Peter Denholm

Don’t redesign just to do something new, redesign because you have a better answer to the question.

- Paul Scrivens

Good design unifies presentation and action.

It allows for fluidity between two separate states. The closer the gap between the two, the better the experience. In this sense, good design always condenses down.

Apple used to embody this. Now they do the opposite. For example, in the current version of Apple Music you’re either in the album view, or the song list view:

The only conduit between the two states is a tiny back arrow in the top left of the song list view. A better solution would be to combine these views together, allowing users to choose songs without leaving the Album view – just like iTunes did:

The fluidity between the two states results in a less expensive click. Not only does it show more songs in the combined state, it also borrows from the image search convention. Familiarity helps to reduce the cognitive burden:

This “separation of states” regression has proliferated to tools like Spotlight. For example, searching for a definition in the current version will redirect a user to the dictionary.

Previously this was shown in context:

Is it faster to open an app? Or just show the results in context? Why increase time and effort?

It’s not just Apple that is regressing in this aspect.

Windows 11’s start menu is either in the “Pinned”, or “All apps” state. This is facilitated by a small button in the top right:

Compare this to Windows 10 where you can see both the “Pinned” and “App list” all in one view:

While no one ever expects much from Microsoft, it’s still disappointing to see them stumble away from good design.

It’s important to note that Microsoft’s regressions are the result of business interests overriding the users. It’s harder to show ads without a “Recommended” section. This is in contrast to Apple’s regressions, which have resulted from shifting to a technology-first paradigm, instead of a design-first one.

Another notable Apple regression is what became of “System Preferences”. “System Settings” is evidence that Apple doesn’t “dogfood” their own software. What started out as carefully organised rows, devolved into a sprawling list of icons – many with similar colours reducing scannability:

Apple went from one of the best settings designs, with only minor changes since its inception, to a design where you can’t even figure out how to turn an inactive display off without searching.

Search should be a fallback, but when you present too many options to the user, it becomes noise – and trying to find the signal amongst it just seems like work.

These are only a few of the many issues that now litter Apple’s software. Features like Notifications, App Library, About This Mac, and basically everything new in watchOS 10, are regressions that could all be fixed by going back in time.

It’s disappointing watching a company decline in an area they once pioneered – however it does offer us an opportunity:

If no one is king of software anymore, the throne is ours for the taking.