Android chief architect on mobile and software design

At the Accel Design Conference in 2014, Matias Duarte, vice president of Android Design, accepted the Verge editor Josh Topolsky for Software design, and in an interview he stressed and appealed: the starting point of the past design is to develop separate applications for different devices, But this time around, software designers should figure out how to develop only one app and run it on different devices.

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Matias has been in Google for nearly 4 years, before serving in Palm, Helio, Danger, in the user experience design has accumulated profound experience and good reputation.

In the interview, Matias first shared his personal understanding of design: Design not only about creating products, but also about how to create. "Design is an attempt again and again, until it shows a perfect effect." "This spirit also applies to the design of software and the user experience-whether it is easy to use, whether it is easy-to-use, and whether it takes care of the emotional needs of users.

He made a rather bold point: the idea that mobility was the end-not the demise of mobile devices, but the "development of separate applications for different devices"-is no longer in line with the needs of the times. He advocates to dilute the device's own local properties, use Web technology and ideas, and only develop one application, but run on different devices-the role of the device is more like a block of screen.

Matias interpretation, the past mobile is regarded as a separate category, the mobile technology was quite limited, bandwidth, processing efficiency, etc. are not now. And now for most people, imagination is the only factor that restricts the design of mobile experiences, and designing targeted experiences for different sizes of screens and devices is no longer a myth. "Mobility is an independent category, and its set of standards and attributes are not universal, harmonic, and so on"-such notions should be discarded.

He thinks investing in user-focused screens is worth it-there's plenty of room to play 5 to 7 inches away. He advises product managers, designers, and developers to stop developing "fragmented" products based on different screen sizes, instead, a unified design standard should be applied to develop a cross screen, cross equipment run products-desktop side, smartphone end, car end, wearable equipment, etc.-people switch between different screens every day, They need a "seamless" use experience. And this can not only stay in the shallow visual perception, but to the "same" essence into a more in-depth function and operation.

Matias said that Google is committed to promoting WEB development, and pointed out that the current technology is not mature, there are some urgent problems, such as: Some technology stack does not apply to all screens--on the computer side (Chrome OS), and Smartphone side (Android) have been confronted with the problem. Only by addressing them can users get a better quality experience.

Matias also euphemistically agreed with Josh: "In the future, all of Google's platforms, including the TV, car, Chrome OS, Android, and so on will be more convergence." But as to how to "land", Matias did not give any details.

When discussing "Local vs. Web", Matias says:

1. Some people prefer to be local because they have a "blind mania" for what they already know and understand.

2.WEB has its own characteristics that enable many experiences that are difficult to implement in local applications.

3. Developers should be detached from the current conceptual framework for applications-what users don't want to install, what they care about is the content, the contents, for example: What readers are most concerned about is not the Verge's news application, but its articles and reports.

4. At present, Web and local applications have their own advantages. Users do not have to install, do not need to manage any application, can be on the WEB with its real-time, hot chain, and searchable search to get the content of interest, but on the other hand, the local side still have better performance, sensor access, operating system access advantages. Designers, operating system service providers have the responsibility to eliminate the current user experience on different devices, the WEB and the local end of the confusion.

5. Neither the Web nor the local (application) of the current concept represents the future, and they all end.

6. In the future, the product and user experience needs to be both local and Web-centered, and its core is no longer the underlying technology--web, local, or nascent technology-but what technology can provide.

Talking about the design philosophy behind the Android Wear that was published a while ago, Matias stressed the grand outlook for wearable equipment and said that when designing the product, it was important to think about its most significant value and the biggest challenges--from helping users solve real-world problems and meet their needs.

He believes that significantly shortening the time spent interacting with smart watches is critical-users don't have to stare at the screen, but are liberated from the device, and have more of a moment and effort to interact in the real world. But there is no more detail on the functionality and experience of the Android Wear in the test.