Android UI Design Tips

Deprecated: The each() function is deprecated. This message will be suppressed on further calls in /home/zhenxiangba/zhenxiangba.com/public_html/phproxy-improved-master/index.php on line 456
Android UI Design Tips

Ad

Ad

Ad

Ad

Ad

Ad

Ad

Ad

Ad

Ad

Ad

Ad

User Interface
Design Tips

July 2010

Why should I care about UI?

Better UI

Perceived quality + polish

Better ratings

Better app ranking

...

Agenda – Android UI design tips

1.  Do’s and don’ts
2.  Design philosophy and considerations
3.  UI framework features yo...

Do’s and don’ts

  DON’T simply port   DON’T create rigid,
your UI from other absolute-positioned
platforms ...

  DO create versions of   DO support D-pad &
all resources for high trackball navigation
density screens
...

DO work with visual and
interaction designer(s)

7

Design philosophy
and considerations

Android design philosophy

  Clear vs. “simple”
  Content vs. chrome
  Consistent yet engaging
–  Elegant variation

...

Principles of good interface design*

1.  Focus on the user
2.  Make the right things visible
3.  Show proper feedback
4. ...

1. Focus on the user

  Know your users
–  Age, skill level, culture, disabilities, etc.
–  What they want to do with...

2. Make the right things visible

  The most common operations should be
immediately visible and available

  Second...

3. Show proper feedback

  Have at least 4 states (<selector>) for
all interactive UI elements:

default disa...

4. Be predictable

  Do what the user expects
–  Properly interact with the activity stack
–  Show information and ac...

If complex instructions
are required, rethink
your design.

15

5. Be fault tolerant

  Constrain possible operations to only
those that make sense
–  Disable UI elements when appr...

“If an error is possible,
someone will make it.”
– Donald Norman, author,
The Design of...

Design considerations

  Physical screen size
  Screen density
  Portrait & landscape orientations
  Primary UI intera...

Design considerations

  Awareness about the ways in which
devices can vary is very important
  Read through the CDD ...

UI framework features you
should definitely be using

<RelativeLayout>

21

Resource qualifiers

  One .apk contains all
resources
...

9-patch drawables – foo.9.png

  Similar to CSS3 border-image
  Border pixels indicate stretchable regions
  Make bo...

Selector (state list) drawables

foo.xml:

<selector>
<item android:drawable="@drawable/foo_disabled"
...

Selector (state list) drawables

foo_default.png foo_disabled.png foo_focused.png foo_pressed.png

foo_defau...

Layer drawables – XML + PNGs

+ + Drawable.setColorFilter( 
...

Layer drawables – XML + PNGs

=
Rendered output
(resizable w/ 9-patch)

...

New UI design patterns

New UI design patterns

Borrowed from the
Android UI design patterns
talk at Google I/O 2010

http://code.google.com/even...

New UI design patterns

  Dashboard
  Action Bar
  Quick Actions

30

New UI design patterns

  Dashboard
  Action Bar
  Quick Actions

31

New UI design patterns

  Dashboard
  Action Bar
  Quick Actions

32

New UI design patterns

  Dashboard
  Action Bar
  Quick Actions

33

Dashboard
“What can I do with this app?”
“What’s new?”

34

Dashboard – Recommendations

  Focus on 3-6 most important app
sections
  Highlight what’s new
  Be flavorful – it’s...

Action Bar
“How can I do <common action> quickly?”

36

Action Bar – Recommendations

  Bring key, app-wide actions onscreen
  Help to convey a sense of place
  Use consistent...

Quick Actions
“What can I do with <this object>?”

38

Icons and guidelines

New Android icon style

Tactile • Rendered • Forward Facing • Top-lit
Synecdoche • Diverse shapes, materials

Icon guidelines

Guidelines and templates are available at:

http://developer.android.com/guide/practices/
ui_guidelin...

Questions?

Copyrights and Trademarks

  Android, Google are registered
trademarks of Google Inc.
  All other trademarks and copy...