Thread: nokia n9 vs the real world. - a realistic out of the box experience review
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litemotiv is offline litemotiv
2011-12-07 , 15:56
Posts: 40 | Thanked: 57 times | Joined on Dec 2011 @ The Netherlands
#77
Originally Posted by SamGan View Post
Using the app screen as a task switcher would be terrible idea in my opinion. When you mix up icons and running apps as icons confusion is the result. It also takes away the best feature of the multitasking screen - being able to see what the app is doing at a glance. For eg., you may be downloading something and just want to check whether it has finished and this can be done without maximizing the app as the mini screens are live.

This is where we have to agree to disagree. When it comes to interface everybody have their own personal opinion so there is no satisfying all. The designers have to take a middle path which they think will satisfy the most users but there will always be detractors. I don't mind swiping an extra screen to get to the screen I want, it take negligible time. Right now my main grouse is the lack of folders for the app screen which makes locating an icon time consuming. However I understand this is coming in PR1.2.
I understand where you're coming from. I am a UX designer myself in daily life, and 99% of the time i'm required to think about what "normal" people want. My guess is that those people are not looking for a task switcher screen like the one we have right now, but i do understand why a (smaller) group of power users finds it very useful.

So it's perfectly okay to agree to disagree on this one. I personally feel that Android has addressed this issue better than MeeGo, especially in ICS 4.0, but there is something to say for the current approach as well when you regard the N9 as a computer first and foremost, rather than a handheld communications tool.

So maybe i'm just more of a 'normal' user with some 'power user interests', i want the system to manage for me as much as it can (which is one of linux's strong points ofcourse), but give me the means to interfere when i deem it necessary. The current task switcher approach is more about putting all the power (and responsibility) in the hands of the user, which is certainly defendable if power users are your primary target group.