Google hires WebOS user interface director Matias Duarte from Palm to improve the user experience for the Android operating system. Google confirmed the hire, telling eWEEK Duarte is now the user experience director for Android, but declined to provide more information. This is a big deal for Google, which has struggled to match the intuitive user experience of Apple’s popular iPhone even as it has pumped out new versions of its operating system with great speed.
AllThingsDigital May 27 broke the news, noting that Duarte led the development of Palm’s WebOS user interface as the company’s senior director of human interface and user experience. That’s how Duarte is listed on his LinkedIn profile as of this writing.
Google confirmed the hire, telling eWEEK Duarte is now the user experience director for Android, but declined to provide more information.