I just returned from Phoenix on a business trip. Sky Harbor is a very busy airport. Everything makes sense when you follow the signs posted. The layout of the airport is pretty simple as well. It has three levels in terminal 4 where I was. One bizarre thing I did notice was that you take an escalator down from level 3 to level 1, but must take an elevator to get back up. And the elevators are not right next to escalator. They're close. You just have to search. The information booths were very helpful in helping me locate them.
The only bad experience I had was at baggage claim. Some of the baggage staff were barking curses and behaving like gangsters. It definitely reflected poorly on the airport. At one point, I thought they were going to fight each other over a lunch break. I also heard some older baggage claim staff complaining openly about how the passengers do not care at all about the way they operate. They seemed very disgruntled.
Security was pretty tight. In Orlando, I had to remove my shoes to go through security. At Sky Harbor, everyone kept their shoes on. I was randomly asked by a security guard to hold out my hands so they could pass a wand over them to look for signs of chemicals. I've never experienced that before at any other airport. It wasn't a bad experience. I thought all airports had the same procedures for checking passengers, but I guess not.
Overall, it was a good experience. It was A-OK. I know they can make it better. There was a lot of construction going on outside the airport. Maybe those improvements will help with traffic and parking? Next they might want to look at hiring some new staff or taking better care of the current staff at baggage claim.