Upgrade to Pro — share decks privately, control downloads, hide ads and more …

Android Design: Beyond the Guidelines

Kevin Grant
December 08, 2013

Android Design: Beyond the Guidelines

With Android Design guidelines becoming more robust and easier to implement, it's easy to have your application's design lost in a homogenized sea of "Holo Themed" user interfaces.

When is it ok to break away from the Design Guidelines? In this session, we will examine and showcase examples where developers have "thought outside the box" and implemented beautiful interfaces and animations that create captivating and unique experiences for their users.

We will also discuss how to achieve some of these design features in your own applications by looking at common patterns for a variety of designs that will leave your users delightfully surprised and help you push the boundaries of Android's paradigms in the future.

Note: Most images are animated gifs, but unfortunately will not animate in this format.

Kevin Grant

December 08, 2013
Tweet

More Decks by Kevin Grant

Other Decks in Design

Transcript

  1. BEYOND THE
    GUIDELINES
    Kevin Grant
    Creating character and identity in
    your Android applications
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  2. Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  3. Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  4. It’s still awesome
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  5. It’s still awesome
    tumblr.com/jobs
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  6. Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  7. Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  8. Problem
    All basic apps look the same
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  9. Problem
    All basic apps look the same
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  10. All holo apps look the
    same
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  11. ‣ Default styles are easy to implement
    All holo apps look the
    same
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  12. ‣ Default styles are easy to implement
    ‣ ActionBar is really hard to customize
    All holo apps look the
    same
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  13. ‣ Default styles are easy to implement
    ‣ ActionBar is really hard to customize
    ‣ Deviation isn’t encouraged
    All holo apps look the
    same
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  14. Weak Branding
    (these could all be the same)
    News
    New York Times
    Circa Currents
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  15. News Strong Branding
    Flipboard Pulse
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  16. Users wants results,
    not rules
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  17. Users wants results,
    not rules
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  18. ‣ Creativity is rewarded
    Users wants results,
    not rules
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  19. ‣ Creativity is rewarded
    ‣ “Generally fit” into ecosystem
    is enough
    Users wants results,
    not rules
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  20. ‣ Creativity is rewarded
    ‣ “Generally fit” into ecosystem
    is enough
    ‣ Don’t listen to Android
    design trolls
    Users wants results,
    not rules
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  21. “Don’t port your iOS
    design to android”
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  22. “Don’t port your iOS
    design to android”
    This doesn’t mean design
    should not be a priority
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  23. Going to cover 3
    topics today
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  24. Going to cover 3
    topics today
    ‣ Say YES to your designers
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  25. Going to cover 3
    topics today
    ‣ Say YES to your designers
    ‣ Make your applications WHIMSICAL
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  26. Going to cover 3
    topics today
    ‣ Say YES to your designers
    ‣ Make your applications WHIMSICAL
    ‣ Be a DESIGN LEADER
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  27. SAYING YES
    Designers send payments to [email protected]
    Section 1
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  28. SAYING YES
    Designers send payments to [email protected]
    Section 1
    PROBABLY DO THAT
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  29. Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  30. Wouldn’t it be great if...
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  31. Wouldn’t it be great if...
    What do you think about...
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  32. Wouldn’t it be great if...
    What do you think about...
    How hard would it be to...
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  33. Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  34. Don’t be that guy
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  35. ‣ Designers aren’t here to ruin the product or
    everyone’s lives (just yours)
    Don’t be that guy
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  36. ‣ Designers aren’t here to ruin the product or
    everyone’s lives (just yours)
    ‣ Most of the time, they’re requests are
    reasonable, it just requires extra work
    Don’t be that guy
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  37. ‣ Designers aren’t here to ruin the product or
    everyone’s lives (just yours)
    ‣ Most of the time, they’re requests are
    reasonable, it just requires extra work
    ‣ If your designer asks you to move a pixel,
    YOU ASK HOW HIGH.
    Don’t be that guy
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  38. Example
    Can we increase the padding
    between the home icon and
    the back carrot?
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  39. Example
    Can we increase the padding
    between the home icon and
    the back carrot?
    Ugh, Google designed
    it this way for a
    reason
    No
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  40. Example
    Can we increase the padding
    between the home icon and
    the back carrot?
    Ugh, Google designed
    it this way for a
    reason
    No
    I’m sure there’s
    something we can do,
    I’ll get back to you
    Yes!
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  41. Example
    Can we change the text color
    of a action button based on
    it’s state? E.G. FOLLOW should
    be white, UNFOLLOW should
    be gray.
