Apple released the much-anticipated update to its mobile operating system yesterday. The chorus of complaints has been unprecedented, but not unexpected. With any new design you always flush out, what Howard Cosell would call the “nattering nabobs of negativism.”
Is all the criticism deserved? Based on some of the design analysis out there, it’s quite evident that Apple’s redesign fell short in a number of areas.
Inconsistencies
Several pundits have pointed out the glaring inconsistencies and design incongruencies that have no place in a company with 50,250 employees.
You might argue that it’s difficult to get a large organization like Apple to act in perfect harmony, yet Apple reportedly pulled engineers from MacOS to work on iOS 7. For a company that prides itself on attention to detail, delivering sloppy design for a $100+ billion profit center is unacceptable.
Innovation
As one observer notes, Apple will most likely address these inconsistencies by the time iOS 7 ships, if not sooner. So the key question is, did Apple solve any challenges innovatively or did it introduce any new gee-whiz feature? As TechCrunch so pointedly observes, Apple borrowed a lot of ideas from other company’s apps.
At the end of the day, iOS 7 is neither the result of a perfectionist vision nor the innovative breakthrough everyone was expecting. Let’s hope that the total package, iPhone 5S, reportedly in diverse colors to match the new interface, plus iOS 7 together, makes a powerful statement.
photo credit from Greg Gomer review.
Lainie Liberti is a recovering branding expert, who’s career once focused on creating campaigns for green – eco business, non-profits and conscious business. Dazzling clients with her high-energy designs for over 18 years, Lainie lent her artistic talents to businesses that matter. But that was then.
In 2008, after the economy took a turn, Lainie decided to be the change (instead of a victim) and began the process of “lifestyle redesign,” a joint decision between both her and her 11-year-old son, Miro. They sold or gave away all of of their possessions in 2009 and began a life of travel, service, and exploration. Lainie and her son Miro began their open-ended adventure backpacking through Central and South America. They are slow traveling around the globe allowing inspiration to be their compass. The pair is most interested in exploring different cultures, contributing by serving, and connecting with humanity as ‘global citizens.’
Today Lainie considers herself a digital nomad who is living a location independent life. She and her son write and podcast their experiences from the road at Raising Miro on the Road of Life.
