Mutual Mobile's Android design tips for the new Android experience. Written by the author of the original Android Human Interface Guidelines, this piece explores how Ice Cream Sandwich and Jelly Bean (Android 4.0 - 4.2) have transformed everything we thought we knew about Android. For more on mobile design, development, and strategy, visit www.mutualmobile.com
3. How Ice Cream Sandwich changed everything
Android’s been rapidly improving from version to version, By introducing the Action Bar, for example, Android took its
but most of those changes took place under the hood. first step towards consistent navigation. And the Android
Gingerbread, for example, made Android faster, smarter, and team even took a firm design stance with their definitive
easier to understand. But like its predecessors, it suffered design guidelines (Android’s Design Guidelines) complete
from the same stilted user experience: with an inspiring vision statement and an amazing amount
of instruction.
• Important information was left hidden in frustrating
contextual menus
• Transitions were rigid and clunky
• The architecture as a whole felt dense
and verbose
The first major design shift occurred in 2011 with
Honeycomb, an innovative UI built specifically for tablets. It
was beautiful, but it was only for tablets. So they replaced it
with Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS), the first Android framework
to span all phones and tablets. As a result, today’s Android is smooth and graceful.
Where Honeycomb hinted at the promise of more Its navigation is intuitive and wonderfully simplified.
standardized design, ICS made all devices look and act the But most importantly, it is consistent across all devices.
same. ICS turned the once dense platform into a cognitive Android used to be the platform that challenged us
and consistent experience across all phones and tablets. designers to create quality applications. Now it challenges
us to innovate.
3
5. SIX TIPS FOR THE NEW ANDROID EXPERIENCE
1
Design for your users’ immediate needs
Navigational structure is important, but so is presentation. Google Current (Fig. 1) is a perfect example of these
When the two work together, the user shouldn’t even have to principles in practice. It visually presents everything the user
think about how they move between content. They should just needs on the very first screen, making every possible action
enjoy the experience. clear and easy to follow across both the Action Bar and Side
Drawer. When reading a blog, the action bar disappears to
Great Android design should never be a burden to the user,
allow for a comfortable reading environment and can easily
but instead act as a guide that shows only the most relevant
be brought back by the unassuming navigation options at the
information at any given time. By using animation and
bottom of the screen. This navigation is so simple that while
transitions as direction, simplifying UI patterns, and relying
using the application, you’re left thinking purely about the
heavier on imagery than on lengthy text, Android navigation
content and not at all about how you got there.
can fade into the background and stand as the epitome of
user-centered design.
Fig. 1: Google Current makes use of an extremely simple design pattern.
5
7. 3
Tear down the walls between applications
On iOS, you have to hard code an application’s separate applications share information and speak to
communication with other applications such as Facebook each other. They’re not new, but should certainly work their
or Twitter. But with Android, any two applications can way into your design.
share information as long as they’re both fashioned to
Using intents can make your feature set extraordinarily
work together. This creates a rich ecosystem of diverse
robust by simply utilizing functionality provided by
actions and a massive network of sharing.
other applications. Here is a great list of all the features
The system that makes this work is called intents. you can easily utilize from other applications by
Intents are part of an extremely flexible system in which using intents.
Intents in Practice: Android makes it easy to share functionality across all applications on a device. In this example,
you can quickly document an image and notate it using Evernote, pin it to Pinterest, post it to Facebook, geolocate it
with Foursqure, or share it via Skype.
7
9. 5
Design with flexibility in mind
Android is an open OS. This has helped Android’s quick rise
to prominence, but it also means there could be any possible Is that all there is to fragmentation?
number of devices to develop and design for. Fortunately, ICS
has helped reign in the problem of developing across screen Fragmentation goes well beyond designing for
sizes, devices, and resolutions. different devices and screen sizes. It refers to how
manufacturers actually customize and release
Today, overcoming Android’s device diversity is as simple distinct versions of the Android framework. This
as simplifying design patterns. We develop just a few has fueled efforts such as the Amazon Kindle, but it
flexible layouts—across tablet and phone—and utilize ICS’s also poses development challenges that Android is
framework for adapting these to work across any screen actively working to eliminate.
size. We also follow Android’s qualifying naming conventions
to isolate assets based on screen size and density, and make
sure to keep assets global and flexible.
We’ll explore how to develop across device sizes in much
greater detail in our next piece, but it’s helpful to know that
this is a well-documented, manageable task.
6
Think outside the pocket
The Android framework isn’t limited to mobile devices, So the true conversation of Android design lies beyond
and it isn’t just the Android-powered Google TV that’s making the app. You need to think about the experience as a whole,
a splash. Chinese car company Roewe recently released a and the way each touch points communicate with all
car with an Android console4, Nokia and Nikon have released others—from mobile to household appliances to industrial
Android-powered cameras5, and Casio utilizes an Android equipment and devices we haven’t even thought of yet.
POS system6. If you consider that all of these devices could It’s time to start thinking about Android design as being not
be using the same code, the possibilities for design just a series of applications, but as an entire ecosystem.
become boundless.
9
11. THE NEW ANDROID HAS FINALLY EMERGED
Over the last couple of years, Android has evolved leaps and
bounds into a fascinating and innovative operating system.
Its start was patchy, but constant iteration and user feedback
have made the Android platform as viable to design for as
iOS and equally essential in any mobile strategy.
Up next: learn what it takes to create beautiful
experiences across all devices and screen sizes.
11