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  42. Example
    Can we change the text color
    of a action button based on
    it’s state? E.G. FOLLOW should
    be white, UNFOLLOW should
    be gray.
    You can’t really
    change the color of
    action bar text
    programmatically.
    No
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  43. Example
    Can we change the text color
    of a action button based on
    it’s state? E.G. FOLLOW should
    be white, UNFOLLOW should
    be gray.
    You can’t really
    change the color of
    action bar text
    programmatically.
    No Sure! It’s not as
    straightforward as
    just changing the
    color, but we can
    create a custom view
    and use that instead.
    Yes!
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  44. Example
    Can we add a cool flippy
    animation to our dialogs to
    make them feel like cards?
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  45. Example
    Can we add a cool flippy
    animation to our dialogs to
    make them feel like cards?
    Unfortunately,
    animating dialogs
    isn’t supported very
    well and there isn’t
    much we can do.
    No
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  46. Example
    Can we add a cool flippy
    animation to our dialogs to
    make them feel like cards?
    Unfortunately,
    animating dialogs
    isn’t supported very
    well and there isn’t
    much we can do.
    No
    Hmm that could be tricky!,
    We can style an Activity to
    look like a dialog and use
    Activity Transitions
    Yes!
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  47. Note to Designers
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  48. Note to Designers
    ‣ We probably say no too often
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  49. Note to Designers
    ‣ We probably say no too often
    ‣ Don’t hate on your developers! It’s not their fault!
    (Random fun stuff isn’t well supported)
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  50. Note to Designers
    ‣ We probably say no too often
    ‣ Don’t hate on your developers! It’s not their fault!
    (Random fun stuff isn’t well supported)
    ‣ We’re afraid to work on things that have
    unpredictable deadlines
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  51. Note to Designers
    ‣ We probably say no too often
    ‣ Don’t hate on your developers! It’s not their fault!
    (Random fun stuff isn’t well supported)
    ‣ We’re afraid to work on things that have
    unpredictable deadlines
    ‣ Work with your project managers to make sure that
    developers feel comfortable making design risks
    that might end up not being used
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  52. Case Study - Trending Tag
    Can we have these little boxes, and inside the
    boxes, new posts come in from the left and right,
    kind of like the Windows live tiles?
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  53. (me)
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  54. Architecture
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  55. ‣ HorizontalListView (Special touch interception for GingerBread)
    Architecture
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  56. ‣ HorizontalListView (Special touch interception for GingerBread)
    ‣ Added as a Header to List
    Architecture
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  57. ‣ HorizontalListView (Special touch interception for GingerBread)
    ‣ Added as a Header to List
    ‣ CustomViewSwitcher
    Architecture
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  58. ‣ HorizontalListView (Special touch interception for GingerBread)
    ‣ Added as a Header to List
    ‣ CustomViewSwitcher
    ‣ Generates child views
    Architecture
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  59. ‣ HorizontalListView (Special touch interception for GingerBread)
    ‣ Added as a Header to List
    ‣ CustomViewSwitcher
    ‣ Generates child views
    ‣ Manages animations and state
    Architecture
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  60. ‣ HorizontalListView (Special touch interception for GingerBread)
    ‣ Added as a Header to List
    ‣ CustomViewSwitcher
    ‣ Generates child views
    ‣ Manages animations and state
    ‣ Manages header tag
    Architecture
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  61. ‣ HorizontalListView (Special touch interception for GingerBread)
    ‣ Added as a Header to List
    ‣ CustomViewSwitcher
    ‣ Generates child views
    ‣ Manages animations and state
    ‣ Manages header tag
    ‣ 7 types of child views
    Architecture
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  62. ‣ HorizontalListView (Special touch interception for GingerBread)
    ‣ Added as a Header to List
    ‣ CustomViewSwitcher
    ‣ Generates child views
    ‣ Manages animations and state
    ‣ Manages header tag
    ‣ 7 types of child views
    ‣ Stateless
    Architecture
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  63. ‣ HorizontalListView (Special touch interception for GingerBread)
    ‣ Added as a Header to List
    ‣ CustomViewSwitcher
    ‣ Generates child views
    ‣ Manages animations and state
    ‣ Manages header tag
    ‣ 7 types of child views
    ‣ Stateless
    ‣ Manages it’s own design
    Architecture
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  64. Issues
    Always animating
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  65. ‣ Since main screen is a ViewPager, the
    Animations were always running
    Issues
    Always animating
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  66. ‣ Since main screen is a ViewPager, the
    Animations were always running
    ‣ Animation implementation breaking other
    unrelated animations
    Issues
    Always animating
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  67. ‣ Since main screen is a ViewPager, the
    Animations were always running
    ‣ Animation implementation breaking other
    unrelated animations
    ‣ Header Views are never recycled
    Issues
    Always animating
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  68. ‣ Since main screen is a ViewPager, the
    Animations were always running
    ‣ Animation implementation breaking other
    unrelated animations
    ‣ Header Views are never recycled
    ‣ always animating even if not visible
    Issues
    Always animating
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  69. ‣ Since main screen is a ViewPager, the
    Animations were always running
    ‣ Animation implementation breaking other
    unrelated animations
