Designing the iPhone User Experience: A User-Centered Approach to Sketching and Prototyping iPhone Apps
Designing the iPhone User Experience provides an end-to-end overview of the user-centered design process, specifically for iPhone applications. After reading this book you will know how to:
- Conduct upfront user and competitive research to inform your app’s vision statement, also known as the "Production Definition Statement."
- Brainstorm, sketch, and prototype your app concepts. The prototypes covered take many different forms, from simple paper to scripted videos.
- Refine your app’s user interface and visual design, using best practices based on established design principles.
- Make your app accessible to individuals with impairments, with specific attention to VoiceOver, the screen reading software built-into the iPhone.
- Localize your app’s user experience with an emphasis on language, content, and culture.
While the book is focused on the iPhone and iPod touch, many of the principles you will learn here can also be applied to user experience design for the iPad. For example, the research methods in Part II, Defining your iPhone App, and sketching and prototyping in Part III, Developing your App Concept, can also be applied to the iPad. Many sections in Part IV, Refining your App Concept, are also relevant, however, there are some new iPad user interface controls and transitions that are not covered in this book. To learn more, you should take the time to read the iPad Human Interface Guidelines.
Review By: Sunil S. Prasad
06/03/2011This book will force you to look into your future by constantly reinforcing three important aspects: knowing your user, the design lifecycle, and attention to detail. I specialize in strategy, transformation, and user experience, and I enjoyed reading Suzanne Ginsburg’s book. It’s very well written, nicely laid out, and easy to read. Some parts of the book are technically relevant to current technology, while others will remain relevant for years—particularly the areas focusing on user research, persona modeling, and requirements definition.
The audience for this book can be anyone—entrepreneurs, developers, user experience professionals, product managers, QA—who wants to improve an existing iPhone application or create a new one. The primary goal is to educate you to: 1. Conduct up-front user and competitive research; 2. Brainstorm, sketch, and prototype application concepts 3. Refine your application’s user interface and visual design; 4. Make your application accessible all individuals; 5. Localize your application’s user experience.
Ginsburg asks the reader to keep in mind that the application styles outlined in the iPhone’s “Human Interface Guidelines” (HIG) are just a starting point; apps often include a combination of styles, and many build upon the guidelines to provide a different experience.