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How does the fact that the app sells well disprove the fact that the app is badly designed? I have both Motion-X apps, and I love their features, but I find myself using simpler apps because of the Motion-X UI clutter. Motion-X offers an impressive feature set for the price, but why on this earth do I have to deal with un-familiar graphical switches to change a setting? Where in the real, tangible world does having more switches and buttons make something better? I'd actually use the apps more than once if I didn't have to study the UI in order to make a task-related decision.

For example, take a look at a screenshot from Motion-X's Drive app (http://i.imgur.com/uWXdk.jpg). Compare that to the less-flashy Tomtom app UI (http://i.imgur.com/6mPKe.jpg)

Which UI is more functional?

And for run tracking, which UI would you find yourself more inclined to use, Nike GPS' (http://i.imgur.com/80pLl.jpg) or Motion-X GPS' (http://i.imgur.com/tTdMN.jpg)?

I never can figure out how to use the Motion-X apps. Tease me all you want, but the UI is a chore to me. I prefer the dumbed-down Tomtom app for navigation and the Nike GPS app for my runs. While they may lose, feature-wise, they win on functionality. Why should a user have to deal with artificial UI abstractions that add flair at the cost of increased cognitive load?




How does the fact that the app sells well disprove the fact that the app is badly designed?

Being well selling doesn't mean that it's not badly designed, it means there's a financial interest in not changing it.


Exhibit A: the fucking ribbon.




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