I spent a while digging into the iOS Human Interface Guidelines and was initially struck by its goal. Right off the bat, the iOS design themes state, "As an app designer, you have the opportunity to deliver an extraordinary product that rises to the top of the App Store charts." This desire for superiority is what drives people to success and I think that's kind of sad!! Words like "fast" "fun" "excitement" "provide a way to skip" "immediate, visible results" "mask loading time" "make people feel like they're in control" "important for people to feel that the intrusion is warranted" also make me feel uneasy because this is just a big psychology experiment in which people feel like they're in control when actually the interface is manipulating them. Is this the kind of generation that we want to raise up? Kids today are raise on smart phones and tablets. Some babies know how to operate a phone better than their parents. If we live in a society where the pscyhology behind UI/UX is magnified, I am concerned for the future.
Anyways. Those were the negatives. Here are some positive consequences:
Having very clear and simple design principles to follow makes the interface memorable, simple, and consistent. It's easy to build on the developer's side, and it's easy to remember/recognize/navigate on the user's side. A sense of familiarity builds a strong brand and tightens up customer loyalty because they'll become accustomed to one particular way of doing things. Additionally, Apple has thought so much about accessibility! I'm glad that they're giving many options to make these phones accessible to all kinds of people.