As a person who has set-up organizations on usability for more mundane products like milk cartons, it is my opinion that the efficiency and effectiveness of the OSX user interface has fallen down to unacceptable levels. Efficiency (time it takes to perform a task) and effectiveness (number of mistakes committed during the task) are typically what gets measured in controlled environments during usability testing.
The interface itself, and the touch devices and mice provided by Apple have become a lot more error prone over the recent years. In my opinion, this causes corrective action and adaptive behavior during use, perhaps mostly unnoticed by casual users. New ‘features’ which try to second guess your intentions only do so at further expense of both efficiency and effectiveness, especially more expert users. Most of us here on this site are self-selected to be perhaps more advanced, or heavier users, testified by the fact that we are here. This is why, I believe, that there is such an uproar with usability issues here.
I think it is time for Apple to dial back the control it has taken away from us and turn-off the second-guessing forced onto us by Lion. Lion simply is not a more usable OS than Snow Leopard. Typing on a iPhone causes way too many errors in respect any mechanical entry device, and touch pads try to second guess your gestures to a level of fault. Mighty mouse does not work well. Previous one did not either. For the first time since 1985, I am no longer a happy Apple customer.
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