Learning iOS Design

Learning iOS Design will help students think systematically about the art and science of design, and consistently design apps that users will appreciate - and love. Pioneering Omni Group user experience expert William Van Hecke first explains what design really means, and why effective app design matters so much. Next, using a sample concept, he walks through transforming a vague idea into a fleshed-out design, moving from outlines to sketches, wireframes to mockups, prototypes to finished apps. Building on universal design principles, he offers practical advice for thinking carefully, critically, and cleverly about students' own projects, and provides exercises to guide the reader step-by-step through planning an app's design.

Autorentext

William Van Hecke is User Experience Lead at the Omni Group. His nebulous job is to make software civilized enough to bring out in public. His work often ends up entwined with documentation, marketing, quality assurance, customer support, and Dungeon Mastering, too. Previously, Bill wrote code in Chicago for companies on the Board of Trade, and in Green Bay. When not shoveling pixels or graphemes, Bill likes creating video games, translating video games, and, occasionally, playing video games.

Zusammenfassung
Learning iOS Design will help students think systematically about the art and science of design, and consistently design apps that users will appreciate—and love. Pioneering Omni Group user experience expert William Van Hecke first explains what design really means, and why effective app design matters so much. Next, using a sample concept, he walks through transforming a vague idea into a fleshed-out design, moving from outlines to sketches, wireframes to mockups, prototypes to finished apps. Building on universal design principles, he offers practical advice for thinking carefully, critically, and cleverly about students' own projects, and provides exercises to guide the reader step-by-step through planning an app’s design.

Inhalt
* Foreword xix

Preface xxi

Acknowledgments xxix

About the Author xxxi

*  **Part I: Turning Ideas into Software 1

**  ** Chapter 1: The Outlines 3

**The Process: Nonlinear but Orderly 3 Writing about Software 4

The Mental Sweep 6

More Inputs to Outlining 7

Outlining Requirements 8

Antirequirements 9

Define a Platform 10

Listing Ramifications 11

iOS and Featurefulness 11

Reducing Problems 12

Outlining Architecture 13

Your Outline Is Your To-Do List 14

Summary 14

Exercises 14

  ** Chapter 2: The Sketches 15

**Thinking by Drawing 15 Design Happens in Conversations 16

Tools for Sketching 18

Sketches Are Sketchy 19

When to Sketch 20

Using Precedents 21

Playing Devil’s Advocate 22

Sketching Interfaces 22

Sketching Interactions 24

Sketching Workflows 26

Summary 29

Exercises 29

  ** Chapter 3: Getting Familiar with iOS 31

**Navigation: Screen to Screen 31 Advice on the Standard Elements 41

Custom Controls 52

Summary 53

Exercises 53

  ** Chapter 4: The Wireframes 55

**Thinking in Screens 56 Thinking in Points 57

Optical Measurements 57

Tools for Wireframing 61

Principles of Layout 63

Typography 72

Layout: A Place for Everything… 74

Summary 79

Exercises 80

  ** Chapter 5: The Mockups 81

**When to Mock Up 81 Styling: The Apparent Design Discipline 82

Mockup Tools 85

Color: Thinking in HSB 86

Get Serious about Value 88

Contrast: Thinking in Figure/Ground Relationships 89

Styling for Good Contrast and Visual Weight 89

Good Backgrounds 92

Transparency 93

1+1 = 3 94

Presenting Image Content 95

Evaluating Contrast: Posterize It 95

Contrast Examples 98

Birth of a Button 100

Mockup Assembly 106

Resizable Images 107

Retina Resources 107

Designing for Layers 108

Summary 109

Exercises 109

  ** Chapter 6: The Prototypes 111

**Test on the Device 111 Kinds of Prototypes 112

Paper Prototypes 112

Wizard of Oz Prototypes 114

Motion Sketches 115

Preemptive Demo Videos 117

Interactive Prototypes 118

Proof-of-Concept Software 121

Why Do Usability Testing? 123

How to Do Usability Testing 124

Summary 126

Exercises 126

  ** Chapter 7: Going Cross-Platform 127

**Platform Catalog 127 Standalone, Mini, and Companion Apps 129

Start from Scratch 130

Back to the Outlines 130

Case Study: Apple Mail 131

Summary 141

Exercises 142

  ** Part II: Principles 143

**  ** Chapter 8: The Graceful Interface 145

**Suspension of Disbelief 145 The Moment of Uncertainty 146

Instantaneous Feedback 147

Gracefulness through Layout 149

Six Reliable Gestures 151

The Sandwich Problem 153

Exotic Gestures as Shortcuts 154

Realistic Gestures 154

Hysteresis 155

Thresholds 157

Generous Taps 158

Meaningful Animation 161

Making SnackLog Graceful 163

Summary 164

Exercises 164

  ** Chapter 9: The Gracious Interface 167

**Denotation and Connotation 167 Cues 168

Imagery 171

Text 172

Writing: The Secret Design Discipline 174

Redundant Messages 176

Communication Breakdown 176

Guidance at the Point of Need 177

Visible Status 178

Contextual Status 179

Invisible Status 180

The Sense of Adventure 183

Capability 184

Defensive Design 185

Forgiveness 187

Making SnackLog Gracious 191

Summary 193

Exercises 193

  ** Chapter 10: The Whole Experience 195

**Serve the Soul 197 Conveying Capability 198

Documentation 206

Support 211

Localization 211

Accessibility 213

Ethos 215

Respect 215

Summary 219

Exercises 219

  ** Part III: Finding Equilibrium 221

**  ** Chapter 11: Focused and Versatile 223

**Debunking “Simple” and “Complex” 223 The Focused Design 224

Focusing SnackLog: Labeling 228

The Versatile Design 230

Summary 236

Exercises 236

  ** Chapter 12: Quiet and Forthcoming 237

**Adjacent in Space 238 Stacked in Time 239

Progressive Disclosure 240

Group by Meaning, Arrange by Importance 242

Promotion and Demotion 243

Splitting the Difference 246

iOS Loves Context 246

Hide, Don’t Disable 248

Disappear 248

Taps Are Cheap 250

Loud and Clear 250

Making SnackLog Quiet 251

Making SnackLog Forthcoming 252

Summary 253

Exercises 253

  ** Chapter 13: Friction and Guidance 255

**The Difficulty Curve 255 Experience Weight 257

Why Add Friction? 257

How to Add Friction 258

Unintended Friction 259

Guidance 262

Sensible Defaults 266

Summary 270

Exercises 270

  ** Chapter 14: Consistency and Specialization 271

**How It All Works Out 271 Getting the Most Out of the HIG 272

The Consistent Design 273

The Specialized Design 278

Summary 283

Exercises 284

  ** Chapter 15: Rich and Plain 285

**Color versus Monochrome 286

Depth versus Flatness 290

Realism versus Digitality 296

Summary 301

Exercises 302

  * Index 303 *