of the menu you will go back to.

This is actually better than a back button, since the user need not remember where he is going to go when he presses 'back'. The problem is that the other UI widgets do NOT provide a comparable feature, so it is up to programmer discipline to provide some other rough equivalent.

Of course, this does not always happen. But we have the same problem in the Android world, where many developers are silly enough to override the back button and do something silly instead.

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Are you getting the picture, fandroids?

Userama 18th Jan

"Open" is fun for developers and hobbyists. They get to be creative and invent and implement their own favorite way of doing stuff. Great! But the end users suffer because of the inconsistent nature of the UI.

"Closed" (more commonly known as "controlling" or "draconian") is restrictive for developers, but provides a consistent and fun UI for end users. I know. If all users were as smart as you, they would instantly adapt to whatever the UI is with no problem at all, right? But in the real, mass-market world, which approach do you think will prevail?

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RE: The Android sloppy interface: When guidelines are not enough

Rama.NET Updated - 18th Jan

@Userama
+1. Consistent User Experience comes first then rest like security, performance, maintainability etc. whenever you attempt to architect an app, this goes good for large scale enterprise app or a micro app and it doesn't matter whether the underlying technology and platform are Open Source or Closed. If the User Experience is not properly defined, the app is destined for doom.

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RE: The Android sloppy interface: When guidelines are not enough

mrxxxman 18th Jan

@Userama Ideally it should be a combo of both ideologies and that is what Google is now trying to do with ICS. I don't see Apple trying to do the same from the other side and being a little more open. I see the Android model as being better than iOS because it gives more weight to the ideas of the end-user and the developer community on what the best interface should be. I prefer to be part of the "editing" community to weed out what doesn't work over time than to be handed a set of protocols to tell me this is the way it's going to be because we've decided it's what's best for you.

Yes, the Android model might be messier, but it's also more adaptive and responsive to the changing needs of the user/developer community.

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RE: The Android sloppy interface: When guidelines are not enough

dave95. 18th Jan

I've done my own in-store testing and comparisons on each major release of the Android OS and OEMs phone. It has been 5 years since Apple set the usability and intuitive bar with the original iPhone, and I'm curious to know if there's a manufacturer out there who finally gets it! But none is as intuitive as iOS. You still see lot's of UI inconsistencies. Apps continue to a lack cohesive UI. Abrupt UI transitions compared to iOS (and WP7) smoothness. It's just not as elegant as iOS or WP7. Lag/stutter is still apparent. Things like Copy/Paste doesn't work consistently from one app the other. There's a back button but that's also inconsistent from app to app.

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RE: The Android sloppy interface: When guidelines are not enough

Rama.NET 18th Jan

@dave95.
+1

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RE: The Android sloppy interface: When guidelines are not enough

tallbruva 18th Jan

@dave95.
Copy and paste is consistent between every app on a single device because it's handled by the system. Perhaps you're referring to how different manufacturers handle it (e.g. HTC vs Samsung vs Motorola, etc). Lag/stutter... perhaps you tested a Motorola Cliq 'cause my Galaxy S II is the epitome of smooth.

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RE: The Android sloppy interface: When guidelines are not enough

dave95. 18th Jan

@tallbruva

"Perhaps you're referring to how different manufacturers handle it (e.g. HTC vs Samsung vs Motorola, etc)"

And therein lies the problem. Copy and paste should be a consistent core experience for the end user, not to be changed by the manufacturer. Imagine every Windows OEM changing how users copy and paste on the OS, it would be a confusing mess.

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RE: The Android sloppy interface: When guidelines are not enough

os2baba 19th Jan

@dave95. How is the back button inconsistent? It's the most consistent thing. The beauty of it Android is that you can go to use any exposed Activity (screen) of any app even if not coded by you, by using Intents shared by the app. You get to choose which ones of those apps you want to use. From my image, I get to choose whether I want to share it by emailing it, MMSing it, uploading it to Picasa, sharing it to someone on any social network (not just Twitter), look up the location of the photo by using the Geocode if embedded in an image, or anything else that the Gallery app did not dream of when the code was written. When done with the launched screen, hit the back button to go back to whatever you are doing.

Unfortunately, ICS has done away with the dedicated search button, which also provided great consistent context based searches within and outside apps. And the menu button may go away in future phones as well, which would be very inconvenient and Android would end up with the same unintuitive behavior as iOS apps. In fact worse since at least on iOS apps, as Kendrix pointed the buttons are in consistent locations. I fully expect to see the menu on Android apps to be all over the place.

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Strange

rhonin 18th Jan

I have posted 3 replies and none of them show.
Post a level 1 entry and it does.....

