New IOS Mobile App 2.0

[borski]

While your handle on the forum simply says 'Grand Magistrate', @borski, I would argue that your real title should be 'Grand Magistrate, and Defender of the Faith'.

I am not suggesting anyone have faith, nor am I defending anything. I am simply stating facts; AA is coming and out of Lucid’s hands, as we’ve been told by Lucid employees.

The app? I have no idea. But getting rid of Flutter will be a win for Android whenever they make that happen.

(also, the grand magistrate thing was a joke)

Meanwhile, there are other vehicle choices with very competent native navigation and voice assistant, and that work well for android phone owners.

And worse driving characteristics, and fewer other features, and so on. Every car is but an amalgamation of things, none of them perfect for any one individual.

You’re not wrong; but I have had no issues with their native navigation, though I understand you have. I also don’t put trailheads in as often as you do, and evidently we travel to different places. I’m not dismissing your issues, let me be very clear; I imagine they’ve been very annoying.

Also, as far as I was aware, the Android app works fine? Most of the annoyance about this is just that the new UX came to iOS first? It’s not like there isn’t an Android app that works well? Could be wrong… I don’t have an Android.

 

[borski]

Am I missing something or did they remove the External Temperature display? If so, I'm disappointed. I keep my car in my garage in AZ during the summer and used that function to monitor the temp in the garage.

I don’t see it either. I also miss that. Please send that in as feedback!

 

[matthew-rad]

I like it better personally. But everyone is entitled to their own opinions.

Nice update. It seems to connect to the car instantly. Last tire pressure is a useful addition.

 

[hydbob]

I am not suggesting anyone have faith, nor am I defending anything. I am simply stating facts; AA is coming and out of Lucid’s hands, as we’ve been told by Lucid employees.

The app? I have no idea. But getting rid of Flutter will be a win for Android whenever they make that happen.

(also, the grand magistrate thing was a joke)


And worse driving characteristics, and fewer other features, and so on. Every car is but an amalgamation of things, none of them perfect for any one individual.

You’re not wrong; but I have had no issues with their native navigation, though I understand you have. I also don’t put trailheads in as often as you do, and evidently we travel to different places. I’m not dismissing your issues, let me be very clear; I imagine they’ve been very annoying.

Also, as far as I was aware, the Android app works fine? Most of the annoyance about this is just that the new UX came to iOS first? It’s not like there isn’t an Android app that works well? Could be wrong… I don’t have an Android.

Android app works fine. Nothing changed so besides seeing some new graphics functionally it's the same. Lol

 

[thecodingart]

If it makes you feel better. @thecodingart is right. The new app may look nice, but does feel like a usability downgrade with all the swiping around on the home page to find stuff. And I don’t see any new features either

It practically mimics the current design language of the MyNissan/Infiniti applications and VERY early concepts for the FordPass/LincolnWay 5.x projects.

The MyNissan/Infiniti applications are absolute infants on usability in the worst of ways and this design language is something they desperately need to move away from.

Ford didn't follow through with this language because it became immediately obvious that the Home Screen becomes a dumping ground for hot linking features, a widget system is a waste of... well everything (space, complexity, etc), discoverability goes down the drain fast, and through a LOT of time spent on user testing/prototyping/etc it was determined to be one of the worst approaches.. Also, having a Home Screen that didn't scroll was extraordinarily important. It's also clear that they were trying to mimic their HMI design system which is largely just a flat out mistake in philosophy/approach. It's a mobile app, not a giant stationary sized tablet/screen that you own in your vehicle where you define what that ecosystem looks like. iOS and Android already have systems defining those expectations.

My thoughts are less based on opinion as they are objective research and having worked for both of these companies that either explored or executed on these principles. The only reason Nissan has this is because of a small amateurish 3rd party company. I wouldn't have expected this from Lucid owning its shop. I know Lucid hired quite a bit on the mobile team over the past year. Given the non-remote requirements and the pay scale -- my assumption is largely a skills + industry learning curve + cultural issues one.

There are some "pretty" flair qualities to the new app (they spent far too much time on animations rather navigation/design language), but I'm far far less interested in those.

 

[Bobby]

It practically mimics the current design language of the MyNissan/Infiniti applications and VERY early concepts for the FordPass/LincolnWay 5.x projects.

The MyNissan/Infiniti applications are absolute infants on usability in the worst of ways and this design language is something they desperately need to move away from.

Ford didn't follow through with this language because it became immediately obvious that the Home Screen becomes a dumping ground for hot linking features, a widget system is a waste of... well everything (space, complexity, etc), discoverability goes down the drain fast, and through a LOT of time spent on user testing/prototyping/etc it was determined to be one of the worst approaches.. Also, having a Home Screen that didn't scroll was extraordinarily important. It's also clear that they were trying to mimic their HMI design system which is largely just a flat out mistake in philosophy/approach. It's a mobile app, not a giant stationary sized tablet/screen that you own in your vehicle where you define what that ecosystem looks like. iOS and Android already have systems defining those expectations.

