Yes of course gorgeous user interface design matters. But pitching two calculators up against each other is missing the point.<p>Beauty matters when everything else is equal. It's very easy to make something a simple as as calculator look good if you got the chops, because the UI have been solved for you.<p>But interface design is not just about how it looks. It's about how it works. And I will take something that works over something that looks good any day.
I hate the term "User Experience". Especially considering that most people think that user experience is about making the crap as shiny as possible.<p>A good user experience has nothing to do with looks....make the crap fast (especially on mobile) and as easy as possible to use. That's "the secret".
This article is entirely lacking analysis and relies purely on subjective assumptions to back up its judgments. A little digging around and pulling out a few "whys" would have been appropriate here. As it is, it might as well be blog-spam.
At least compare equal products. On the list Awesome Note VS Ultra Notes I, are the only comparable ones (even though iPhone app vs Android App).<p>"Calcbot VS Calculator", is like comparing HP-48 vs Mac inlcuded Calculator. "Bjango VS Musical Pro", the former is a disk scratching app, while the latter features a metronome and tempo.<p>Edit: UI and UX reflect the functionality, features, plans, mission, identity (the one people identify and wear shirts about), etc. If the application and its functionality itself is not comparable, why should the UI be?
what's wrong with SDK buttons? or how does it matter on a calculator? Google uses "SDK" buttons and everything. Hacker news hardly makes an effort in the UI direction. yet its the best I know. If all things being equal, UI wins? if all things are equal between your product and someone else's then I think you have a serious problem on your hands.
Somewhat nitpicky, but I think sometimes UX matters more than UI, and there are elements of both in these examples.<p>From Wikipedia:
User Interface (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_interface" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_interface</a>)
- The aggregate of means by which users interact with the system (e.g., all the means of input and output)<p>User Experience (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_experience" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_experience</a>) - The architecture and interaction models that impact a user's perception of a device or system ("all aspects of the user’s interaction with the product").<p>UI is the "how" of creating an interface (implementing shiny controls, that sort of thing) and UX is the "why" (creating a good experience for the user).<p>What's interesting is that there are many counter-examples... for example Craigslist. Terrible UI/UX, yet it is wildly more popular than it's closest competitors. For a while Plentyoffish was the most popular dating site, same thing there.