WWDC is almost here! I’ve thought long and hard about what could be announced that would have the largest impact on my day to day life over the next year, both as an iOS developer and as a user of Apple products.
Read MoreiOS Auto Layout: A Failure in Execution
Auto Layout was supposed to be Apple’s answer to providing flexible and self adjusting UI layouts across devices of varying screen sizes. I truly believe Auto Layout could be the answer. Unfortunately, Apple’s execution with Auto Layout has been abysmal.
Read MoreiOS UITableViews: Simplifying Code for Dynamic Static Content
Sometimes very simple requirements are answered with straight forward and direct software design that can, over time, become complex and difficult to maintain. This is often seen in app ‘Settings’, ‘About’, ‘hamburger’ and similar screens. This article shows a technique to simplify the code for these screens.
Read MoreFacebook Home
There's been a bit of consternation over Facebook Home's "flop" after just over a month of availability.
Supposedly, AT&T is going to drop the HTC First from it's lineup after already dropping the phone from $99 to $0.99. It took an entire month for Facebook Home to reach 1 million downloads from Google's Play store!
Listening to the press and analysts, Facebook should pack it up, because Facebook Home is going nowhere. But this is just another case of the press and analysts making something of nothing. The verdict is still out on Facebook Home. Facebook will play the long game on this effort.
The HTC First was never going to fly off the shelves -- Facebook Home is a non-exclusive feature and the HTC First was just a proof of concept and a vehicle to introduce Facebook Home to the world. HTC had nothing to lose and needs to pull every lever it can to try to get back into the race against Samsung. However, even Facebook diehards aren't going to rush out to buy a phone because of Home, they'll still wait for their normal upgrade cycle. And for those who were buying phones in the last month, one phone among several dozen still isn't going to grab a lion's share because of this one feature.
For Facebook, the phone sales are not the metric, the downloads are. So, only 1 million downloads in 1 month. Of course they would have liked to see more. But how many people know that Facebook Home exists? Outside of the tech sphere and heavy Facebook users, I doubt many people know that Home is available. Sure, there were commercials, but they were terrible for Facebook because they were made by AT&T, which only mentioned the HTC First as the way to get Facebook Home. Again, Facebook's main metric should be downloads, but the commercials most people saw didn't tell them they could download it whether they were with AT&T or not and without buying a specific phone.
Facebook Home can't be dismissed just yet. What happens when more people realize it's just an app, a download away? Sure, many will find it overwhelming and overly intrusive and delte it, but the slow ramp of awareness will also give Facebook time to dial back in some ways while drilling deeper into taking over Android in other ways that users may be more willing to accept.
Home is a long game for Facebook. Check back in a year.
Outdated Icons
Has any research been done on which classic computer icons people fail to understand because they reference things that are not in common use anymore? There are plenty of people with articles giving advice, but I find their examples lacking.
For example, Tara Horner at Design Festival.
I agree with a few of her examples. USB stick instead of 3.5" floppy disk to signify saving, sure. Scissors in "oh so last decade bubble sphere" instead of clipboard for copy/paste actions, OK, but get rid of the overly highlighted bubble sphere and hire a real designer.
I don't believe today's kids will be any more confused by a paint palette than by a color wheel for color selection. This should fit in with the overall design and feeling of the app. No one I knew except for Bob Ross used a paint palette when I was a kid either, but everyone knew what one was.
Tara suggests against file cabinets (for "open" I guess) and suggests using file folders. Even though she acknowledges file folders are hardly used anymore either, she suggests giving the file folder a snazzy updated look... basically so it looks nothing like a file folder, or anything else.
I'm really confused by one of the examples she gives for replacing the aging telephone handset icon. It's some kind of white box with buttons on the sides and a depiction of an original iPod on the front. What?
Tara suggests against full studio head phones because she rarely sees anyone wearing these now. I wouldn't say it's often, but I do see these still today. From what I've seen, there has been a resurgence in their use among teens and college students (see Skullcandy). I think the vast majority of users will instantly recognize what these are.
I did some research on this subject in a course I taught last semester at Miami University. Apple's Podcasts app was getting beaten up partly for displaying a rotating reel-to-reel tape player as an indicator that a podcast was playing. Supposedly the younger generation doesn't know what this is, which made it a terrible design flourish. So I asked my students to gauge recognition. Out of 17 students, 2 didn't know what "reel-to-reel tape" referred to.