Matias Duarte on the Philosophy of Android ⇥

“There’s this thing that’s happening right now in user interface design that I find kind of shackling. The faux wood paneling trend, and the airport lavatory signage trend.”

It’s interesting that as Apple moves towards more skeumorphic user interfaces (c.f. iCal, iBooks and Find my Friends), Google is doing their best to move away from that idea. They’re moving towards the Windows Phone 7 end of the spectrum with Ice Cream Sandwich. Josh Topolsky points out that “even the sounds have been changed. The lock sounds and keyboard sounds are now much more digital, instead of trying to replicate real-world objects.”

Windows Phone 7 and iOS are interesting UI-wise because they’re really good at focusing on specific things. WP7 is very digital and very minimal, whereas iOS is more material-based. The combination of those two opposing goals is either going to be really great or unsuccessful.