My thoughts are less based on opinion as they are objective research and having worked for both of these companies that either explored or executed on these principles. The only reason Nissan has this is because of a small amateurish 3rd party company. I wouldn't have expected this from Lucid owning its shop.

A quick Google search reveals an enormous amount of complaining about the Ford app as well.

 

[thecodingart]

A quick Google search reveals an enormous amount of complaining about the Ford app as well.

I'm very aware of "what" those complaints are. Mostly around features that never worked that were removed tbf. It's never an easy decision to see something removed because the perception is you once had it and now you don't -- even if it never worked to begin with (In-App Trip Planning being one of the biggest).

That, and an audience who was trained to think EVs had a "remote start" option to begin with due to poor design/language choices...

Also - sample sizes/numbers

 

[Buffalo Bob]

I am not suggesting anyone have faith, nor am I defending anything. I am simply stating facts; AA is coming and out of Lucid’s hands, as we’ve been told by Lucid employees.

The app? I have no idea. But getting rid of Flutter will be a win for Android whenever they make that happen.

(also, the grand magistrate thing was a joke)

Hey, @borski! You are so much respected on this forum, and I both like and appreciate the role that you have taken on. That said, none of our comments, your own included, should be taken too seriously.

 

[hydbob]

It practically mimics the current design language of the MyNissan/Infiniti applications and VERY early concepts for the FordPass/LincolnWay 5.x projects.

The MyNissan/Infiniti applications are absolute infants on usability in the worst of ways and this design language is something they desperately need to move away from.

Ford didn't follow through with this language because it became immediately obvious that the Home Screen becomes a dumping ground for hot linking features, a widget system is a waste of... well everything (space, complexity, etc), discoverability goes down the drain fast, and through a LOT of time spent on user testing/prototyping/etc it was determined to be one of the worst approaches.. Also, having a Home Screen that didn't scroll was extraordinarily important. It's also clear that they were trying to mimic their HMI design system which is largely just a flat out mistake in philosophy/approach. It's a mobile app, not a giant stationary sized tablet/screen that you own in your vehicle where you define what that ecosystem looks like. iOS and Android already have systems defining those expectations.

My thoughts are less based on opinion as they are objective research and having worked for both of these companies that either explored or executed on these principles. The only reason Nissan has this is because of a small amateurish 3rd party company. I wouldn't have expected this from Lucid owning its shop. I know Lucid hired quite a bit on the mobile team over the past year. Given the non-remote requirements and the pay scale -- my assumption is largely a skills + industry learning curve + cultural issues one.

There are some "pretty" flair qualities to the new app (they spent far too much time on animations rather navigation/design language), but I'm far far less interested in those.

I mean, I understand your expertise in the field, but based off the feedback in this post alone, it seems to align with Lucid very well. Polarizing design choices. Love it or hate it

 

[thecodingart]

I mean, I understand your expertise in the field, but based off the feedback in this post alone, it seems to align with Lucid very well. Polarizing design choices. Love it or hate it

To be clear, I'm not saying the new app is absolutely horrendous or bad in any way. More that the design language is a known mistake in the industry and I'm quite surprised they did that to themselves (both home screen dumping ground/complexity wise plus other issues they'll encounter).

My criticisms on this is that it's a clear step backwards from where almost everyone wants to go.

It definitely leaves an impression where designers wanted something and that drove some bad decisions. This is usually a sign of unbalanced dynamics between design/product/development.

 

[borski]

It practically mimics the current design language of the MyNissan/Infiniti applications and VERY early concepts for the FordPass/LincolnWay 5.x projects.

The MyNissan/Infiniti applications are absolute infants on usability in the worst of ways and this design language is something they desperately need to move away from.

Ford didn't follow through with this language because it became immediately obvious that the Home Screen becomes a dumping ground for hot linking features, a widget system is a waste of... well everything (space, complexity, etc), discoverability goes down the drain fast, and through a LOT of time spent on user testing/prototyping/etc it was determined to be one of the worst approaches.. Also, having a Home Screen that didn't scroll was extraordinarily important. It's also clear that they were trying to mimic their HMI design system which is largely just a flat out mistake in philosophy/approach. It's a mobile app, not a giant stationary sized tablet/screen that you own in your vehicle where you define what that ecosystem looks like. iOS and Android already have systems defining those expectations.

My thoughts are less based on opinion as they are objective research and having worked for both of these companies that either explored or executed on these principles. The only reason Nissan has this is because of a small amateurish 3rd party company. I wouldn't have expected this from Lucid owning its shop. I know Lucid hired quite a bit on the mobile team over the past year. Given the non-remote requirements and the pay scale -- my assumption is largely a skills + industry learning curve + cultural issues one.

