Making Good Bad by Cutting Corners
Joby, the makers of Gorillapod, created an iPhone app that bests the built-in iPhone camera in almost every way. I would happily replace the built-in camera app on my home screen with the Gorillacam app if weren’t for that eye sore of an icon they created.
The reason this bothers me so much is that it makes the app look cheap. Like one of those gold-digger developers who are just rushing to the App Store to make their money. But it’s not one of those apps. They have some very innovative features that should have been built in with the iPhone camera. It’s clear to me that they spent some time developing the app so why didn’t they finish the job and make sure the icon reflected the amount of work they put in? The most likely reason is because they didn’t think the icon would matter. They stopped all of their hard work and didn’t finish the job of creating a good application from beginning to end.
I know what they were trying to accomplish with this 10-minute icon. They wanted to relay the message that this was a camera and that it’s from the makers of Gorillapod. Calling it Gorillacam wasn’t a strong enough indication for their marketing team so they wanted to make sure that the icon showed their Gorillapod. It’s reasonable that they would want to do this. But if they’re going to be so literal, why not be completely literal? I just whipped up this icon and, believe me, I make no claims to be an iconographer. But the image comes from their own website which means this is an image they own and can use. It says both “camera” and “Gorillapod” and it’s even in an action state. Unlike the icon they created which is very bland and passive.
The user experience doesn’t end when the application works. What makes an application truly great is when it works, feels natural to use, and helps the user enjoy the experience. A breakdown in any part of the overall feel of the application leads to poor reception from users. If it works but it looks cheap then the feeling from people is that it is cheap.
And don’t get me started on their bubble level they created for the app. It works but man is it ugly.
