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'Metro' Critique: Thoughts on Outlook.com?

8 years ago from , fraud

I like the new 'flat-era' of design, but I'm also a fan of design interfaces with depth, textures, or what some might call 'skeumorphic'. I'm an avid Gmail user, although I'm really interested to get everyone's opinions & reactions on the new Outlook web-mail interface (http://outlook.com/).

I'll say this: The visual design is obviously improved, but I think they may have placed too many chips on the visuals in lieux of a solid experience & flow.

Thoughts?

5 comments

  • Matt HallidayMatt Halliday, almost 8 years ago

    I really like the "Metro UI" when I see it on a phone, but in my opinion, it starts to feel awkward and styleless as the display size increases.

    On a Windows Phone, tiles are appropriately-sized for tapping, headings and other important details can be read comfortably up close or at arms length, and there is just a hint of bold colour. It does a great job of showing you important information at a glance, just like the ads say.

    However, on a Windows 8 tablet or PC, everything seems over the top for no reason. Tiles are scaled up, the typography is giant and everything is floating in a sea of (once tasteful) colour.

    I'm not sure if it's true, but "Metro UI" seems like it was created specifically for phones and then repurposed elsewhere just to be consistent.

    0 points
  • Andrew McCarthyAndrew McCarthy, almost 8 years ago

    I didn't try it out, but even the simple "learn more" element on the left fails at many basic design & experience fundamentals.

    0 points
  • Alex RibeiroAlex Ribeiro, almost 8 years ago

    One thing I know about MS is that they follow trends, but they have no clue about what they are doing or at least don't have coherent approach to design principals so, yup, your last paragraph pretty much nails it. Also the statement works well on windows 8 too.

    I wish apple would invest some time in making an email competitor. Gmail is not bad but eating rice every day is boring.

    0 points
  • Taurean BryantTaurean Bryant, almost 8 years ago

    "I like the new 'flat-era' of design, but I'm also a fan of design interfaces with depth, textures, or what some might call 'skeumorphic'." — I would say you're just a fan of design then, there is no reason to pigeon hole a design approach as right or wrong. I would also agree with your statement on the bottom.

    0 points