This email mini-course is an excerpt from Android Design Patterns: Interaction Design Solutions for Developers (Wiley 2013).
“The humorous prose is colorful and makes the material a fun read… This is very “visual” reading, and is much enjoyed and appreciated. The analysis is spot on, and expertly worded… It’s a winner. We need more of this colorful kind of writing about technical things.”
– Smashing Magazine reviewer
You’ll learn how mobile design for Android 4.x is different from iOS:
The AutoTrader app is a typical example of a straight port, which is to say that it is basically an iOS app that was quickly and minimally made to work for Android. This 10-part mini-course will show you how to redesign this app for Android 4.x (Ice Cream Sandwich and Jelly Bean).
Module 1: Launch Icon The Android launch icon design is not bound by the iOS square shape with rounded corners. Instead, designers are encouraged to give their Android launch icons a distinctive outline shape.
Module 2: Action Bars Action bars and the accompanying functions form the nerve center of an app and are important in the overall design. Unfortunately, the current design of the AutoTrader app leaves much to be desired.
Module 3: Tabs and Buttons Android Cancel/OK button treatment turns them into square solid tap areas. Tabs are an essential element of secondary navigation that can be used for a variety of applications.
Module 4: Select Control AutoTrader app’s selection mechanisms are redesigned with the excellent select controls for selection supplied with Android 4.x: Dedicated Selection Page and the Drop Down Select control.
Module 5: Search Results Search is arguably one of the most important functions of most mobile apps, so it’s essential that we get this one right with Android 4.x interface elements.
Module 6: Result Detail Page In this 6th installment we discuss how to redesign the AutoTrader app’s result detail page with with Android 4.x action bars and content sections.
You’ll learn Android 4.x Design Patterns, Get Source Code and Mini-Apps:
Finish up the AutoTrader redesign with picking the right pattern to use and get a sample of the 58 design patterns and 12 anti-patterns from Android Design Patterns: Interaction Design Solutions for Developers (Wiley 2013). Complete with source code walk-through and downloadable mini-app of 2 experimental patterns.
Module 7: Design that works Throughout the process you examined several new designs for AutoTrader screens. Here’s how to pick the design that works.
Module 8: Sign-up/Sign-in Antipattern Anything that slows down customers or gets in their way after they download your app is a bad thing. Here’s how to avoid the trap.
Module 9: Carousel Pattern, Code and Mini-app Real-world amusement park carousel explains what makes for an authentically mobile user experience. Design + complete source code + downloadable mini-app.
Module 10: C-Swipe Pattern, Code and Mini-app C-Swipe is an ergonomics-based navigation pattern forms the basis for an alternative localized navigation scheme. Design + complete source code + downloadable mini-app.
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About the author
Greg Nudelman is a Mobile Experience Strategist, Fortune 500 Advisor and CEO of DesignCaffeine, Inc. Read more >
“This book is more of a workshop than a reference book. Greg builds upon the universal design patterns for mobile devices and tablets and the Android UI design guidelines and takes the topic further into hands-on practical applications of the design principles. Each section covers fundamentals, warns of pitfalls and antipatterns, and then puts the lessons to the test by redesigning an existing application. You can and should bring this book to design sessions, and you should share it with your team.