    ‣ Header Views are never recycled
    ‣ always animating even if not visible
    ‣ Hurts scroll performance
    Issues
    Always animating
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  70. The code sucks
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  71. The code sucks
    Doesn’t matter, still works
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  72. Whimsy
    Section 2
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  73. Creative block?
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  74. Get drunk.
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  75. There is nothing fun about holo
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  76. Your app should be fun
    There is nothing fun about holo
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  77. Use Colors
    Vine Rdio
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  78. Do unexpected things
    Yelp
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  79. Do unexpected things
    Yelp Foursquare (iOS, but it’s still awesome)
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  80. Add meaningful animations
    Pinterest Circa
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  81. Add meaningful animations
    Pinterest Circa
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  82. Add meaningful animations
    Pinterest Circa
    (Check out 4.4 ListViewWindowCompat)
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  83. Add meaningless animations
    Snapchat
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  84. Why?
    its fun. We like to be delighted
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  85. Screen Action Items
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  86. - Actionable items outside of
    the ActionBar
    Screen Action Items
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  87. - Actionable items outside of
    the ActionBar
    - Unique experience of
    blending your passive
    content
    Screen Action Items
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  88. - Actionable items outside of
    the ActionBar
    - Unique experience of
    blending your passive
    content
    - Provide unique branding
    Screen Action Items
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  89. - Actionable items outside of
    the ActionBar
    - Unique experience of
    blending your passive
    content
    - Provide unique branding
    - Great place to have “fun”
    Screen Action Items
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  90. Screen Action Items can be difficult
    to integrate into existing code bases.
    Use case questions must be
    answered:
    How’d we do it?
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  91. Screen Action Items can be difficult
    to integrate into existing code bases.
    Use case questions must be
    answered:
    - Shoud view always be present?
    How’d we do it?
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  92. Screen Action Items can be difficult
    to integrate into existing code bases.
    Use case questions must be
    answered:
    - Shoud view always be present?
    - Hide on select or scroll?
    How’d we do it?
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  93. Screen Action Items can be difficult
    to integrate into existing code bases.
    Use case questions must be
    answered:
    - Shoud view always be present?
    - Hide on select or scroll?
    - Every Activity (or fragment)?
    How’d we do it?
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  94. Screen Action Items can be difficult
    to integrate into existing code bases.
    Use case questions must be
    answered:
    - Shoud view always be present?
    - Hide on select or scroll?
    - Every Activity (or fragment)?
    - Moveable?
    How’d we do it?
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  95. How’d we do it?
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  96. - Create Views Dynamically
    How’d we do it?
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  97. - Create Views Dynamically
    - Add Views to DecorView for maximum flexibility
    How’d we do it?
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  98. - Create Views Dynamically
    - Add Views to DecorView for maximum flexibility
    (getWindow().getDecorView())
    How’d we do it?
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  99. - Create Views Dynamically
    - Add Views to DecorView for maximum flexibility
    (getWindow().getDecorView())
    - If targeting API < 11, position using left / top margins
    How’d we do it?
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  100. - Create Views Dynamically
    - Add Views to DecorView for maximum flexibility
    (getWindow().getDecorView())
    - If targeting API < 11, position using left / top margins
    - If targeting API >= 11, can position using setX / setY or
    using animators
    How’d we do it?
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  101. What can I do today?
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  102. Add fun press states!
    What can I do today?
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  103. Growing Press State
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  104. Growing Press State
    Mileage may vary based
    on how you want to
    detect “move outside”
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  105. Growing Press State continued
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  106. Growing Press State continued
    Use more than 2
    values
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  107. Growing Press State continued
    Use more than 2
    values
    Use Different
    interpolators
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  108. Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  109. Cooler Transitions
    What can I do today?
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  110. Dialog Themed Activitys
    and Popup Components to
    reduce Navigation Remorse
    What can I do today?
    Facebook Tumblr
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  111. Action Animations make me feel special
    What can I do today?
    Google+ Tumblr
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  112. Don’t be a follower
    BE A DESIGN LEADER
    Section 3
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  113. Everything we have
    started as someones idea
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  114. Everything we have
    started as someones idea
    ‣ ViewPager
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  115. Everything we have
