Android Doubles Down on Design ⇥

Somehow I missed linking to this excellent post by Khoi Vinh:

[Y]ou could apply these to just about any design system, whether an OS or a suite of products. The only material that shows how Android is different lies in the lower-level patterns and building blocks; this is a little bit like saying that Android is different because its constituent parts are different, but not truly explaining why they are the way they are.

This is also something I missed explaining, but Vinh captures it perfectly. Much of the Android Design Guidelines are spent explaining what makes the platform different, but not why. A more conceptually-based approach would allow interface designers to create truly unique, non-standard UIs that people would still feel as part of Android. It’s this kind of deep explanation that allows GarageBand to exist amongst otherwise blue OS X applications.