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RE: The Android sloppy interface: When guidelines are not enough

jglopic 18th Jan

This issues goes to the ultimate core of Android - Google itself. I spend a lot of my time in GMail on my phone. If you select a message in the inbox, some options appear automatically on screen. If you have a message open, different options appear at the bottom of the screen. Try changing labels from the inbox versus from the reading screen. It is very non-intuitive.

If Google can't be consistent in their own apps, you cannot expect any consistency between apps either.

But I don't like using an iPhone (personal preference), so I guess I will stick with the inconsistencies of Android.

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The fault of all open source projects

jscott418 18th Jan

Even Google cannot fix the problem that plagues all open source. That is the rough edges of its developement. When you compare Apple and Microsoft who manage their mobile OS much more in house. You then understand why Android is so messed up.
It all depends on what you are willing to give up for the open source tag.

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6 Month Review time

retnep 18th Jan

Android phones shouldn't be able to reviewed for at least 6 months. That's about the time I think most people start to notice performance problems. When you first get the phone out of the box, sure it runs great and the apps are smooth. But after about 6 months, when apps start competing with each other for memory and the same resources, the phones start to sputter. That's why when I see reviewers tout the latest and greatest android phone, I just take it with a grain of salt.

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RE: The Android sloppy interface: When guidelines are not enough

wetQtip 18th Jan

How long did it take before hotdogs and hotdog buns both came 8 to a pack?
While this is a simplistic example it can uncover some of the problems.

multiple companies making products that use other companies products and not communicating the requirements to each other.

guidelines or rules?
Guidelines are a set of instructions to help you understand the basics. Dont follow the guidelines and usually nothing happens.
Rules are a set of instructions to be followed. Break the rules and their are consequences.

How much time and money is a plattform going to spend to enforce guidelines or rules? ...
Apps the company didnt code or design
Apps that sell for 99 cents
There are 500+ new apps everyday 24/7/365
The marketplace and star ratings will help define the apps success

When a high bar placed on user experience, are all of your "partners" capable of producing to this high standard? Do they understand whats at stake?

The real problems are:
The software tools are not good/smart enough
The guidelines/rules are not detailed enough
The process to build software waterfall/scrum are not usercentric
The timelines are unrealistic and engineering biased
There are too many apps submitted everyday to review/reject/admit based on usability (science) design (opinion)

so if you want to make a change in a platform, get involved, communicate with others in a forum. Otherwise we will be stuck with too many dogs and not enough buns... again

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RE: The Android sloppy interface: When guidelines are not enough

Willnott 18th Jan

@wetQtip : " How long did it take before hotdogs and hotdog buns both came 8 to a pack? " - They do???? Where do you shop? around here it is still 10 hotdogs & 8 rolls per package! (go figure - they *should* both be 8 per, but many are still not.)

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RE: The Android sloppy interface: When guidelines are not enough

Willnott 18th Jan

Lotsa "choir preaching" here, methinks - standardization has a lot going for it, but still some independents may think they have a "better idea" - or perhaps, as James title indicates, are just sloppy or maybe lazy, or perhaps do not really comprehend the market they are trying to reach (as in apps from Asia that reveal significantly differently cultural focus).
In many other aspects of our life we respond with much more focus or vigor to items which meet our concept of standardization, but even then, there are some wild cards we are willing to endure if they have enough of an interest factor.
And, perhaps some developers are only striving to get a little extra coin in their pockets, as opposed to millions, so just don't bother to address standardization issues.
Imagine if your PC monitor will only work on the same brand of PC. Oh - as I recall, it did start out that way... but the market succeeded in driving standardization. So, we can vote with our coins, or if we don't care, be resigned to seeing a larger proliferation of apps that just don't interact the same. The nice thing about openness is that the choice is individual.

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Create an app certification process to promote conformance to UI guidelines

gmeader Updated - 18th Jan

An app certification organization could be created. Apps that conform to the UI guidelines could display a trademarked logo (like a UL logo on electrical equipment) in App Stores next to the Star rating. This would allow consumers to choose only conformant apps if they desire.
The press could highlight apps that have UI certification in reviews.

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RE: The Android sloppy interface: When guidelines are not enough

Scotsman828 18th Jan

The problem is the custom manufacturer UI's constantly screwing with things. Most app devs work with Android Dev Tools that use ASOP UI. All the blame lies on the manufacturers. Moto Blur is the worst of the offenders, because it attempts to overlay the Blur UI onto the app by one of Moto's services called Fakeblur. Articles like this continue to complain about Android and blaming Google and completely fail to lay the blame on the manufacturer's customized UI.

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RE: The Android sloppy interface: When guidelines are not enough

smiley1960 18th Jan

It's an easy fix in a Market Economy. Google needs an "app approved by Google" endorsement. Most (IMHO>90%) of users will download "approved" apps and ignore the rest. In this manner, there is no necessity of imposing "rules" on developers. Let the Market decide.