Ian Taylor On iOS 7
Yeah the icons are below standard, but the rest of iOS 7 looks damn well done—lots of really strong interaction design. If I really had to pick between icon design and interaction design, I’d obviously choose the interactions.
The thing is, what I expect of Apple is for them to perfect both icon design and interaction design. On Twitter, I’ve seen a lot of comments in a similar vein (‘don’t worry about the icons, the rest of the OS is fantastic’).
Whilst this may be true, the Home Screen is extremely important as well. In many ways, I see perfecting the Home Screen (which includes the app icons) as of higher priority than correcting flaws in individual apps. The Home Screen is the app you interact with every day and you see it every time you unlock the phone. It’s the entrance point to iOS; the Home Screen is responsible for a new users’ first impression of their device.
Arguing that the rest of the OS makes up for the poor Home Screen experience is the wrong attitude. This needs to be right on day one of iOS 7’s public release.