Hello Principles of Usability students!
Our second class of the semester was a success.
To review: we took our quiz on the first few reading chapters (I am happy to report that we all did fairly well on these!), we shared the contents of our binders (an item that we would like to alter and make better), we shared our task flows, and we used class time to work on the upcoming assignment for the Visual Cookbook iPad App.
Honestly, I wasn’t even sure what an iPad app looks like! However, our class did a bit of googling and came up with some great answers.
This image is from the Wall Street Journal website and it shows the iPad App for the Wall Street Journal. I like this example because it is cleanly designed with a nice level off professionalism while still remaining creatively interactive. Apps for iPads seem to be very interactive and informative. This is an important thing to note as we prepare to design our Visual Cookbook apps.
Looking at each others task flow charts was one of the most interesting parts of class.
^ This is a scanned image of my own task flow chart for making tea in a coffee pot.
We will be using these task flow charts to create our Visual Cookbook iPad apps. In the post from Liina below, there is an excellent link to an iPad app design template. I took a look at some of the feedback and it sounds like a great thing to download! If you’re feeling adventurous, you should try it!
^ the image above comes this website.
Personas: are an important part of user-centered design. A persona answers viewers questions, gives you more credibility, and can make you more or less appealing. The smallest little thing (see the image below!) can make you loose or gain credibility.
^ the link above comes from grokdotcom.com
T H E A S S I G N M E N T
For next class we need to create three personas showing the different demographics for your app. Who are you targeting?
It is a good idea to document all of your research!
Next, we need to build three sets of wireframes for the pages of our app. This should include three versions of the homepage, three versions of the categories, and three versions of your recipe pages.
All of these can be sketches at this point but we’ll also need to create visual examples in Illustrator or inDesign.
And finally,
This scanned image from my notes reminds us … “No over-complication. Simple is fine.”
Principles of Usability 