@Miriamm @kcarruthers 2009 seems so long ago

https://stopdesign.com/archive/2009/03/20/goodbye-google.html

@Miriamm some 'hotshot' flunked Human Factors.

Of course, Google is not about *functionality*, it's about *lock-in* and *selling eyeballs*, so...

@Miriamm Aye, they're no' Ron Cobb.

@Miriamm deadass i just have their positions memorized because its so hard to tell which is which at a glance.

@Miriamm I only use the first three and they’ve been in the same place in my phone or iPad dock or folders for so long that I didn’t really notice the change. But I take your point.

@Miriamm thank God for custom app icon packs on Android or I'd never find anything

@Miriamm

Funny how the most skeuomorphic ones are the most distinguishable.

Remind me again how skeuomorphism in design is so evil and terrible and bad??

sigh.

Mac OS 8 didn't have these sort of problems.

@Miriamm i was actually just thinking about that. My Google folder is unusable

@Miriamm Well at least it's prettier

wait,

@Miriamm I keep opening "Drive" when I want to drive somewhere and not "Maps" :blobohcat:

@Miriamm The colors camouflage the shape of the Google icons. This is the definition of style over substance. I'm grateful that MacOS and iOS still aren't that bad, even after the recent redesign.

I especially love Adobe CC's icon set, which stands out so in a bold and mostly unified way. MS Office deserves a little recognition too for its unified soulless corporate vibe.

@Miriamm honestly would not be surprised if that third row is what they go with for the next icon update lol

@Miriamm The third row is just the 2024 refresh of those icons

@Miriamm for everyone that praises a design, there are probably just as many detractors.

@Miriamm holy shit yes.

Don't get me wrong, aesthetics are important. But clarity is equally important, and you must learn to balance them. I think there is a way to have a coherent theme throughout a set of app icons while maintaining clarity. What Google did was absolutely not it.

@Miriamm
So this is why I never click the right google app ψ(._. )>

@Miriamm

When Wells-Fargo was designing or updating (early 90s, SF) their web site UI, I told them via focus group ($400 for an evening) what I thought of their icon-based interface. Not much. The symbols they chose weren't universal (then) and I hated them. Pretty sure there was no descriptor if you moused-over them.

@Miriamm I honestly thought I would have gotten used to it and been able to tell them apart by now but nope

@Miriamm I have similar issues with the some of the app icons in Microsoft Office and Teams..

@Miriamm 💯 THIS!!!

@Miriamm holy cow yes. Let me open up maps, shit that’s my photos. Let me try again, shit that’s my email

@Miriamm

@Miriamm i hate them. =\

@Miriamm Literally my #1 use of customizing home screen icons is to revert my Google app icons to before that redesign 😂

@Miriamm I miss material design

@Miriamm they failed at rainbow capitalism

@Miriamm @GTStevenson

It's wild Google has the audacity to offer UX courses when this is their portfolio

@Miriamm absolutely true

@Miriamm Surely this is what happens when you prioritize *branding* over usability AND aesthetics.

@Miriamm
Reminds me of the late 90s and early aughts, when every company logo had to have a circle or a swoosh.

The flaming coffee ring of quality! Lucent.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucent

@Miriamm aesthetically they sucks too 🤢

@Miriamm Yeah it's one of the many factors finally pushing me away from Google products. I used to be a Google fanboy because their software was good. But #opensource alternatives are slowly surpassing it in raw software quality.

@Miriamm They have not even the slightest care for accessibility.
Everything to them is Little Boxes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Boxes

@Miriamm but muh braaaaaaaaaand

@Miriamm I though I was stupid/brain damaged when I repeatedly tap on Gmail when I want maps (they're side by side on my home screen!)

(Well, I AM brain damaged, but that's beside the point)

@Miriamm the icons for google home and google tv are the worst...

@Miriamm my philosophy when it comes to design is that it should be simple, minimalist, and have its own identity, while prioritising utility and functionality above all else. Stylised designs can be “cool”, “trendy”, or create a striking identity, but they can be a disaster for daily use when functionality is thrown out the window.

@Miriamm @Kim_k19

Just before/around when the pandemic began my uni updated its student portal. Previously one logged in and had a menu of clear-text English words to choose from along one side.

Now? There is a grid of icon tiles that look like they were ripped from shareware clipart circa mid-1990s, 3/4 of which have an image of a person in a grad cap. Only the 'financial' one is quasi-visually distinct.