    started as someones idea
    ‣ ViewPager
    ‣ Double-Tap to zoom
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  116. Everything we have
    started as someones idea
    ‣ ViewPager
    ‣ Double-Tap to zoom
    ‣ Slide to dismiss list-items
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  117. Everything we have
    started as someones idea
    ‣ ViewPager
    ‣ Double-Tap to zoom
    ‣ Slide to dismiss list-items
    ‣ Pretty much everything
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  118. Navigation Drawer
    Remember when this was socially unacceptable?
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  119. Navigation Drawer
    Remember when this was socially unacceptable?
    ‣ Junk Drawer / Trash Drawer
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  120. Navigation Drawer
    Remember when this was socially unacceptable?
    ‣ Junk Drawer / Trash Drawer
    ‣ Sloppy Design
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  121. Navigation Drawer
    Remember when this was socially unacceptable?
    ‣ Junk Drawer / Trash Drawer
    ‣ Sloppy Design
    ‣ Doing it wrong
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  122. Now it’s a leading navigation style
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  123. Now it’s a leading navigation style
    ESPN ScoreCenter
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  124. Now it’s a leading navigation style
    ESPN ScoreCenter Foursquare
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  125. Now it’s a leading navigation style
    ESPN ScoreCenter Foursquare Facebook
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  126. Now it’s a leading navigation style
    ESPN ScoreCenter Foursquare Facebook Spotify
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  127. In Every Google App
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  128. In Every Google App
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  129. But what if I want to change it a bit
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  130. But what if I want to change it a bit
    Generates a lot of rage
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  131. But what if I want to change it a bit
    Generates a lot of rage
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  132. Until Google does it, then it’s fine
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  133. Until Google does it, then it’s fine
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  134. Pull To Refresh
    Remember when this was considered bad design
    for Android?
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  135. Now it’s a behavior all users expect
    show images of all the apps
    Text
    Twitter Foursquare Path
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  136. Now it’s a behavior all users expect
    show images of all the apps
    Text
    Twitter Foursquare Path (the booger)
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  137. And Google added it into all of their products
    No official support yet =(
    Gmail Google+ Drive
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  138. How does Chrome even fit in?
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  139. How does Chrome even fit in?
    I dunno, but it’s
    awesome
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  140. What does this all mean?
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  141. What does this all mean?
    Do something
    awesome
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  142. What does this all mean?
    Do something
    awesome
    (but don’t use lens flares)
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  143. Swipe Back
    (stolen from iOS7)
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  144. Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  145. iOS != Bad
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  146. Even though I like to
    pretend it does
    iOS != Bad
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  147. Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  148. Design for a
    tiny hand.
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  149. Design for a
    tiny hand.
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  150. - Up Button too far away
    Design for a
    tiny hand.
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  151. - Up Button too far away
    - Back button provides no context
    Design for a
    tiny hand.
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  152. - Up Button too far away
    - Back button provides no context
    - Why not?
    Design for a
    tiny hand.
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  153. Swipe Back
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  154. How’d we do it
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  155. How’d we do it
    Before launching any activity,
    capture the bitmap of the current
    window and save it in image cache.
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  156. How’d we do it
    Before launching any activity,
    capture the bitmap of the current
    window 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
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  157. How’d we do it
    Before launching any activity,
    capture the bitmap of the current
    window 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
    Open source coming soon!
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  158. Whatever you do:
    Be consistent
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  159. We Took our cues
    from Android...
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  160. And went a bit
    further
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  161. Wrapping up
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  162. ‣ Say YES, it’s what makes our shit
    awesome
    Wrapping up
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  163. ‣ Say YES, it’s what makes our shit
    awesome
    ‣ Be WHIMSICAL!
    Wrapping up
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  164. ‣ Say YES, it’s what makes our shit
    awesome
    ‣ Be WHIMSICAL!
    ‣ Be a DESIGN LEADER and push
    beyond the guidelines
    Wrapping up
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  165. “Good applications
    follow the guidelines,
    better applications
    challenge them.”
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide

  166. Thank you!
    [email protected]
    kevinthebigapple.tumblr.com
    @kevingrant5
    Thursday, November 7, 13

    View Slide