Key trends driving kids' apps forward in 2011

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/appsblog/2011/mar/21/apps-for-kids

splash screen, wip1 logo design

another splash page game button

Approaches to User Research When Designing for Children

http://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2011/03/approaches-to-user-research-when-designing-for-children.php

idea: show child (under age 7) pencil sketches of the product...

some good books:

• Child Development 101 for the Developers of Interactive Media: An Overview of Influential Theories of Child Development, Applied to Practice, by Ellen Wolock, Ann Orr, and Warren Buckleitner [6]
• “The Whole Child Development Guide,”by Edith Ackermann [7]
• “ Interaction Design and Children,”by Juan Pablo Hourcade [8]
• Designing for Children: Marketing Design That Speaks to Kids, by Catharine Fishel [9]

first page, work in progress

ok this is the beginning of the 'real' assets. Higher quality production, still lots of work in progress but we're not sketching with colours anymore.

designing for ipad

http://www.informationarchitects.jp/en/designing-for-ipad-reality-check/

What's the iPad 2's screen resolution?

Despite rumors that Apple would revamp the iPad's display, the iPad 2 sports the same resolution -- 1024 by 768 pixels at 132 pixels per inch (ppi) -- as the screen on the original model. It's still, in Apple's words, a "9.7-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit glossy widescreen Multi-Touch display with IPS technology." (That's in-plane switching technology, in case you're not up on your abbreviations.)

Splash screen examples

http://pttrns.com/splashscreens

Some work in progress

Just needed to get these out of my head. Think they are bit boring conceptually. But a good exercise to do. The First screen needs some more explaining.

New direction:

A mission to delight

A flood of 5-star ratings in the app store is what every developer hopes to see when they check in on their apps every morning. Positive word of mouth is the primary way great apps climb and sustain themselves at the top of the charts. Of course, feature placement from Apple (if you're lucky) doesn't hurt either.

As it turns out, you only have to do one thing well to get those 5-star ratings: delight your users. And how do you do that? You have to work harder than your competitors and stay singularly focused on that mission to delight.

http://uxmag.com/design/star-power-in-mobile-ux-design


For users to rate an app, they must submit their ratings with at least one star. So if you have an app in the store, congratulations, it's at least a 1-star app. The other four stars are up for grabs. Two of those stars can be picked up for simply meeting expectations; the other two come when an app exceeds the expectations of its users.

It's actually pretty easy to get three stars. All you have to do is ensure that your app does what it's advertised to do. Be honest in the store description, show your best screenshots, and deliver on your promise. That's what makes a 3-star app.