It makes the Google icons look highly functional in comparison. 🙄😬😂

@Miriamm Ah yes, the Tartan era. Some Scotsman working at Google must be very happy.

@Miriamm I like how the original ones all make sense with the exception of the Drive logo, which has always been absolute jibber-jabber

@Miriamm I don't get it. The last two lines look the same...

@Miriamm sometimes i accidentally open youtube music instead of youtube studio

@Miriamm I feel the same when open-source software switch their icon theme to something fully monochromatic, like Gimp or Krita. I can't find anything at a glance anymore.

@Miriamm I wonder if greyscale print is still considered for creating icons/logos today. Well, maybe not for companies who are internet only, but maybe others.

@Miriamm

@Miriamm Reminds of Microsoft's attempt at flat design.

@Miriamm
When looking for a product on the shelves in a supermarket, the first thing we notice is colour. There is a lot of research that supports this. Apps are the same.

@Miriamm who sees it like this

@Miriamm It's so funny. I didn't know I was doing that until I saw your post and I was like "that's why I'm constantly clicking the wrong one!"

@Miriamm Nobody that care just a little about privacy would use that many of Google services.
Every one can be replaced by better options.
I use only Google Maps but it may be replaced by other options too.

@Miriamm YESSSS!!!! I didn’t even realize this was an issue until I read this and now it makes sooooo much sense.

@Miriamm @BigCaddy all that Google icons are terrible in any version. It takes to have no feel of beauty to create a shit like this.

@Miriamm Just saying ...

@Miriamm I beleive A negative side effect of this is a Large portion of the population Not learning any actually Usefull information.
Because they are constantly Learning how to Operate their phones & other Devices..
.
Personally id rather be learning something to benifet myself &, or those around me.

@Miriamm @zachklipp I still contend the Google Calendar icon is what you’d get if a life insurance company merged with Baskin Robbins

@Miriamm I wonder if you saw #Proton services #icons after their rebranding :blobcatjoy:​ When it was new, there were complaints about icons being basically all the same.

thanks for an awesome at text. It really makes it clear what the problem is. @Miriamm Thanks for an awesome all the text. It really makes it clear what the problem is.

@Miriamm yes, I always confuse calendar and maps on my phone now. It makes sense now.

@Miriamm I don't even think they look good imo 🤷‍♂️

@Miriamm
So true 😂
I used to make custom icon packs for Android devices, and every time one of the big apps changed their icon, us icon devs uuuggh'ed hard.

@Miriamm
For me the all time worst icon redesign was when Android's stopwatch action icons went from instantly understandable to this:

@Miriamm Foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds or smth like that.

@Miriamm @charles_ex nobody except Google and you and ads aggregate

@Miriamm Give it another two to five years, the company will do another mega flip on the high positions and then they will announce that "after extensive usability research" they decided to improve the UX by effectively rolling the change back.
Remember the debacle of #MaterialDesign input boxes?

@Miriamm

makes it easy to remember which apps on my phone are controlled by a giant corporation.

@Miriamm ... I think this is missing the context that you don't have to have all these apps right next to each other on your phone? Their layout location on my phone screen often becomes more distinct differentiation mechanism for me. But, I don't disagree with part of the main point here that it's a bit boring design-wise.

@Miriamm @baroquebobcat Ironically, I keep telling my wife that optimizing the kitchen for beauty makes cooking harder!!!

@Miriamm It’s like they’re designing exclusively for the colorblind.

@Miriamm I was thinking about this the other day - I have to hyper-focus on just the shape to find the one I want. Either that or I have to remember the name and go alphabetically. I still scroll right by them time and time again.

Danger thing with the Office Outlook and Word icons - both are blue and almost indistinguishable from one another at a casual glance.

@Miriamm maybe ironically, they fixed the problem themselves a year or two ago by introducing themable monochrome icons on Android (Wallet though??)

@Miriamm omg I am constantly opening the Google Play Store when I mean to open Google Maps. The icons look the same to me

@Miriamm I only use Chrome, but compared to the sea of white and blue icons almost all my other apps are, it actually is the one app I never miss.

@Miriamm

I know this is more or less a non-starter, but I think anyone with the word "designer" in their job title should be prohibited from using a computer to do their job.

@Miriamm Without labels, each row is equally illegible to me.