5 Tips for designing a good iphone app

When users look for new applications in the Apple App Store, they are often based on design to determine whether to buy. In life, perhaps a lot of people warned us not to rely on the cover to judge a book; since it is not possible to try an application, the screenshot becomes an important basis for us to evaluate the quality of the application.

Since users cannot navigate the App Store to determine the usability and code robustness of an application, it is reasonable to judge the design as a basis, which means that the application of the same kind of competition is often more popular with the best experience design.

How to design a good iphone application? There are five points to suggest.

1. Application Line diagram

When we talk about application design, there are usually two main factors: User experience Design (Username experience) and UI design (user interface).

The experience design includes the intent of the application, such as which function points are included, and how the user accomplishes the intent.

User interface design focuses on the visualization of experience, including color, texture, font and other elements.

Both of these factors are critical when designing iphone applications. Of course, first you have to take the time to build the user experience of the entity, often through the wireframe to achieve. Wireframe (wireframe) is a simple sketch of the application idea, focusing on the experience part, ignoring the visual effects. (For more information benefits of wireframing your designs) I like to draw sketches on paper with pens, and some people like to use illustrator or Balsamiq mockups.

It is important to note that the tools are irrelevant and need not be entangled. You need to focus on planning the application function to make it more harmonious; you need to think about how the user first comes up and how to present it; you need to think about the user's operational logic. Draw buttons, write text, especially to make the learning process more intuitive.

Only by focusing on style at the beginning can you be sure that your wireframe is a clear, easy-to-use application design.

2. Click target of finger size

This is the most significant point to improve the usability of the application: enlarge the clickable area of each button. You are designed for your thumb, not an exact click of the mouse arrow.

The minimum-point operation area recommended by Apple is 44x44px. That doesn't mean the button needs to be big. The point area can be expanded according to the visual size of the button, which eliminates the annoyance caused by the user's repeated attempts to click. Pay special attention to the multiple buttons that are close to each other, and the extra points can not cover the other buttons.

3. Each interface has only one main target point

An interface to the application should focus on the main purpose you wish to convey. For example, in the iphone mail application, the mailing list interface, the user's main purpose is to browse the mail. Although there is a second action to compose the message, the button is placed in the corner, not prominent.

One of the tasks of a designer is to make decisions: which are the most important, and then highlight her. Reduce the visual weight of minor elements to make the main operation clearer.

Read the following articles to help you create excellent visual hierarchies and priorities in your application:

Working with Visual Weight in Your Designs

Creating Focal Points in Your Web design

Using Power Structure and gestalt for Visual hierarchy

The Art of distinction in Web design

4. Avoid the default button style

The default style of the Uibuttons control in the iphone can be seen as a thorn in my peeves (Design pet). It seems that all iOS default controls look good.

Unless your style of application is unpleasant (not excluded), try to avoid using the default button style. Merging the buttons with the UI will brighten your eyes while keeping you away from the title of a lame designer.

You can use a background image to set the style of a button, or to redraw a new button with code.

There are lots of tutorials and materials to help you create more attractive buttons, as follows:

Designing Buttons in IOS 5

UIButton Glossy

5. Provide additional views for bloated information

It is easy for the user to move to another view (animated by push or view). So when you try to add more information to a view, you might as well do subtraction and move it to another view.

In the iphone, you can often run into this usage scenario in the CREATE view. For example, the new contact interface, when you choose the ringtone (ringtone), you will enter the new ringtones view, which displays a list of selectable ringtones.

Click on the phone number label and you can set the label name.

By adding additional views, only the information you need is displayed, which prevents users from being confused by a large number of view elements. This concept of design is also known as progressive expansion (progressive disclosure).

Translator Note:

The first of these may be many people in practice already know, then can be ignored. After all, the purpose of translating it is mainly self confirmation.

After all, please do not deceitful act, these are limited to the iphone, whether it is universal to Android or the ipad, can not be considered, at least I now see some points on the ipad is not reasonable.

In addition, from the resources and related design patterns recommended by the author, we can find that in fact, mobile application design, or learn from a lot of web design methods and ideas. Therefore, in learning mobile design, and can not blindly discard the web design patterns and related methods, although the scene is different, but the processing skills can be used for reference and change.

Via:sixrevisions

(Huyipeng for Lei Feng Network, reproduced please indicate from the Lei Feng Network and author)