Brief 2 Ipad Story App

Before I begin to develop ideas for this brief i need to no the basics of what i am designing. I will study User Experience and User Centered Design so that the product i design is appealing to the right audience and aesthetically pleasing.

(http://developer.apple.com/library/IOS/#documentation/UserExperience/Conceptual/MobileHIG/Introduction/Introduction.html)

Great App Design Begins with Some Clear Definitions

When you’re starting with an idea for an app, it’s crucial to decide precisely which features you intend to deliver, and to whom. After you’ve determined this, you need to make sure you tailor the look and feel of your app to the device it runs on and to the task it enables.
If you’re bringing existing software to iOS, you face many of the same challenges. As you redesign your existing software for iOS, it can help to learn about some of the design decisions that informed other successful interdevice transitions, such as those for Mail and Keynote.

Human Interface Principles
A great user interface follows human interface design principles that are based on the way people—users—think and work, not on the capabilities of the device. A user interface that is unattractive, convoluted, or illogical can make even a great application seem like a chore to use. But a beautiful, intuitive, compelling user interface enhances an application’s functionality and inspires a positive emotional attachment in users.

Aesthetic Integrity
How well the appearance of an app integrates with its function. Using standard ipad controls: tap, double tap, scroll, tilt, pinch, shake, means that users are more likely to know what they are meant to do when it comes to using a new app. Imagery that is simple or that backs up the story and works with the ipad layout will also enhance user experience.

Consistency
An application that takes advantage of the standards and paradigms people are comfortable with and uses them within a design. Keeping a consistant design throughout the app and an overall design that is unique but still inkeeping with other app designs will give users a good app experience.

Below are the questions i need to be asking myself when i am designing my app:

Is the application consistent with iOS standards?

Does it use system-provided controls, views, and icons correctly?

Does it incorporate device features in a reliable way?

Is the application consistent within itself?

Does text use uniform terminology and style?

Do the same icons always mean the same thing?

Can people predict what will happen when they perform the same action in different places? Do custom UI elements look and behave the same throughout the app?

Within reason, is the application consistent with its earlier versions?

Have the terms and meanings remained the same?

Are the fundamental concepts essentially unchanged?

Direct Manipulation
The touch screen allows people to directly manipulate objects rather than use buttons or controls; this allows the user to be more engaged with the task, giving users a bigger sense of control.
Experiences:

Rotate or otherwise move the device to affect onscreen objects

Use gestures to manipulate onscreen objects

Can see that their actions have immediate, visible results.

Feedback
when a user taps or interacts with the device they expect some sort of feedback to indicate that processing is occuring. With an Ipad users want immediate feedback or an indication that what they have demanded is going to happen - processing. If an app takes a few seconds to load it is a good idea to have a loading screen or a counter to show that the process is happening rather than the user thinking the device has not reacted to their interaction. Good indicators can be a slight glow if something interactive is tapped, an immediate reation to user interaction or if the device is not working a message that will inform the user about what is happening. Ipad apps should never leave the user waiting for something to happen, they should always know or have expectations of what will happen if they interact in a certain way.

Metaphors
When a devise mimics the actions of everyday life. For example to turn a page in a book you grab the corner and pull it across the previous page; This can be simulated on an Ipad.
iOS provides great scope for metaphors because it supports rich graphical images and gestures. People physically interact with realistic onscreen objects, in many cases operating them as if they were real-world objects. Metaphors in iOS include:

• Tapping Music playback controls
• Dragging, flicking, or swiping objects in a game
• Sliding On/Off switches
• Flicking through pages of photos
• Spinning picker wheels to make choices

In general, metaphors work best when they’re not stretched too far. For example, the usability of software folders would decrease if they had to be organized into a virtual filing cabinet.

User Control
People like to feel like they are in control so people need to feel like they are in control of an application when they interact with it. Users feel more in control of an app when behaviors and controls are familiar and predictable. And, when actions are simple and straightforward, users can easily understand and remember them. Being able to exit an app or cancel an interaction are controls that users like to have.