I always think that the console manufacturers should look to the original Wii or the new Apple TV as the place to start, and work from there.
Just keep it simple. If you want to divide different games and apps, folders and tabs are a thing that is possible.
I don't think any of the console UIs are particularly great in this current crop of consoles, but the Xbox One's is far and away the worst: Ads, still quite labyrinthine, not very customisable.
I don't much like the horizontal scrolling of the PS4 and Switch UI. I think it works better on Switch because that system makes better use of the space when you press up and down on the d-pad - plus that system's OS simply has less to do on it - but PS4's UI is just getting more and more bloated and they are somewhat hamstrung by those game hub pages that cause more usability issues than the ones they solve.
Plus there's that fucking Singstar thing on PS3 that I'm really bitter about. And what SCEE have done to the TV section, which is completely and utterly ruin it. Sony are just as guilty of UI sins themselves.
All I want from a console UI is simplicity that focusses on the end user. For apps and games, just give me a grid of icons. Let me move those icons into any order I want, let me "Star" certain apps and games as favourites so they take priority in automatic updates and the like, so they are always ready for me when I switch my system on. Let me put games and apps into folders. And unless it is a mission critical icon that would render the system unusable if it vanished, let me hide any and all icons that I don't want or use that are only cluttering the experience up.
Divide those grids into pages/tabs. Maybe have one for Games, another for TV/Movies, one for Music. Maybe as system functionality expands, more tabs can be added. For portable systems like the Switch, maybe a "Books" or "Comics" tab could be added, as I imagine many people would like to do those things on their Switch in portable mode.
There should be other more bespoke tabs too, such as one for Settings that doesn't use a grid but maybe has a menu. Or maybe it is a grid of different settings icons? I dunno. Of course there should also be spaces for the Store, Online Services (like achievements/trophies, friend list, messages, chat invites and stuff) and any other useful things.
And with the exception of Settings, which is mission critical, all tabs/pages/whatever should be able to be hidden on a profile-by-profile basis. That way, if you have a partner who isn't interested in games but likes to use your console for Netflix or music or whatever, that kind of content can just get out of the way for them.
And for the love of god, no adverts on any of the main pages. None. Zilch. Keep them on the Store when I'm actually looking to buy something. Best case scenario, let me sign up to alerts, or news, or information channels, so I can keep up-to-date on products and services that matter the most to me. I just find it so annoying when my UI is cluttered with crap I don't care to use, just because the company who made the box did a deal with someone else to push that junk into my face. That's not the kind of shit I want when I switch on my console.
