Unit 6 Reading response

How to create your first Iphone Application

 

This is a pretty lengthy read but it is well worth it and asks some valuable questions that one must answer to have a successful Smartphone application.

 

The article starts off by stating that anyone can make an Iphone app, it's just a matter of knowing a series of actions to take to make it happen. This first one is: Knowing your goal.

 

Having a project goal will help make your app development process a success.

 

Here are some examples of project goals that the article listed:

 

·         Create an app that doesn't require hands-on-day-to-day management.

           

·         Create an app that becomes a full-time business for me and a team.

           

·         Create an app that promotes my existing product or service.

           

·         Create an app that is purely for fun and not for profit.

 

The next thing that’s on the list is evaluating your idea. If you cannot find an expert to evaluate your idea then ask yourself if these success factors apply to your app:

·         Does your app solve a unique problem?

 

·         Does the app serve a niche?

 

·         Does it make people laugh?

 

·         Are you building a better wheel?

 

·         Will the app be highly interactive?

 

Step 1: Develop a Monetization (the process of converting or establishing something into legal tender.) and Marketing Plan

“80% are NOT generating enough revenue with their app to support a standalone business.

Step 2: Sign up for a developer account

Even if you will be hiring out the development work, you will need to establish your business within the app store. Visit the iOS Development center, and sign up for an account for $99 a year. This also requires you to provide your tax and bank account information so have this information in hand before signing up.

Step 3: Sketch your Application

Before you begin, ask yourself:

·         What primary action will users take within the app?

·         What information will each screen need to present?

·         What is the flow? How will users get from start to finish?

·         How big should the elements on screen be relative to each other?

Step 4: Identify the work to be outsourced

Define the areas you would be comfortable taking the lead and where you would need to hire help:

·         Design

·         Programming

·         Promotion and marketing

Step 5: Hiring your team

Design- this breaks down into three roles: information architecture, interaction design, and visual design.

Information Architecture- organizing the content in your app.

Interaction Design- This person sorts out how the user will move from screen to screen to accomplish their task.

Visual Design- this is the final step, this is the “Skin” that overlays the controls for the app. The key is to focus on the usability and primary task of the app

Iphone app icon Design: Best Practises

Don’t Include Words- an icon is a graphical representation of a cord, concept, object or operation. Words are in themselves an abstraction of a concept, object or operation.

Don’t Standard Gloss- apple gives you the option to add their standard gloss you your icon when submitting it to the app store. Don’t do it. If you must add a gloss, do it yourself and tone it down a bit.

Simple is good, simple is clear- icon design is all about expressing yourself clearly in a confined amount of visual space, 57x57, to be precise 3249 pixels. Don’t clutter them with unnecessary noise.

Details- simple does not mean plain looking. Add details that only you may notice. Use gradients, highlights and reflections.

Icon/App consistency- you’ll create a much higher level of trust and fidelity if these two events aren’t too dissimilar. The anticipation you create by having a great icon should be reinforced when your application itself is well designed and vice versa.

Stand out from the crowd- all the thought and labor you’ve put into your app should shine through your icon and convince the user that he or she simply cannot live without this excellent piece of software.

A FLAT design era

What is Skeuomorphism?

Basically the way designs often borrow a particular feature from the past, even when the functional need for it is gone. It’s the physical ornament or design on an object copied from a form of the object when made from another material or by other techniques.

3 links related to reading

http://arstechnica.com/apple/2013/05/apples-attempt-to-ditch-skeuomorphism-resulting-in-tight-ios-7-deadlines/

http://www.idownloadblog.com/2013/04/24/ios7-concept-video/

http://www.behance.net/search?field=131

Unit 5 Reading Response

Chapter 8: The Farmer and the Cowman should be friends

The focus in this chapter is on web development teams. People like what they like, and don’t like what they don’t like. In a team setting, conflicts may arise due to disagreements between Programmers, Developers and Designers. Programmers and developers tend to build sites that are more interesting and original with cool features because that’s what developers like. Designers design website that look great and are beautiful because they like good design and find it interesting. The thing these people have in common is: they are all web users.

Chapter 9: Usability testing on 10 cents a day 

Usability testing is a great way to settle conflicts and disagreements between a web development team. The major difference between a focus group and usability testing- focus groups are the usability group is usually 5-8 people. The group is shown designs and ideas one at a time, they are then asked to figure out what it is they are looking at or what the item is used for. This is the quickest way for web development teams to narrow down their “good ideas”.

 3 Links related to reading

importance of usability testing
http://www.simpleusability.com/beinspired/2011/03/importance-of-usability/ 

importance of usability testing (its that important)
http://imagexmedia.com/blog/2010/8/importance-usability-testing-9

the difference between designer and developer
http://webdesign.about.com/od/jobs/qt/difference-web-design-web-development.htm

Web Portfolio

Unit 4 Reading Response

 

Chapter 7: The first step in recovery is admitting that the Home page is beyond your control

When designing your home page, the main thing is to be simple. If you remember a few rules you can manage your home page well.

Right off the bat, the Home page must tell the users what the site is for and why they are there. The home page also has to give an overview of what the site offers. What can the user find here and I can do. Site Identity and Mission

Remember this: you want the viewer to continue on your page and take a deeper look inside, so; entice them to do so. Tease the viewer and make them want to explore your site by hinting all the “good stuff” that will be inside. Tease and Promote

Home page space should allocate whatever advertising, cross-promotion, and co-branding deals have been made. Deals!!!

The most requested pieces of content or regularly visited should have their own link on the home page so people don’t have to hunt them down. Shortcuts please.

