The official BlackBerry blog interviewed the Director of User Experience Research, Joey Benedek, to chat about changes to the home screen in OS 6. We’ve already seen a lot of it and sussed most of the details out for ourselves, but it’s worth seeing what RIM considers to be the important parts.
For one, they’re trying to strike a balance between newness and familiarity – a fair move, considering the sizeable installed base of existing BlackBerry users who are comfortably set in their ways. Of course, those putting BlackBerry side-by-side with the likes of Android and iPhone quickly notice the lack of swooshiness, so hopefully the UI refresh will address that disparity. The organization of icons into Frequent, Favourites, Media, Downloads and All is an obvious improvement that RIM is pretty excited about, and I am too, given how busy the standard icon screen can get. It’s also a nice evolution of the tired old folder paradigm. They also tout what’s being called “quick access areas”, where you can get to connectivity options by clicking the top area, and universal search, notifications, and profiles through the bar just below it. Universal search is easily my favourite part about OS 6, but it looks like there’s going to be a lot to enjoy once it’s released this summer.
There are a few more screenshots at the via link, if you want to see something sharper than what’s already been captured on video.
[via IBB]