The iPhone was a break through design with its single home button.  It is so easy to use that the web is full of videos of toddlers and the occasional dog and cat successfully using an iPhone or iPad.

Android on the other hand has four buttons: back, menu, home and search.  Coming from a Blackberry I personally like that set up.  But that comes with three caveats:

First, button behavior across Android apps needs to become more consistent.  This is actually already happening compared to the early days of Android when it seemed pretty much random but there is still a lot of room for improvement.

Second, the items available on the menu button are nowhere nearly as consistently great as on the Blackberry.  I wonder whether RIM has some patents here (wouldn’t be surprised), but that seems like a big opportunity for removing extra steps in many situations.

Third, app developers shouldn’t assume that people know that the menu button exists or when to use it.  I have observed a bunch of Android users and those coming from Blackberry use the menu button naturally, but anyone coming from an iPhone (and yes there are people like that) or just starting out on Android (the bulk of all Android users) will not be looking there for access to key app features.  So developers *must* also surface key features through touch screen interactions.

There is still a long way to go for Android usability, but as it progresses I am pretty confident that in the long run four buttons will prove to be better than one at a minimum for power users but likely for most users.  For instance, having a designated back button is great when you are browsing which I do a lot on my phone.  But we are not there yet and I hope the Android team + Android app developers spend more time on this critical issue.

The iPhone was a break through design with its single home button.  It is so easy to use that the web is full of videos of toddlers and the occasional dog and cat successfully using an iPhone or iPad.

Android on the other hand has four buttons: back, menu, home and search.  Coming from a Blackberry I personally like that set up.  But that comes with three caveats:

First, button behavior across Android apps needs to become more consistent.  This is actually already happening compared to the early days of Android when it seemed pretty much random but there is still a lot of room for improvement.

Second, the items available on the menu button are nowhere nearly as consistently great as on the Blackberry.  I wonder whether RIM has some patents here (wouldn’t be surprised), but that seems like a big opportunity for removing extra steps in many situations.

Third, app developers shouldn’t assume that people know that the menu button exists or when to use it.  I have observed a bunch of Android users and those coming from Blackberry use the menu button naturally, but anyone coming from an iPhone (and yes there are people like that) or just starting out on Android (the bulk of all Android users) will not be looking there for access to key app features.  So developers *must* also surface key features through touch screen interactions.

There is still a long way to go for Android usability, but as it progresses I am pretty confident that in the long run four buttons will prove to be better than one at a minimum for power users but likely for most users.  For instance, having a designated back button is great when you are browsing which I do a lot on my phone.  But we are not there yet and I hope the Android team + Android app developers spend more time on this critical issue.