This is spot on! It’s very disappointing seeing this from Apple. I also think they’ll be releasing an updated version soon that’ll be more accessible given the amount of backlash they’ve received already.
But do you think this ushers us into a new landscape for visual design? If that was their intention, I think that perfection is not necessarily the expectation, but rather challenging the status quo of what we’ve known and then pushing the boundaries progressively with every release.
Thanks for reading. I agree that challenging the status quo can be valuable, but not at the cost of usability and accessibility. Why not challenge the status quo by creating the most inclusive UI ever invented? Why does no one ever ask that question? I know why. It’s a conscious, strategic choice by Apple to prioritize aesthetics over almost everything else.
When Jony Ive moved from head of hardware design to overseeing both hardware and UI design, Apple slowly shifted toward aesthetics over usability and accessibility over time. (remember all the font choices that were so thin you could barely read them. Hahaha) After he left, things started to improve again. (that’s why the title of this article ends with “,Again”) Then Liquid Glass dropped and erased all that progress.
As for whether this is ushering in a new era of UI design, I don’t think so at all. In my mind, this will not be considered innovative in the long run. It’s clearly aesthetic-driven UI design at its worst. Just like you said, I think Apple will push updates that fixes most of this soon. I have been around long enough to see these types of extreme usability errors ebb and flow. My guess, this is just the latest version of the same mistake being repeated again and again.
Thanks again for reading and the thought-provoking comment!
This is spot on! It’s very disappointing seeing this from Apple. I also think they’ll be releasing an updated version soon that’ll be more accessible given the amount of backlash they’ve received already.
But do you think this ushers us into a new landscape for visual design? If that was their intention, I think that perfection is not necessarily the expectation, but rather challenging the status quo of what we’ve known and then pushing the boundaries progressively with every release.
Thanks for reading. I agree that challenging the status quo can be valuable, but not at the cost of usability and accessibility. Why not challenge the status quo by creating the most inclusive UI ever invented? Why does no one ever ask that question? I know why. It’s a conscious, strategic choice by Apple to prioritize aesthetics over almost everything else.
When Jony Ive moved from head of hardware design to overseeing both hardware and UI design, Apple slowly shifted toward aesthetics over usability and accessibility over time. (remember all the font choices that were so thin you could barely read them. Hahaha) After he left, things started to improve again. (that’s why the title of this article ends with “,Again”) Then Liquid Glass dropped and erased all that progress.
As for whether this is ushering in a new era of UI design, I don’t think so at all. In my mind, this will not be considered innovative in the long run. It’s clearly aesthetic-driven UI design at its worst. Just like you said, I think Apple will push updates that fixes most of this soon. I have been around long enough to see these types of extreme usability errors ebb and flow. My guess, this is just the latest version of the same mistake being repeated again and again.
Thanks again for reading and the thought-provoking comment!
Yeah, I see what you mean. You raise a valid point. Hopefully they release the updates sooner than we expect.
Thanks for consistently sharing your thoughts and experiences. I learn so much from them.