Another thing that will help your user from becoming frustrated and leaving like you would if you couldn’t find what you wanted in the store; most sites need to have a prominently displayed search box on the Home page. Search

I like the way Krug explains that the Home page is like the waterfront property of the web. It’s the most desirable real estate, and there’s a very limited supply. One size fits all. The Home page has to appeal to everyone who visits the site, no matter how diverse their interest.

3 Links related to the reading

 http://www.keywebconcepts.com/blog/2010/08/the-importance-of-your-sites-homepage/

http://www.nngroup.com/articles/top-ten-guidelines-for-homepage-usability/

http://www.audiencebloom.com/2012/12/the-importance-of-homepage-content-and-seo/

P2 Research

Project 2

select a recent book release for design of a website promoting their book.

Possible book choices for P2

http://veronicarothbooks.blogspot.com/p/books.html

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9761771-pure

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10345927-a-million-suns





















3 Promotional book websites

1. http://onegraphic.com/book-promotions/
2. http://www.bookpromotion.com/
3. http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/free-ebook-promotion_b52130

Unit 3 Reading Response

Street signs and breadcrumbs: Designing Navigation

Response

It’s a fact: People won’t use your website if they can’t find their way around it. If you go to a site and you can’t find what you’re looking for or how the site is organized you’re not likely to stay long or even come back. You must create clear, simple and consistent navigation.

Websites that seem so simple and clear are actually pretty complex. If you think about it, trying to organize an entire website with everything you want to showcase in it and allow the users to find those things with only 3-4 clicks is pretty damn hard.

I’ve never thought of a website as a store that you’re trying to navigate through, and how the signs need to be clear and organized. A customer at a store that can’t find what they’re looking for can become pretty aggravated quickly. I know I can be that way, especially at Costco.

I’m glad Krug really enforces this thought process of web design and navigation; this has definitely helped for Project 1- Portfolio website design.

3 Links Related to Material

30 beautiful site navigation

http://www.underworldmagazines.com/beautiful-website-navigation/

30 website that make you wanna click!

http://webdesignledger.com/inspiration/30-website-navigations-that-make-you-wanna-click-it

30 examples of attractive navigation

http://webdesignerwall.com/trends/30-examples-of-attractive-nav

Unit 2 Reading Response

Chapter 3: Billboard Design 101 – Designing pages for scanning, not reading

 

There are five different steps in order to make sure your viewer understands what you are trying to display. 1) Create a clear visual hierarchy on each page. 2) Take advantage of conventions. 3) Break pages up into clearly defined areas. 4) Make it obvious what’s clickable. 5) Minimize noise.

 

To create visual hierarchy you can use size and weight to depict what info is important in relation to everything else. HEADLINES and BODY COPY below it. Taking advantage of conventions is helpful they can help the users figure out a web page even though they don’t understand a single word on the page. Breaking up pages helps users decide quickly what information is important to them. Making it obvious to what is clickable is important because users need to know the difference between buttons and the background. Minimizing noise on a web page keeps the user at ease and reduces the overwhelming sensation you get when things are too cluttered or noisy.

 

Chapter 4: Animal, vegetable, or mineral? Why users like mindless choice

 

Users don’t mind how many times they have to click, in fact, people love clicking as long as they feel they are clicking to get where they want to be.

 

Chapter 5: Omit needless words

 

Writing concise paragraph with no unnecessary words helps reduce the noise of a page and makes the actual useful information more prominent. This also makes the pages shorter for quick glancing. Ruthless editing is key. Get rid of half the words on a page and then get rid of half of what’s left. Removing “happy talk” happy talk- when you explain how great the site is. This talk is unnecessary and reduces noise.

 

Links related to the reading

 

Writing concise sentences

http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/concise.htm

 

Mindless Clicking

http://www.tallmania.com/baseb.html

 

Visual Hierarchy

http://webdesign.tutsplus.com/articles/design-theory/understanding-visual-hierarchy-in-web-design/

 

 

Portfolio website sketches

Unit 1 Reading Response

In Steve Krug's "Don’t make me think.” Steve begins by talking about the title and the meaning of his book. He explains the concepts of designing a website and not allowing the user to think too much. Websites should be easy to navigate; buttons and links should be clearly labeled and obvious that they are clickable.

 

The second chapter Steve explains how we really use the web. According to Steve Krug, we don’t really read websites but merely scan them to find what catches our attention. Users also do not make optimal choices; we usually look for key words and click away. Websites should be designed for its users and clients and they should be clear as a billboard not like a novel.

 

Why Mood Boards Matter

 

Mood boards are sometimes called inspiration boards. When creating a website mood board its useful for establishing a feel for the website, you can show color palettes, typography and patterns that will help the client see the overall look. A loose collage is the best ways to create a mood board for big thinkers that don’t really care about the details and just want the feel. The second type of mood board is a refined template; this is for clients that have not worked with designers before or if they are not detail oriented.

 

Creating a mood board can be fun and will help the designer and client brainstorm the look and feel of their website. This also helps you get all the dumb ideas out and help you figure out what look and feel you are actually going for.

Project 1 Mood Board

3 Portfolio Websites

http://alexarts.ru/en/index.html
This is AlexArts portfolio website. Easy navigation and beautiful aesthetic feel.

                     
                                                    http://www.hellomonday.com/
I picked this one simply because of the loading page. I though it was a great idea to show the loading of the week days rather than just a percentage of the loading

                                               http://www.iestudio.co.il/en/portfolio.html

Another great web portfolio. Makes me excited about web and design.

3 Inspirational websites

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.nh-hotels.com/winter-holidays/

 

This website is well thought out. The whole structure was designed beautifully from the loading page till the very end.

 

http://www.netlash-bseen.be/

 

This is a foreign website, and although I dont know the reasoning for this website it is still beautiful to the foreign eye.

http://www.iutopi.com/

Another awesome website with great navigation. This website is kind of like a game and it keeps you intrigued and excited for the next page.