For a long time I have used the S60 UI with the Symbian 0S at its core and I have to admit they are a powerful tool, but it’s just not easy to use and things are not logically placed. On top of that it looks “OK”, but no real eye-candy to speak of. While I can now use S60 based devices almost with my eyes closed I have to admit that it took some time to get there. Everyday I’m reminded by new S60 users that it’s not as intuitive as it should be: such simple tasks as multi-tasking are not even obvious to them at first. Recent mobile device like the Apple iPhone have shown that a UI can be simple and yet give the flexibility of having a fair amount of features inside. Now I’m pretty convinced that the S60/Symbian combo is far superior then anything on the market and yes even the iPhone’s UI, but there’s no denying that S60 lacks simplicity and ease of use. Now they have been making changes to UI by introducing Feature Pack 2, but this seems more of a small step then anything else. Does S60 not get it? Maybe they should just skip FP2 and go back to the drawing board. Maybe they should offer a UI system that can be changed based on the users skills, toning down on the options based on the user’s familiarity with S60. Again I have to say that S60 is superior but we need some changes in the direction of simplicity.
What do you guys think?
Fully agree. I am sure they are doing a lot of research etc. But what might be a good idea is to start from scratch, and see how far and how much of that can be ported to the S60?
I think they should focus on making the most used apps very easily accessible and user friendly.
One of the most annoying things to me is having to confirm almost every single action. Why not include a trash folder or “undo” option?