Jared Sinclair on the Redesigned Dark Sky App

Jared Sinclair:

The raw idea for the redesign is good; the three-panel view with a side panel for the globe is an interesting riff on two established navigation patterns. But the execution is sloppy. It lacks clarity. It fails to shape the data into visually coherent elements. Titles are indistinguishable from content.

Of the three panels — current conditions, Next 24 Hours, and the week view — only the middle panel has a title, but in context the title is easily confused for a subhead. It took deliberate focus while preparing this post for me to recognize the purpose of all three tabs. I suspect a casual user will not undertake that much effort.

I agree with his assessment. There’s something muddled about the visual relationship between the various screens. The new map view is brilliant though.

★ Tuesday, 28 January 2014