I ran across two articles recently that offered designing tips: How to Build an iPhone App and 8 Tips For Small Business Homepage Design.
I thought both were pretty refreshing (especially the one about iPhone Apps) and worth a read.
How to Build an iPhone App, 15 tips:
- iPhone. Start here.
The iPhone is a great platform to build a mobile community - What’s in a name?
Discovering a good name for your product is important - Designing the 7 deadly sins
Make sure your application concept is addictive - Easy as 123. Or not.
Make sure your application is intuitive and easy to use - Short term commitment or marriage?
Think about the shelf-life of your product before releasing it - Be Realistic, Part I
Consider the possibility that you won’t hit 1 million users the first month - Be Realistic, Part II
Be realistic in how you intend to monetize your application - Make believe you will succeed
Define a path for future scalability - UGC = T&A. A law of nature.
If you display user generated content, expect body parts - Be embarrassed by your first release.
Don’t try to make your product perfect before releasing it - …But not too embarrassed.
Do make sure it has the essentials - It’s hard to draw a line in the sands of a slippery slope.
Define your standard for acceptable content, and stick by it - Sometimes, they write the owner’s manual.
Sometimes they use your applications in ways you never intended - Footwear, software and customer care.
Practice good customer service - Room for improvement (there always is)
Mobile development is in its infancy
8 Tips For Small Business Homepage Design:
- Keep it simple
- Be scroll-conservative
- Display the right links
- Keep featured products above the fold
- Make it current
- Create a homepage that is consistent with your brand
- Attach a featured image to your homepage
- Be quirky