OPPO has been making breakthroughs in the past two years, whether it is a new form of Find X, a 10x zoom camera, or a camera. The Gundam Edition Reno Ace, which has been customized to the end … this manufacturer can surprise us almost every time.

In fact, in addition to OPPO’s hardware, ColorOS as software is also undergoing intensive changes. From the “borderless” of the 5th to the 6th generation, and the “light and borderless” of this ColorOS 7, this system has been using subtraction to change the traditional design, but it has also been constantly changing to optimize users and products. Interactive experience.

Reducing system content can improve user experience? This is really a very interesting approach.

For the evaluation of ColorOS 7, as I said in the field, its changes can be classified into three dimensions— — See, touch, hear. In the visible changes, you can experience the changes, and even the ear can hear the difference from the previous version of the system.

After the event on November 20th, I had a face-to-face interview with Chen Xi, OPPO ColorOS Design Director.

To be honest, Chen Xi is younger and more imaginative than I expected. The original estimate was only a 30-minute interview, and we ended up talking 60 minutes.

Of course, I also learned many details that were not introduced at the conference.

01 丨 Inheritance and evolution

Although there are many changes in ColorOS 7, we can actually see a lot of ColorOS 6 shadows on it, Based on this, the ColorOS team simplified the system’s line and pattern styles a lot.

So if ColorOS 6 is the new beginning of this system, then ColorOS 7 is the continuation of the “borderless” concept.

This is indeed the case. In an exclusive interview, I asked Chen Xi “What inspiration did ColorOS 6 bring to the new system?” He introduced me:

ColorOS from 6 to 7 is a continuation of the “light” design style, which is relatively simple overall. Now rarely go back and go back to the old road, make it very simulant, or very tedious and complicated, this is an important change. So, this is a continuation. ColorOS 6 and 7 still maintained the style of “borderless” we proposed at the time, including the style of line removal, white space, and focus on content. This has been set.

“What is the direct change between the two?” I asked Chen Xi.

“He actually has two changes.”

Chen Xi seems to have guessed what I would ask, so this answer is almost blurry:

One is the change in degree, which does a little more on” light “. For example, the icon’s color proportion is smaller. In the past, the color proportion was larger, and there will be a large area of ​​gradient. This version of the color proportion will be smaller. Most of the interface is white, and the overall structure is relatively simple. .

For another example, sometimes there will be three icons and four icons in the upper right corner of the system. Now most of the cases Below are two icons. In addition to Internet applications and operational requirements, most of them are two icons. We have made a lot of changes in uniformity.

The color saturation of the icon decreases, the entire weight changes, and the look and feel changes from coarse to thin.

▲ Left: ColorOS 6; Right: ColorOS 7

The other is that we talk about the changes in the technical experience. It is smoother and faster. The new version is much smoother than the old version, and the operation is already very light.

For example, when returning to the desktop with gestures in the past, the system will delay slightly, which will affect the smoothness of gesture operations . ColorOS 7 does a better job in this regard, because “following hands” is a reflection of the lightness of the system, because the operation has become lighter.

Speaking, Chen Xi took out the two devices ColorOS 6 and ColorOS 7 to compare with me, as my evaluation often says The 500-word description is less than a ten-second real experience.

Faced with Android ’s constant criticism, ColorOS 7 has also made adjustments in animation, such as system response speed and transition Animation, these “swipe up to return to the home page”, “swipe left and right”.

First is the system style and color:

For example, iOS 6 and 7 are a watershed, one is quasi-physical, you will feel that the icons and buttons are real, but the visual perception will become heavy; when you see The flat design of iOS 7 is very light, because of the lighter vision, there are some changes in texture and color. A black block, a gray block, and a white block. The three reflected weights are different. In fact, the weight reflected by your brain is different.

Including the thickness, it feels heavier than a thin thing after being thick. It has a virtual weight, and everyone seems to feel it. Lightness is actually in this respect.

