4 ms·

Designing for Android

11 points by shawndumas 13y ago

news_to_me 13y ago
I find posts like these hard to parse. First of all, this article seems to be entirely opinion (which is fine, ofc), and could use some more supporting facts. The linked examples are great, but how does the iconography lack sophistication? I'm not trained as a designer. Second, I wonder how much of this designer's opinion (and my own) of Andriod vs iOS are influenced by the seemingly default notion that "iOS is prettier and better designed than Android." I can see that this is clearly true with earlier Android versions, and it seems true now, although it's a closer race. But what are the objective criteria that make iOS's design truly better?
- foolrush 13y ago
  “But what are the objective criteria that make iOS's design truly better?” There is no such creature as objectivity in design. It is all privileged vantage. When I was a young wee art schooler, we had a professor who made this abundantly clear by reframing the question of “What is good art?” The reframing of art as language. When we ask the question “What is good art?” or “What is good design?” we bury the privilege. Were we to ask “What is good language?” we can begin to see how displaced the very question is. Even then, it is likely our answers would be much more cautious, nuanced, and contextual. Most of Norman's and Buxton's writing on the subject tends to highlight the contextuality of design[1]. This echoes the much more complex notions surrounding its cultural role, much like language. And very much unlike the mucousy puddle in the original article... [1] http://www.visualisingdata.com/index.php/2013/03/tactile-visualisations-inuit-wood-maps/ http://www.visualisingdata.com/index.php/2013/03/tactile-vis... http://www.jnd.org/dn.mss/simplicity_is_highly.html http://www.jnd.org/dn.mss/simplicity_is_highly.html
soundandfeury 13y ago
All right, I'll take the bait: You take a few links, make a few jokes, and somehow draw the conclusion that the Android OS sucks ("It's just not fun to use" doesn't really persuade me much). The only objective point you really make is about Android screen size fragmentation. Maybe it's just me, but I'm a little sick of that argument. Yes the OS is fragmented from an upgrade perspective (and this sucks), but what does that have to do with screen size? Almost every decent web-based app is designed for multiple screen sizes, and I rarely see an issue with that. Maybe you could've discussed the challenges in designing an application that is beautiful across all these screen sizes. I guess my point is: I was hoping for an article that detailed some nuances about how to successfully design an Android app or why you think that's impossible. But all I found was a an article hating on the Operating System with a few links to other blogs that agree with you. To answer the only question you posed: "Where's the showcase for the actual operating system?" It's at the bottom of the page you linked: http://www.android.com/versions/kit-kat-4-4/ http://www.android.com/versions/kit-kat-4-4/
kyriakos 13y ago
like the web.. android apps are meant to be responsive. its the job of the designer to take into consideration that the same app (or website) will be viewed on different screen sizes and orientations and remain usable. its not trivial but that's why designers are getting paid for.
hanspeide 13y ago
Have this guy ever designed for the web? A lot of people seem to be able to make a decent living doing that, and they have to support a lot more screen sizes and resolutions than his nifty illustration shows.
Zigurd 13y ago
Designing for Android for people who won't let go of how they design (and develop and test) for iOS. Oh, and nothing about scaling the UI with Fragment, either. Feh.
- cypher543 13y ago
  Indeed. I really don't find the wide array of screen sizes to be that big of a problem. Of course, it is a little scary if you're used to designing apps with fixed-size bitmaps. But with Android's XML drawables, fragments, and nine-patch images, it's remarkably easy to design an app that works on virtually all screens.
indy 13y ago
Perhaps the author could have looked here http://androidniceties.tumblr.com http://androidniceties.tumblr.com for some inspiration
unknownian 13y ago
I'm not a typographer, but I am pretty sure Helvetica looks nothing like Roboto at the size that appears on the phone. I've used both iOS and Android; I'm not just assuming they're different. Arial and Helvetica don't even look similar at around 12pt. At 48pt, sure, but who is using 48pt on a phone? The claim that Roboto and Helvetica look similar gets me rather annoyed.
sprobertson 13y ago
Title is misleading. Here I was, a naive mobile developer, hoping for some advice on designing for Android - all I got was collection of no-more-than-skin-deep complaints. I just made the switch from iOS to Android, and while I agree that it's hard to find as many examples of good design, I think that is mostly a saturation problem caused by a positive feedback loop - a greater proportion of good designers flock to iOS because iOS has a better reputation of good design.

