Lists, grids, tabs, bottom action bars, contextual menus on long press, and common actions on back buttons: these are common design patterns across all operating systems.

Commonplace means familiar –both for designers and developers. As people can move between operating systems and easily learn.

However, there is a dark side to this commonality. We are really early in the development of mobile and digital interfaces. Isn’t it too soon to have this level of standardization? These patterns are coming from the desktop. Are they truly the best patterns for mobile?

When you are designing an operating system, you are not focused on interaction innovation. Instead your innovation goes to creating a coherent framework, protecting users, and giving third party developers tools.

Disruption in mobile design will not come from the companies designing the OS. Disruption in mobile design must come from third party services. We need to tell operating system manufacturers what is required. That means spending a lot of time understanding what people actually need.