MOBILE APP DESIGN PRINCIPLES

Presented by Jim Heising, CEO

THE STORY OF A REALLY STUPID IDEA THAT BEGAN OVER A DRINK ( OR TWO )…

AND TURNED INTO A SUCCESSFUL BRAND.

SUCCESS OF A STUPID IDEA

•  Initial investment of 1 weekend of time •  Generates sizeable amount of income •  iTunes staff pick numerous times •  Top paid app in photography category •  Press coverage

–  Wired –  Fortune –  Esquire –  And more…

•  Celebrity endorsements –  Chris Daughtry –  Rick McCallum –  Philip Bloom –  Heather Graham –  Ellen Degeneres

•  Rabid fans who generate viral content •  Private labeling and follow-on projects

THE EVOLUTION OF AN APP PLATFORM

IF YOU BUILD IT, THEY WILL COME…

A MOBILE APP PLATFORM DESIGNED TO REDUCE THE COST, TIME, & RISK OF MOBILE APP DEVELOPMENT.

WHAT WE LEARNED…

ANYONE CAN BUILD AN APP.

NOT EVERYONE CAN BUILD A BEAUTIFUL & ENJOYABLE APP.

THINK “FAST FOOD” – SIMPLE, CHEAP AND ADDICTING.

APPS YOU COULD JUST EAT

•  Do one thing, and do it really well

•  Doesn’t have to mean low quality –  Think Red Mill Burgers

•  Find that “special sauce” –  But don’t take months to develop it

•  Always ask, “can I repurpose/re-use this?”

FEATURES ARE YOUR WORST ENEMY.

AVOID THE “FEATURE CREEP”

•  Users don’t spend time discovering features –  Average user session length is 6.6 minutes (Source: Flurry Analytics)

•  Don’t give your users something to complain about! –  Users don’t complain about lack of features.

–  Users complain about features that don’t work.

•  Remember, it’s a small device. People don’t expect it to solve world hunger.

DEVELOP A UNIQUE POINT OF VIEW AND KEEP IT FRESH.

SO FRESH AND SO CLEAN, CLEAN

•  Users are drawn to unique design

•  Users get tired of seeing the same old thing

•  Don’t use Apple supplied UI elements as a crutch –  They are starting to look dated

•  Build reusable design elements

MAKE IT SOCIAL.

GOING VIRAL

•  Give your users a way to share their app

•  Give your users a way to show off their skills

•  Ask yourself, is this something groups of people can use together?

•  Embrace cross promotion

UNDERSTAND HOW USERS BUY, RATE AND RECOMMEND APPS.

A BOOK BY ITS COVER

•  Screenshots and ratings are everything –  But a good screenshot can trump a bad rating

•  Screenshots: –  Can I tell a visually stunning story in 1 image? –  Stay away from collages –  Quality is instantly recognizable

•  Ratings: –  Don’t give users things to complain about –  Don’t release buggy apps –  Don’t oversell

WHICH ONE WOULD YOU BUY?

REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE TRYING TO IMPRESS.

DESIGN FOR “THE MAN”

•  Apple can make or break you

•  Showcase the unique features of their platform

•  Think “how would this look in a commercial?”

•  Apple puts unique and clean design on a high pedestal

THINK HOLISTICALLY

BUILDING AN APP IS JUST THE BEGINNING

LEVERAGE PLATFORMS. (LIKE INSERT SHAMELESS PLUG HERE)

RED FOUNDRY

•  You CAN be a designer and a developer

•  Spend more time designing and less time developing

•  Try a lot of things in a small amount of time

•  Let us think about device specific issues and inconsistencies