This interface for the iPad uses the same uniform shape, a rounded square, to represent an app. Because our western culture reads from left to right, and we have a tendency to look from top to bottom, there is a preference for looking at the lower left of objects. Every time an app gets added to a screen, it moves as far left as possible and if there are 5 on a row, it will go to the next row under and start as the first one. If the screen changes orientation, the interface will keep only 4 on top, and the rest of the apps will organize underneath. The most used apps can be docked on the bottom so they are never hidden from view if the user swipes to a new screen. This interface also utilizes grouping to make the bottom row of apps seem more significant. This interface is also very balanced. because this is in landscape mode, there is a spot missing on the right keeping it unbalanced. But in portrait mode, the top row fits 4 apps making the interfece balanced. There is very little stress in this interface because of it's extreme balance. The interface gives the user a sence of repose and relaxation. Leveling is used for the most part to give the user a sense of stability. The only way stress is used is in the 5 dots on the bottom which signify the different screens. The eye is drawn to stress and this helps the user immediatly find which screen they are on. This design is successful because it relaxes the user and helps the user find what they need because of its visual organization.
This Windows 8 interface on the other hand is very unbalance. In this set up above, rectangles are grouped on the left, and there is a group of squares on the right. There seems to be a coorilation between the size of the icon and importance. But I think tablets use the internet a significat amount of the time and it wouldn't be an accurate statement to say that the weather app is twice as important as internet explorer. This aspect of sizing apps is pretty useless. It also makes the interface look unbalanced causing stress on the user's part. The inconsistant use of color also causes confusion. The apps are also not layed out in a way that favors the left hand side of the screen. There is also another group of apps that is not seen on this screen that can be found by pressing the desktop panel. The desktop panel's selection of apps is not visually similar in any way to these tiles deafeating any progress made in grouping the apps on this screen by choosing rectangels or squares. This design fails because it doesn't utilize the syntactical guidelines in a way that is condusive to organizing a home screen.
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