There are a couple reasons app developers should strive for originality.
Copying Github's design only reminds me of how your app is second to Github. That Github was the one who thought of the beautiful interface and that by using your app I will be using a copy and not the original. The copy is inferior to the original in my mind and I will never see the app as an equal. This really dampens the excitement I have for it because it might never be able to compete with the experience Github provides.
Another example is Open Office, everyone uses it and it does the job. But no one loves it, because its a copy. Its not the original and it will never be the same as using MS Office. Now compare that with Apple's iWork. Its not a copy; its an original. When I use it, I feel comfortable in knowing that Apple has worked to provide an experience that is second to none.
1. Most people I know like Github's UI, so it makes sense to copy it. MS Office is not known for it's UI experience. So it doesn't make sense to copy it.
2. Creating a good UI is hard work. When you're Apple, you have the resources to throw at iWork. An open source project doesn't have the same resources, and they might spend a lot of time to end up with something worse than Github's UI.
To me it's a simple decision:
1. Spend a lot of time and end up with something that could be better than Github but will probably be worse OR
2. Spend little time to copy a design everyone is familiar with and likes.
I think a better analogy would be Gimp vs Photoshop. Supposedly Gimp can do almost everything Photoshop can, but what % of designers use Gimp? They have been slowly moving towards Photoshop's UI because they now realize how much of a factor that plays in adoption.
I for one love LibreOffice Writer and find it to be much more intuitive and configurable than Word. Draw and Calc leave something to be desired, but the needs they fill are better served by Adobe products and R respectively, imho.
Comments
There are a couple reasons app developers should strive for originality. Copying Github's design only reminds me of how your app is second to Github. That Github was the one who thought of the beautiful interface and that by using your app I will be using a copy and not the original. The copy is inferior to the original in my mind and I will never see the app as an equal. This really dampens the excitement I have for it because it might never be able to compete with the experience Github provides.
Another example is Open Office, everyone uses it and it does the job. But no one loves it, because its a copy. Its not the original and it will never be the same as using MS Office. Now compare that with Apple's iWork. Its not a copy; its an original. When I use it, I feel comfortable in knowing that Apple has worked to provide an experience that is second to none.
There are some flaws in your analogy.
1. Most people I know like Github's UI, so it makes sense to copy it. MS Office is not known for it's UI experience. So it doesn't make sense to copy it.
2. Creating a good UI is hard work. When you're Apple, you have the resources to throw at iWork. An open source project doesn't have the same resources, and they might spend a lot of time to end up with something worse than Github's UI.
To me it's a simple decision: 1. Spend a lot of time and end up with something that could be better than Github but will probably be worse OR 2. Spend little time to copy a design everyone is familiar with and likes.
I think a better analogy would be Gimp vs Photoshop. Supposedly Gimp can do almost everything Photoshop can, but what % of designers use Gimp? They have been slowly moving towards Photoshop's UI because they now realize how much of a factor that plays in adoption.
I for one love LibreOffice Writer and find it to be much more intuitive and configurable than Word. Draw and Calc leave something to be desired, but the needs they fill are better served by Adobe products and R respectively, imho.