New to tumblr. thanks to Öredev
I have been an avid Facebook user for about ten years & eagerly jumped on the Instagram bandwagon. The Öredev Conference is currently going on here in Malmö - the first speaker, who's talk I enjoyed very much, is an Android developer here at tumblr, and he inspired me to get started. My first contribution to the tumblr world is this (notes from Wednesday's Öredev talks):
Android Design: Beyond the Guidelines - Creating character and identity in your applications
Tumblr (Android) - Kevin Grant
You can do it, it is possible, it will suck to implement, but the product will be great!
Consider that Google designed a standard for Android applications before you make design changes
But custom designs are possible with "custom views", "Activity Transitions" (style an Activity to look like a dialog)
"'Random stuff isn't well supported"
There is a need for time to do "fun crazy things"
GingerBread often needs extra coding for special design features
Expanded text is REALLY bad for performance
Header views are not recycled - if you scroll all the way down, header is still active (consider if header has flashy pics like Tumblr)
Creative block? Get the team drunk - forget about implementation reqs and get creative!
Do unexpected things - Yelp halloween theme
(iOS, but still cool: Foursquare, pull all the way up and see easter eggs)
Pintrest & Circa - meaningful animations
Snapchat - dancing ghost unmeaningful animations
Fun, enrichment, meaning to our lives.
Screen action items - Tumblr has a floating compose button on the bottom right (not supported by Google)
Screen action items - FB chat heads
Screen action items - Should view always be present? Hide on select or scroll? Every activity or fragment? Moveable?
- Create Views Dynamically
- Add Views to DecorView for max flexibility (getWindow().getDecorView())
- GingerBread uses left & top margins (consider views vs touch points)
- Add fun press states: make the button grow (object animators can use more than 2 values for better fluidity in the animation, & use different interpolators like accelerate)
- Cool transitions: Avoid Navigation Remorse via dialog themed activities
Section 3 - Be a design leader, not a follower
Navigation drawer with Hamburger icon - where should the hamburger go? (google adopted)
pull to refresh (google adpoted)
swipe back, stolen from iOS7 - Design for a tiny hand bec up button is too far, back button too ambiguous and bec its fun
how? capture the bitmap and save it in image cache, override setcontentview in the receiving activity and set the bitmap on an imageview behind the activity, on the decorview
slideshow on his blog http://kevinthebigapple.tumblr.com/
Crafted Technology and Experiences
SICS: Mobile Life - Petra Sundström
Never design on paper for a digital product - different materials, different feeling, different result.
What fun will we do in "the internet of things".
Problem > Discover > Define > Problem Definition > Develop > Deliver
Sensor-exploration & data analysis > Design feedback > Domain understanding > User studies
ex. Mirror Mirror: Affective Health (accelerometer & GSR - sweat measurer, stress measurer)
ex. Fun to Sit Safe - how to keep kids engaged so that they sit safely using diff digital tools
Play around with our material, looking for potential.
ex. Touch Tunes (Canada) - live jukebox song voting: whats winning, what was just voted in? what do you want to hear, make sure you dont hear something you dont want to hear...
Designers & developers are on the same side - design technologists.
story: College art/design student delivers hard work to a printer, they mess it up - developers are the printers are can potentially "mess it up"
we need a common language, between designers and developers
"I want whats best for the user" - developers, dont shut down ideas right away & designers/managers, invite developers to design meetings
Developers: We are going to communicate our needs and frustrations, rather than just whining an being grumpy. Designers: We are going to listen, and think about the impact we can have when we change our minds.
Want to change design? go to the developers before the clients, before they fall in love and its too late to come up with an optimal solution for everyone.
Transitions are not just there to impress, they are there to"...inform.
Developers: show initiative, implement a transition and bring it to the designer/manager
Design Research: Jiro Dreams of Sushi - timing, serving on the left or right, how much
"Strong ideas. Loosely held." - John Gruber, Daring Fireball
Nightlight sensor and FB photo frame for grandma
upright screens mean isolation (meetings) - tablets allow you to lay your screen down
ex. Barclays Bank - Mortgage Brain App: assess the ability of the person to pay back the loan
Tablets allow us to bring the computer to the work rather the the work to the computer.
Minimize interruptions - 4 hours uninterrupted coding to actually make something - work after hours, in your own office or with headphones
Tablets make the machine no longer the limiting factor, think cubicles vs open work spaces
dont worry about the horse power, worry about the workflow
The Third Wave of Artfulness in Code
GitHub - Mathew McCullough
That's all wrong! - 8 year old...No it's not. It's just totally new. - 5 year old
Why is it whenever I ask for a pair of hands, a brain comes attached? - Henry Ford
"An essential element of any art is risk. If you don't take a risk then how are you going to make something really beautiful, that hasn't been seen before?" - Francis Ford Coppola
Maybe some of you should be reinventing the wheel.
Developers are artists. Don't be afraid to get creative, try something weird. If it doesn't work, if you don't like what you did, delete it and start again from scratch - don't be afraid, its only code!
