[ryanstout]

Hopefully I'm not the only one that thinks this is going to kill usability. The reason old people can figure their way around <=iOS6 is that everything that can be tapped looks like a button. A more "mature" audience isn't what apple's good at appealing to.

This article seems to sum up some of my other complaints fairly well: http://wolfslittlestore.be/tasteless/

[mintplant]

I'm volunteering at a center that teaches senior citizens various computer skills. One of the courses we teach is on how to use their iPhones. I'm dreading the moment that iOS7 is released: all of these people are going to have to start right back at the beginning in their understanding.

[ja27]

I think Apple would be happy to lose all the "silver surfers" and regain their cool with teens, tweens, and young adults. Teens don't want the same phone that their grandmother has and they don't want the same tablet they're forced to use at school.

[lukifer]

I think it's a simple calculus: at the moment, the silver surfers don't have elsewhere to go. Worse case scenario, they'll buy a Nexus tablet that will sit on the shelf, and/or limp along with their old tech (possibly after convincing their nephew to "fix" their iPad by reverting the OS).

Meanwhile, young people are highly ripe for bailing out of iOS, now that Samsung has some cool factor, Android's software/gaming ecosystem is growing richer, and the golden manacles have been feeling tight on the tech-savviest generation. (Guess who's doing all the jailbreaking? It ain't the boomers.)

Old folks may be the bread and butter today, but I think Apple knows that iOS is at a crossroads when it comes to winning the future. (I may be futilely rooting for the open web, but I've still got my popcorn.)

[gurkendoktor]

I have no data on this - but IMHO losing the "silver surfers" weakens the ecosystem they're trying to build. The only reason I use Photostream since its inception is that my girlfriend's mom can use the iPad 1. FaceTime is another good example - it makes iDevices great gifts for parents & grandparents.

Also, have you seen how many elderly Asian tourists are using the iPad as the only digicam they can comfortably use? (Not sure if this is also a trend in other countries.) That's obviously the opposite of "cool", but these are $500 in revenue per user. The new lock screen and camera of iOS 7 are less discoverable.

[Pxtl]

Idunno, I think Apple is already moving a bit away from the "pure cool" targeting and are just going to grab as much as possible now... the "mini" lines are a huge compromise on this because they're obviously created to be a low-cost alternative to their flagship platforms.

Apple is the prestigious brand. Having a budget line compromises that image.

[encoderer]

Companies can thread this needle just fine.

Go to a Mercedes dealership. You can buy a $32k C-Class or a $132k CL.

For that matter, go to an Apple Store. You can get a $400 iPod or a $90 Shuffle.

Or a $3000 Mac Pro or a $600 Mac Mini.

[jlmendezbonini]

Would you mind sharing more details about why you think it's going to be painful for seniors to adjust? The answer might be obvious, but I'd love to hear more about the difficulties that you've faced teaching seniors.

[adnrw]

I don't teach seniors per se, so I can't answer "professionally" but I have taught two of my grandparents how to use their phones (one old Motorolla flip phone, one on my old iPhone) and computers.

I found that they were very hesitant to engage with the phones, they have a preconceived notion that touching the wrong thing could break the entire device (which is generally an incorrect assumption but not completely).

The way to get around that fear, of course, is to make sure all the steps are followed in order in the way they were taught, eg: To Make a Phone Call: 1. Press the green icon with the phone on it at the bottom left 2. Press the picture of the star to bring up your favourites 3. Press on the name you want to call. 4. When you're finished, press the big red button.

In that example the four steps are largely unchanged, and every identifiable interactive element (green icon with phone, star, names, red button) has the same general description.

But everything has changed slightly - the green icon isn't the same colour, the star is a bit different, the names now have photos next to them and the red button is a big red strip.

This isn't a big deal for you or me, but it is certainly a big deal when they're looking for the clues in the interface that they are used to.

But things like "Slide the grey button to the right to unlock the phone" and "slide the green button to the right to answer the call" have changed significantly. There's no more grey or green box - there's no box to unlock and the green box is now a big green line.

My grandfather is doing pretty well with his iPhone by muscle memory, but he literally has a piece of paper in his phone case with all the steps written down in order so he can refer to them if he gets stuck.

Changes on this scale break the muscle memory that they've been trained to use, but more importantly makes the steps he's been taught incorrect. It's no small feat to have to learn everything over again. Especially so when things aren't brand new anymore and the changes are only slight.

Does that answer your question?

[pdeuchler]

If you go to the Apple Developer forums (https://developer.apple.com/devforums/ Dev account needed) the "Getting Started" sub-forum is filled with devs, from just signed up to veterans with multiple apps under their belt, asking usability questions.

I think it's telling when your own developing base has to post to forums asking simple questions like:

  Where did my spotlight search go?
  How do I rate songs?

[threeseed]

Yes. It's almost like this is a beta version of the biggest ever change to the OS and some people will have to learn new ways of doing the same tasks.

The only thing 'telling' is that somehow you're surprised by this.

[daughart]

This is not encouraging... Hopefully they can resolve many of the usability issues before release.

For me usability is probably the best way to substantiate a design criticism.

[klancaster]

Old or not, I really don't get the whole "flat design" trend. Its ugly, at least to me, and reduces usability overall.

[cclogg]

This is honestly a valid critique. While many push flat or semi-flat as the successor of skeuomorphic/textured design (in terms of looks and use), I think in many ways it doesn't provide a completely better experience. An example for myself: it took me several minutes on the (flat) Google Maps app to figure out I could pull up the bottom card to do Street-View. Good luck non tech-savvy people!

These comments about the older generation dealing with flat design are also VERY valid. Apple hasn't gone too far into Metro territory, but it will be interesting to see how the useability end of iOS 7 goes over (never mind the criticisms of the look).

Either way, I think Apple needs to polish what they showed at WWDC. Let's start with the arrow pointing up on the lock screen lol.

[wvenable]

I agree. I think my parents can easily use iOS 6 on the iPhone or iPad while they have trouble with other computing devices. Same goes with my toddler. I actually thought Apple purposely kept this style because they're aware of the great usability it was compared to what other manufacturers are doing.

It turns out that perhaps I was giving them too much credit.

[jcc80]

Agreed - this design is very disappointing. I want to be able to glance at my phone and understand what I'm looking at as easily as possible. Another person in this thread mentioned waking up from sleep and looking at their phone - that's exactly it for me. I'm not getting AARP magazine yet (early 30s), just want using my phone to be easy.

[daughart]

Linked article is one of the worst offenders I've seen for unsubstantiated whining.

I'm sorry I just don't see why many of these things are so terrible. It's like every designer thinks their personal taste is an objective standard...

[FanboyAlert]

Your comment is one of the worst offenders I've seen for unsubstantiated whining. Stop posting fanboy.

[daughart]

Sorry, I can actually substantiate my claim:

"The title bar is white, the tab bar is white. If I blur my eyes, I don't see the distinct areas."

"The Safari icon went from something beautiful to this"

"48px roundrect? Terrible."

"Really Apple? Icons on people's heads? HAS YOUR VISUAL DESIGNER LOST THEIR SENSE OF TASTE?"

"And most of it sits on ugly rainbow puke, again."

These all seem like whiny statements of personal taste to me. I don't use my phone with blurred eyes, I have set photos of people to my phone wallpaper (covering their faces - the horror!), transparency doesn't look remotely like any puke I have ever generated, etc, etc.