11 points by shawndumas 13y ago

I find posts like these hard to parse. First of all, this article seems to be entirely opinion (which is fine, ofc), and could use some more supporting facts. The linked examples are great, but how does the iconography lack sophistication? I'm not trained as a designer. Second, I wonder how much of this designer's opinion (and my own) of Andriod vs iOS are influenced by the seemingly default notion that "iOS is prettier and better designed than Android." I can see that this is clearly true with earlier Android versions, and it seems true now, although it's a closer race. But what are the objective criteria that make iOS's design truly better?

foolrush 13y ago
“But what are the objective criteria that make iOS's design truly better?” There is no such creature as objectivity in design. It is all privileged vantage. When I was a young wee art schooler, we had a professor who made this abundantly clear by reframing the question of “What is good art?” The reframing of art as language. When we ask the question “What is good art?” or “What is good design?” we bury the privilege. Were we to ask “What is good language?” we can begin to see how displaced the very question is. Even then, it is likely our answers would be much more cautious, nuanced, and contextual. Most of Norman's and Buxton's writing on the subject tends to highlight the contextuality of design[1]. This echoes the much more complex notions surrounding its cultural role, much like language. And very much unlike the mucousy puddle in the original article... [1] http://www.visualisingdata.com/index.php/2013/03/tactile-visualisations-inuit-wood-maps/ http://www.visualisingdata.com/index.php/2013/03/tactile-vis... http://www.jnd.org/dn.mss/simplicity_is_highly.html http://www.jnd.org/dn.mss/simplicity_is_highly.html

soundandfeury 13y ago

All right, I'll take the bait: You take a few links, make a few jokes, and somehow draw the conclusion that the Android OS sucks ("It's just not fun to use" doesn't really persuade me much). The only objective point you really make is about Android screen size fragmentation. Maybe it's just me, but I'm a little sick of that argument. Yes the OS is fragmented from an upgrade perspective (and this sucks), but what does that have to do with screen size? Almost every decent web-based app is designed for multiple screen sizes, and I rarely see an issue with that. Maybe you could've discussed the challenges in designing an application that is beautiful across all these screen sizes. I guess my point is: I was hoping for an article that detailed some nuances about how to successfully design an Android app or why you think that's impossible. But all I found was a an article hating on the Operating System with a few links to other blogs that agree with you. To answer the only question you posed: "Where's the showcase for the actual operating system?" It's at the bottom of the page you linked: http://www.android.com/versions/kit-kat-4-4/ http://www.android.com/versions/kit-kat-4-4/

kyriakos 13y ago

like the web.. android apps are meant to be responsive. its the job of the designer to take into consideration that the same app (or website) will be viewed on different screen sizes and orientations and remain usable. its not trivial but that's why designers are getting paid for.

hanspeide 13y ago

Have this guy ever designed for the web? A lot of people seem to be able to make a decent living doing that, and they have to support a lot more screen sizes and resolutions than his nifty illustration shows.

Zigurd 13y ago

Designing for Android for people who won't let go of how they design (and develop and test) for iOS. Oh, and nothing about scaling the UI with Fragment, either. Feh.

cypher543 13y ago
Indeed. I really don't find the wide array of screen sizes to be that big of a problem. Of course, it is a little scary if you're used to designing apps with fixed-size bitmaps. But with Android's XML drawables, fragments, and nine-patch images, it's remarkably easy to design an app that works on virtually all screens.

indy 13y ago

Perhaps the author could have looked here http://androidniceties.tumblr.com http://androidniceties.tumblr.com for some inspiration

unknownian 13y ago

I'm not a typographer, but I am pretty sure Helvetica looks nothing like Roboto at the size that appears on the phone. I've used both iOS and Android; I'm not just assuming they're different. Arial and Helvetica don't even look similar at around 12pt. At 48pt, sure, but who is using 48pt on a phone? The claim that Roboto and Helvetica look similar gets me rather annoyed.

sprobertson 13y ago

Title is misleading. Here I was, a naive mobile developer, hoping for some advice on designing for Android - all I got was collection of no-more-than-skin-deep complaints. I just made the switch from iOS to Android, and while I agree that it's hard to find as many examples of good design, I think that is mostly a saturation problem caused by a positive feedback loop - a greater proportion of good designers flock to iOS because iOS has a better reputation of good design.