Design process

For the design process the following steps are conducted:

1. Understand the specific interaction elements [see blog: iPhone – Elements, iPhone - Interaction Design Pattern, iPad - Interaction Design Pattern].
2. Think about your users [see blog: Persona].
3. Design the concept / work with metaphors [see blog: How to deal with a fullness of information?, iPhone - To keep in mind, First sketches, Second sketches – iPhone, Second sketches – iPad]. Fragment and integrate content [see blog: Fragmenting].
4. Test your concept in a usability test [see blog: Persona, iPhone - quick usability test with a paper prototype, iPad - quick usability test with a paper prototype].
5. Finalise your interaction design [see blog: Video - final high fidelity prototypes].

This design process is based on the user-centered design process:

“User-centered design’ (UCD) is a broad term to describe design processes in which end-users influence how a design takes shape. It is both a broad philosophy and variety of methods. There is a spectrum of ways in which users are involved in UCD but the important concept is that users are involved one way or another“ (Abras, Maloney-Krichmar and Preece, 2004)

The design process is also modified related to the fact that two different applications have to be designed. 

Usually, when someone decides to develop an application for a mobile device with a smaller screen, a website or an application for a desktop computer already exists. Because of this the danger is there to simply copy the content and the functions from the application with a bigger screen to the application with the smaller screen. Moreover according to Beil (2011) to design first for a wider screen could camouflage more easily conceptual problems and the concept cannot be transferred to a smaller screen then. He recommends designing for the hardware with the most limitations first, and then going up. It is like bicycling in a group - the slowest member will set the pace”. [See blog: Is it better to design first for a small screen and than for a larger screen or is it better the other way around?]. See graphic:

Abras, C., Maloney-Krichmar, D., Preece, J. (2004): User-Centered Design. In Bainbridge, W. Encyclopedia of Human-Computer Interaction. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

Beil, H., 2011. Email conservation. Not published.