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layervault:

When LayerVault 2 launched earlier this spring, we believed that we were taking a risk by pursuing an entirely flat interface.

Well-loved products on the web share a similar design aesthetic, with roughly the same kinds of bevels, inset shadows, and drop shadows. For designers, achieving this level of “lickable” interface is a point of pride. For us, and for a minority of UI designers out there, it feels wrong.

We certainly didn’t invent the flat style but arriving at it was a violent process. We tore through hundreds of revisions (we have the LayerVault timelines to prove it) to potential interfaces before arriving at the answer that now makes us say “of course.” The desk at LayerVault’s original headquarters (my Manhattan apartment) still has the battle scars from objects being slammed down in anger. At one point, while working on a mockup, a MacBook was slammed shut so hard it was nearly unhinged.

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Excellent read.

30 Years of The Apple Lisa And The Apple ][e

A wonderful read #Apple

Make Things Happen With @AnyDO

Exceptionally slick, and seamless #GTD #app for #iOS (and #Android). Unparalleled #UX with voice control and cool design. Loving it.

lilly:

I’ve had my Nexus 4 as my primary phone for nearly a month now, and I’m shocked, but I like it. The UI quirks are legion and baffling, the configuration complexity is high, and I occasionally get myself into bizarre situations with an accidental swipe that take a lot of time to figure out. But I like it.

Hardware wise, I love the screen and CPU speed. The sorta haptic typing feedback is ridiculous, though. And the camera is pretty pedestrian.

The apps are mostly all there and okay. The software side things that I really miss are Things, Timehop, iMessage. I miss the iCloud syncing of photos to my Mac, although now I’m pretty much moved over to Dropbox for that. I do like Google Now an awful lot. It routinely surprises me by letting me know a family member’s flight is coming in early or when my Amazon package ships. Pretty neat, and feels like the future.

I don’t like the sense of style in the UI at all, though. Aesthetically it’s kind of a disaster in my view. Not much coherence, and what there is I find garish and unsubtle. So I’m happier with the iOS sense of style by a long shot.

Anyway, that’s my one month update. I think it’s clear at this point that Android will be the world’s ‘good enough’ phone, and will dominate unit volumes for a good long while.

I don’t yet feel that way about tablet UI, but tbd I guess.

And, fwiw, I still like my iPhone a lot too…

Kind of how I feel about #Android. It’s not bad, but it does not cut it for me. #Google #iOS

The ‘Apple Needs a New Hit Product Now’ Argument Via @gruber

So. Damn. Right.