The User Experience Awards from New York's Parson's School of Design has just concluded its second year. The design awards are to "showcase and celebrate optimal user experience," and one of the nominees this year was our very own Ice Cream Sandwich. For those that have had a good hands-on experience with ICS, whether through an official release or through some form of custom ROMs from the forums, you know that the ICS user experience is pretty amazing. Matias Duarte and the Android UI design team have really put a lot of work into this release, and it shows. Compared to previous releases, ICS is smoother, faster, and lighter, all while maintaining the same great functionality and ease of use that we've come to love.

While no UI is ever perfect, ICS really shows how much dedication the Android team has to making the experience for the end user a comfortable one. That was why this year's award for best platform went to ICS. Matias Duarte announced the news late last evening on his Google+ page, where a flood of congratulatory comments followed. We've also got the video, made by AndroidDevelopers, which was shown to the audience at the awards program. You'll see some of the ICS features you've already grown accustomed to, but also a little look at some of the early ideas that went into the design process.



Android's taken a lot of bashing for not seeming like a "polished" platform, especially when pitted against iOS. But, thanks to Matias, formerly of the WebOS team, ICS got a new sheen of polish that really brought Android to the next level. So, congratulations, Android team. You guys deserve it. Now, if only those silly manufacturers would stop ruining it with custom skins.