Google's head of design thinks the iPhone's software design can feel 'heavy and burdensome'

Photographer: Jeff Chiu/AP Photo

Google's head of design Matías Duarte

According to Duarte, a change in the way we use technology across more devices - smartphones, the Internet of Things, smartwatches - means that the traditional ideas about software design are over, and new ones need to be created.

"As we get more and more screens and more and more devices that are smart, both integrated into our homes but also on our bodies, it's creating new types of problems that are going to create a new type of opportunity," he said.

Complimentary Tech Event

Transform talent with learning that works

Capability development is critical for businesses who want to push the envelope of innovation.Discover how business leaders are strategizing around building talent capabilities and empowering employee transformation.Know More

Duarte describes the iPhone, which was the first modern smartphone, as a "crystallizing moment" in the design of smartphone software. However, he says that the iPhone's success was never guaranteed.

"It would've been very easy, if Apple had been a year later to market, that instead the market's expectations of what a smartphone should be crystallized around something that's more like what the Blackberry was."

Duarte says that the iPhone's success was "fairly positive" but "it also crystallised a lot of other things that were kind of stayed even by that point, like the rows of icons, which don't scale very well." He points out one specific element of the iOS in particular: "[The] idea of a tiny grid that you manually curate starts to feel very heavy and burdensome."

When pushed by Wired, Duarte declined to share specifics on Google's future product designs.

Read the full interview from Wired.

Get THE MID-YEAR SMARTPHONE MARKET REPORT now! A comprehensive look at the global smartphone market from BI Intelligence by platform, vendor, country and more. Insights into the power struggles between the biggest platforms and the underdogs. Get the Report Here »