TL;DR Every feature doesn’t need to be fully UX standardized and optimized for simplicity. Looking at a product as a full unit gives room for designers to focus on making certain parts highly optimised and other parts more aesthetically pleasing than UX satisfying. Business goals, objectives, image and product outlook may be more important when making feature changes. Think of the company as well, not just the product.*

***On Friday the 25th of Nov, I went to a shop to change the case on my iPhone and while there, I got an opportunity to use the iPhone 14 pro and pro max that was recently launched by apple.

The first thing that jumped at me was the cutout ( aptly named “dynamic island” by apple) that replaced the controversial “notch” which had graced the iPhone lineup since the X launched in 2017.

This new feature for the iPhone moving forward has also been a controversial addition to the lineup, with people from various camps questioning its usefulness, attractiveness and appeal.

Looking from a designer’s perspective, I personally feel it grows on you over time, as I completely forgot about it after about 5 mins of using the phone.

As a person still learning my craft as a UX designer, I did however notice 2 distinct issues that may arise simply from making that part of the phone more interactive and “useful”.

First was the fact that they made the cutout “interactable”. Where the cutout is located is highly uncomfortable to reach by many users using one hand and forces users to use two hands when interacting with that spot. This makes using the phone less enjoyable in a way.

According to UX principles when designing for mobile (and everyday use of a phone), you will quickly come to realize that certain regions on a phone are simply easier and more comfortable to reach with our thumbs. These “hand-reach comfort zones” as interaction-design puts it, should ideally be where most features, CTAs, callouts and interactable elements are put.

Secondly is the fact the cutout also so happens to be where the front camera bump is located and constant thumbing of that area will leave marks, prints etc that will hamper your camera experience more than it did with the previous generation of iPhones.

These all increase risk of damage to that area, making the front camera useless should a crack, scrap etc occur there. Apart from that, that region get dirty more often, leading to more wipes and just a general waste of time(nitpicking, i know).

As designers, we ideally build products to last and not stress our users. Putting these two features that do different things so closely together is simply not ideal.

It is no secret that “innovation” in the mobile phone space has been on a decline as everything is almost as good as they are going to get.

I watched as apple hyped up “dynamic island” aggressively at launch, stating it as “an entirely new way to experience the iPhone”. It was one of the very few “new” things that users could physically see and I came to a simple conclusion.

The dynamic island is a feature that’s there to create new demand, interest, talking points etc for their iPhone and generate sales. See, you need to realize that saying “bigger battery, bigger camera bumps, clearer display” doesn’t create much buzz or desire in the hearts of users anymore.

These are changes that are hidden or on the software level and users will likely not be able to distinguish them from what is on the iPhone 13 in everyday use.

The iPhone has long been a desirable and somewhat luxury brand which always stands above the crowd. This is an image that apple has had to carefully manage and craft. They cannot be seen as lacking in the eyes of their loyal fan base, there must be something that differentiates them from the rest.

As someone transitioning from business development to design, I understand that this may be a tactic that apple is using to give class and separation to their lineups, creating an innate desire to own the 14 pro/pro max, otherwise, why should someone pay for the iPhone 14 pro if it looks very similar to the 13 pro lines?

At the end of the day, I have no idea why apple created dynamic island. Sure, in their marketing they state various reasons, but those are marketing lingo, words specially crafted to make sales.

The dynamic island as a feature is interesting and will likely be improved upon moving forward. What we as designers should realize is that sometimes, UX isn’t the full story. Business goals, company image all play a role in the success of a product/company. While we mostly work on the products, we must be aware of the overall goals that the company we are with may be trying to achieve.

Because at the end of the day, the bottom line also matters.

……….

This article has been my personal thoughts and feelings on the feature, based on some research I have done and general UX principles we as designers have been told to follow. I’m not taking it too seriously, and neither should you :)