upfront - Designing apps for tech newbies

Tech newbies? Where does one find them? It’s not easy, even in the developing world, to find people who don’t use a smartphone. But they’re out there, and Ally has been making mobile apps for some of these novice tech users in various West African countries. In this talk she’ll share some of the lessons she’s learnt along the way about how people who’ve been introduced to technology very recently - usually through cheap, second-hand, car-battery-powered devices - respond to new and shiny ways of interacting with machines.

Transcript

1. Hi!
   

   View Slide

2. I'm Ally
   @allyelle
   

   View Slide

3. I’m a product designer and front-end developer
   

   View Slide

4. View Slide

5. We have offices in
   → Nigeria
   → Sierra Leone
   → Liberia
   → Guinea
   

   View Slide

6. View Slide

7. View Slide

8. View Slide

9. View Slide

10. View Slide

11. View Slide

12. View Slide

13. View Slide

14. View Slide

15. Designing for
    tech newbies
    

    View Slide

16. Who are they?
    

    View Slide

17. Hardware
    

    View Slide

18. View Slide

19. Android
    → Huawei
    → Lenovo
    → LG
    → Samsung (if you're fancy) !
    

    View Slide

20. Condition
    → scratched up screens
    → big rugged covers
    → glare protection films
    

    View Slide

21. They probably won't always be connected
    

    View Slide

22. They might be hard to power
    

    View Slide

23. View Slide

24. View Slide

25. Interface
    

    View Slide

26. WHERE'S IT AT?
    If elements are offscreen, they're not
    discoverable.
    

    View Slide

27. Avoid concealed
    elements
    

    View Slide

28. View Slide

29. View Slide

30. View Slide

31. Limit amount of options
    on one screen
    

    View Slide

32. Affordance
    → make the buttons bigger, clickier, uglier
    → combine icons with labels
    → clear labelling
    

    View Slide

33. What does this do?
    

    View Slide

34. Do animations hinder or help?
    

    View Slide

35. Both!
    

    View Slide

36. LOL
    

    View Slide

37. Animations in form elements = !
    

    View Slide

38. Animations to describe spatial model = !
    

    View Slide

39. Clicking is better than
    typing
    

    View Slide

40. Touch screens are better
    than laptops
    

    View Slide

41. View Slide

42. Consistency is key
    

    View Slide

43. Steal!
    

    View Slide

44. Ok fine. Borrow.
    → Facebook
    → Whatsapp
    → Gmail
    

    View Slide

45. View Slide

46. Thanks!!
    

    View Slide