Pixel Phones & Google’s UX

(One more critique on a large company’s strategy after this and this. Sigh, what has happened to me)

Majority of the write-up on Pixel phones is bordering on (if not outright) ‘being skeptical’.

And I agree with all those — For Google to build a complete phone brand antagonizing the existing Android makers and developing relationships with carriers & distributors across the world is a humongous task. This write up of Ben Thompson says it beautifully well.

But one thing that is simply not spoken at all anywhere is — Google lack of UX skills. Yes, I did say something outrageous and probably even blasphemous there. Let me qualify.

There is no doubt whatsoever that Google’s ‘plain & empty’ search page was a master stroke in UX. It essentially wiped out every search engine of the era that had a cluttered look (with more than a little help with the superior backend technology — Pagerank).

However, has anything else that Google built been so ‘intuitive’, UX wise? Gmail — it won because of more storage and scarcity effect, not the UX. Even now, I find people struggling with the threaded conversations. All their social products (Buzz, Wave, Google Plus) have been disasters, even UX wise. They simply are not intuitive — Only the nerds and geeks get it. The common folk really struggle to use. Android has gradually evolved and that is with more-than-a-little inspiration from iOS.

IMO, Google Maps is the product that I would consider decently intuitive to a non-tech user. Even in that, try to get your non-tech friend to sync between the desktop web and the mobile!

As recently as last week, I found that their newly launched ‘Trips’ app not-so-intuitive.

Do not get me wrong. I am a great fan and an early adopter of most Google services. But then, I am a tech power user. When Wave launched, I felt it was the greatest thing ever. As I slowly understood design and started making products, it dawned on me that Google’s products are actually not THAT usable.

Google’s success is purely due to superior technology all around — Their great engineering team. Not anything else.

Now — is that enough for a Phone to succeed? Even if it is Android (that is already used by a lot of people even if not very intuitive), if Google is the only one making Android phones, how will the UX evolve? And what if the Google Assistant (exclusive to Pixel) ends up unintuitive?

Google may not really have in it to be a great ‘consumer’ company. It is a technology company that serves users but gets paid by enterprises (advertisers, that is). For getting paid directly by consumers, I suspect it may not have the DNA.