For Chen Xi, the color and pattern of icons and buttons will affect the visual weight of the entire system, so in this update They simplified the pattern of the icons a lot, and lowered the color saturation to avoid a sense of disconnection with the main body of the system.

▲ Up : ColorOS 6; Bottom: ColorOS 7

In addition to the style and color of the icon, the size of the icon has also changed slightly.

Introduction of Chen Xi, the icon of the new system will be smaller than the previous version. It used to be 158 pixels and now it is 150 pixels. The spacing between the icons is larger, and the page display effect becomes more concise, which is like our daily writing layout:

Information density of 1000 words and 500 words displayed on one page is different, and the fonts are slightly spacedBigger, you will feel more comfortable or evacuated, and you will feel different contents. It will feel lighter when the content is less. These two places actually define our lightness, and it is also light in feeling.

The change of the icon itself is on the one hand, and the custom design, on the other hand Chen Xi explained to me that this is actually It is to make users show more personalization.

Different manufacturers have different product thinking. Some companies may have a set of aesthetic standards and values. Users can draw on this value. The equal sign.

But ColorOS chose another route, which gives users the right to freely adjust based on their own standards. It emphasizes that It is the beauty of the user’s self-selection, not the beauty of the standard framework.

The soft tone of ColorOS 7 is actually reflected here, and it is not only visually relaxing, even closed You can also feel the soft beauty of the new system.

In fact, without that voice, what can we do, what can’t we do, and what won’t we have. It would be meaningless to say in this very rational and pragmatic way. Actually not. For example, when I go home and lie in a comfortable home, what is a comfortable home? It is enough to have a table and a bench. Why do I need a soft sofa or bed? This is emotional. Lying on the bed and listening to music, it just relaxes and has no far-reaching meaning.

We can compare, you can obviously feel that this sound is very sharp and open, and our voice is restrained and very comfortable.

03 丨 Simple and efficient operation

The new system design language is one side where ColorOS 7 is significantly different from its predecessor, and the other side is an interactive change. Interactive haptics become more accessible and efficient.

“Friendly people” is a feeling word. This word is very subjective and has no rules, so if the product wants to be close to the people, it must first From the perspective of the user, not the enterprise, but this will also increase the cost and difficulty of product development.

▲ Left: ColorOS 6; Right: ColorOS 7

Compared with the previous system, ColorOS 7 has adjusted the position of the input box, and will create a new contact, calendar, and alarm clock setting card Adjusted to the bottom of the screen, so that users can easily operate under one-handed conditions.

▲ Gesture sharing screenshot

Another way to improve the user experience is to simplify the steps. ColorOSThree-finger screenshots were launched in 2014, and this time they incorporated area screenshots, sharing, and long screenshots into this feature.

▲ Long gesture screenshot

▲ Three-finger area screenshot

Simplify the operation that normally takes five steps to two steps, reducing users to switch between pagesWhen the battery is less than 9%, Breeno will also pop up a window to remind you to find the location of the shared power bank nearby; when you rest, Breeno will also pop up a sleep suggestion …

In sharp contrast to the past, these steps mentioned above require at least three steps to complete, and are now being reduced Go one step.

Finally, I learned from Chen Xi about the problem that the dark version of the Beta version does not fit perfectly with some software. Chen Xi said that they will promote third-party optimization of products and make special optimizations according to the feature rules of key apps such as WeChat and Weibo.

Of course, this is a time-consuming polish for Chen Xi personally and the entire ColorOS team. Perfect things.

04 丨 non-stop footsteps

Near the end of the interview, I asked Chen Xi about the impact of ColorOS 7 on the future development of ColorOS. He said:

ColorOS 7 basically completes our large design style, and the overall visual style is basically determined. In the short term, no major adjustments will be made to the style. More of our work is still used to improve, improve and optimize some functions.

After the visit, I briefly talked to the staff of ColorOS, and had to convince them that they could do so within 8 months. The entire system is transformed. I asked, in such a short period of time, not only redesigning the system and adding new features, isn’t the pace of development very tense?

He answered:

I was nervous, but we never thought it would be impossible.