There are some "pretty" flair qualities to the new app (they spent far too much time on animations rather navigation/design language), but I'm far far less interested in those.

I hear you. I also disagree; that’s okay. This app, imho, gives them a hell of a lot more flexibility than the old one, in terms of being able to move things around, make it more customizable, and so on. I personally cannot stand the UX of Ford’s app. Hyundai’s is WAY worse than either Ford or Lucid. No idea about Nissan; never used it.

I can tell you there was a whole team that did (and continues to do) concerted UX research, user studies, etc.

But this also isn’t the last iteration of the mobile app.

P.S. It’s definitely not perfect; do not take my comments to suggest that. There are lots of issues with the UX in the current iteration; the drag bar isn’t draggable despite the signifier/affordance being there (bug), the tiles should be rearrangeable (not implemented yet), the car status disappears when charging (should be allowed to swipe between them), etc. This is by no means a “final and perfect” iteration.

 

[borski]

Hey, @borski! You are so much respected on this forum, and I both like and appreciate the role that you have taken on. That said, none of our comments, your own included, should be taken too seriously.

Same to you. Hard to read facial expressions over the internet.

 

[idiot900]

There are some "pretty" flair qualities to the new app (they spent far too much time on animations rather navigation/design language), but I'm far far less interested in those.

When I open the new Lucid app, I see the functions I want front and center - lock, trunk/frunk, climate. The map is one tap away. I guess I don't understand why the usability in this instance has regressed, despite the great effort the industry has put into testing with other apps.

 

[thecodingart]

When I open the new Lucid app, I see the functions I want front and center - lock, trunk/frunk, climate. The map is one tap away. I guess I don't understand why the usability in this instance has regressed, despite the great effort the industry has put into testing with other apps.

This boils down to logically grouping and organizing functionality into discoverable domains. The Home Screen is no longer a one stop clearly defined area for a well defined set of vehicle features. It's now a landing ground for almost everything...

That mindset starts deteriorating the core concepts of domain design which will explain the exact issues this is introducing (there's a few books and videos on this I can dig up somewhere).

Edit: Apple had a good video that starts to touch some of these concepts in their WWDC videos (maybe here: https://developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2022/10001) alongside some popular books.

 

[borski]

This boils down to logically grouping and organizing functionality into discoverable domains. The Home Screen is no longer a one stop clearly defined area for a well defined set of vehicle features. It's not a landing ground for almost everything...

That mindset starts deteriorating the core concepts of domain design which will explain the exact issues this is introducing (there's a few books and videos on this I can dig up somewhere).

Edit: Apple had a good video that starts to touch some of these concepts in their WWDC22 videos I need to look up alongside some popular books.

You’re not wrong about grouping. Grouping and hiding is planned afaict. This is not a final iteration.

 

[joec]

You all are missing my favorite two features of the new app.

1) The bear icon is 1000X better than the L.
2) We can swipe to go back. FINALLY.

I’m easy to please.

 

[thecodingart]

You all are missing my favorite two features of the new app.

1) The bear icon is 1000X better than the L.
2) We can swipe to go back. FINALLY.

I’m easy to please.

I'm not going to lie, the swipe to back is chef kiss (finally).

The bear ... I've never been fond of the logo over the company name.

The tab bar is driving me bonkers visually and the fact it's bound to the home screen is just replacing my original annoyance with the inability to swipe back (trade breaking the HIG for one thing for another).

 

[joec]

All kidding aside, I agree that reordering the tiles will make things better. But that’s coming. Along with seat heat controls, which has been on my top request list forever.

Overall, the app offers way more useful information at a glance, and that’s a big win.

 

[Lucken]

What makes me tink there isn’t at least one member of the Lucid software team that is thinking, ‘Why bother releasing any new software, all we’ll get is bitching, moaning and complaints’’

 

[idiot900]

This boils down to logically grouping and organizing functionality into discoverable domains. The Home Screen is no longer a one stop clearly defined area for a well defined set of vehicle features. It's not a landing ground for almost everything...

That mindset starts deteriorating the core concepts of domain design which will explain the exact issues this is introducing (there's a few books and videos on this I can dig up somewhere).

It seems to me like basically the same stuff with a warmed over layout. The widgets can't be moved, resized, or changed (for now?), but they are already sorted by descending importance. The app just doesn't have to do that much. There's no need to spend more than a few seconds in the app at a time. How much could I possibly gain with a perfect design?

This design probably violates the tenets of the academic discipline of UI/UX - and I deeply dislike bad/cluttered UX - but this isn't triggering me. Maybe in the next version.