Huawei previews Emotion UI for Android at IFA

Concern for making a consumer friendly experience has bled from Huawei's devices into its user interfaces.

The company announced the impending launch of a revamped UI for Android Thursday at IFA 2012 and offered a taste of what's to come.

The Emotion UI, as it's dubbed, aims to please, building on the company's "Design with Empathy" philosophy, according to a media release.

"Emotion UI is a reflection of Huawei's empathic design philosophy - built by consumers for consumers," said Dennis Poon, Huawei Device's global UI design director, in the release.

"The team was very conscious about placing people before technology," Poon said, adding the design team asked consumers what their ideal interactive experience would be like before undertaking the UI.

Putting the 'you' in UI

To that end, Huawei hosted a number of consumer forums and salons to read what was and wasn't working with its devices.

One of the biggest improvements to come out of those powwows and into the UI is a "Smart Tutorial" function, designed to bring first time users up to snuff on how to operate their phone.

In other areas, Huawei's pushing for customization and simplification, as seen in the "Me Widget" property that lets users condense their most go-to information and functions into a single, customized folder.

The homepage is also customizable as are folders for specific apps, though users be warned deleting an app folder takes all contents with it.

Huawei's reportedly come with with 20 Emotion themes available online, accessible to users who don't want one of six pre-loaded Android skins, including an Android 4.0 stock theme.

Poon also told TechRadar during the conference that the company plans to roll out Emotion UI updates monthly, tweaking it as consumers see fit.

Consumers can download the Chinese-only UI Friday, when the company will also ask for feedback on the experience and development process.

Emotion's public release shouldn't be too far off, though the company will announce a date closer to the launch.

TechRadar has more Huawei at IFA news, including the lowdown on some able-bodied Androids.