Evaluation: iPad 2 for Designers
Posted by Michael Gaigg
Installed applications on iPad
You might have noticed that this blog has gone quiet for some time... but let me assure you, I haven't been. I just needed space to finish up some projects here at Esri and to experiment with some new cool stuff.
Along the way I was able to test the iPad 2 to see if it would add value to the life of a designer/developer.
My Goal
My goal was to find out whether I could increase my productivity by using an iPad (2) during my daily routine at work (meetings, workshops, drafting, coding). I wanted to find out if it makes sense during a meeting to scribble on the tablet and be done before I return to my office, if my team mates can collaborate (comment, enhance, brainstorm) with me faster and more efficient and overall if the little black gadget saves me time and energy.
First Impression
My first objective was to install only free apps related to my field. This task alone turned out to be really cumbersome using the iStore. So I turned to the web and found plenty of nice blogs suggesting apps, some of these apps really powerful but other apps turned out to have switched to (outrageous) paid mode.
Next I looked into paid apps and the possibility to snatch a free trial by contacting their customer service. NO WAY JOSE. I was turned down with the argument that iStore controls the distribution of the apps and doesn't allow free trials - what a downer!! Can anybody confirm this? Are there alternatives I haven't thought of?
Thirdly I installed apps that I though might be useful for general tasks like note-taking, document sharing, etc.
Evaluation
I started bringing the little black gadget to meetings and started playing around with it during breaks. Whenever I saw a colleague with an iPad I asked for their experiences using it in a professional setting.
I installed the following apps:
Notehub
Description: Any of the following types can be stored as 'notes': Browser, Canvas, Calculator, Note, Tasks, Map
Features: Share by email, save to photo library, publish to posterous or dropbox
Facit: really useful
iMockups
Description: tool to create mockups very similar to Balsamiq (that I use)
Features: share by email and then export to balsamiq
Facit: no import from balsamiq in free version
Y!Sketch
Description: sketch anything on a map and let the map use this as the area of interest and show restaurant choices
Facit: not really a productivity tool, but i was intersted to see it because a map was involved
SketchPad lite
Description: sketch simple to complex geometries
Facit: didn't quite see the use of it in our workflows
GoToMeeting & TeamViewer
Description: both are meeting/sharing applications and very useful
Facit: nothing that the laptop couldn't do
To Do's Lite
Description: Create todo lists
Facit: didn't see how to share/sync this list, ads are ok, not really distracting and if it helps to pay a free version I'm fine with it
Springpad
Description: nice todo list organizer
Features: see your own 'notebook' or your friend's, sync with your email account or share via facebook/twitter
Facit: good organizer
Doodly Buddy
Doodly Buddy
Description: draw cute paintings with your finger
Facit: have a look at the painting to the right that was done by my 16 months old son (with a little help from daddy) to see what I mean
Evernote
Description: notetaking, sharing and syncing
Facit: almost standard app across all devices, a little cumbersome to type without external keyboard, laptop or pen and paper would be faster
iBrainstorm
Description: sketch your ideas onto a corkboard
Features: send in email or save to photos, attach post-it notes
Facit: kinda funny but input methods/selections seemed limited
Storyboards
Description: this one I liked a lot - create and sketch scenes that together create a story
Facit: free version only allows 2 storyboards and 10 drawings per storyboard without options to export or print, premium version is $ 15.-
iBooks
Description: digital bookshelf on the go
Features: sync between your devices
Facit: good reading experience
Documents 2
Description: sync documents (word, excel, powerpoint, etc.) via wifi or google docs
Facit: free version has annoying ads
Skype
I have that on my phone/laptop too
Description: popular video conferencing app
Facit: must have on any device
Description: newspaper-like access to your twitter/facebook and more streams
Features: include your social streams
Facit: really nice and interesting way to get news updates
Sonar
Description: using foursquare connect you can find out who is in the same room with you and how you are connected with them
Facit: as foursquare is becoming more and more popular this guy can work well also
Cool Hunting
Description: get reducted news on the following topics: Design, Tech, Style, Travel, Culture, Food+Drinks
Facit: good source of inspiration
Moodboard Lite
Description: exactly what it says, paste anything onto a board-like canvas
Features: screenshots, notes, text, photos
Facit: collect inspirational content
Conclusion
No, I will not use iPad and would not recommend it to others for professional design/development purposes.
Here is why:
- As long as you are within your internal network the iPad doesn't give you any advantage - even slows you down considerably - over a laptop with keyboard, mouse, projector, and access to internal network resources.
- The iPad is a great tool to consume content, but I found it really difficult to create content let alone collaborate. Pencil and paper or a clean whiteboard seemed to be more intuitive and easy to use/follow than a gadget on the table.
- Some apps were really promising but lacked important features (import existing sketch files) in the free version.
- Generally one has to learn not to get distracted by the constant online environment, I found it harder to focus and follow an active meeting.
- The biggest and probably most overlooked downfall is something very benign though: despite contrary thinking, your credibility might suffer considerably when using an iPad in front of other people. You might appear to not paying enough attention or just playing around, be it the case or not. Like with cell phones, we are just learning to use (and not use) them as well as being perceived as ubiquitous by others.
Open questions
Do you guys have any answers/suggestions/experiences to the following questions?
- Would traveling/being at the client make better use of the iPad?
- Have I overlooked any really powerful free app?
- Would a bigger wallet give me what I need?
Under-Design on Purpose
Posted by Michael Gaigg
Paving the cowpath
The Situation
I was invited to help with some open design questions for a beta version of a product, a prototype already existing.
The question on hand is fairly simple, how can we visually show the quality of the data (in the grid) to the user? Should we use green up arrows and red down arrows (two symbols)? green, yellow (kind of not sure marker), red checkmarks/crosses (3 symbols)? Percentages? A, B, C, D, F (like the US school system, with F is Fail but the others show grades of good quality, 5 symbols)? The latter was tossed out immediately after having three different school systems sitting at the table (Spain, India, Austria).
The Setup
So I found myself in a situation where a single requirement started to explode into a universe of great ideas and variants that the team of developers tried to incorporate as they popped up. I tried to keep up with mocking up in my mind what I thought fit. Every new take promised greatness but required compromise somewhere else.
The Turning Point
Only when the discussion started to run in circles I felt it was necessary to step up. I was in a dilemma, I knew a decision had to be made and I knew also that it was up to me to speak out. So I said...
The Solution
"Let's keep it simple" - Ha, you could have come up with that too, right? Well, what I really said was: "Let's don't do anything and let the users complain that they are missing something." Or in other words, let's pave the cowpath.
So we decided to include 1 symbol, the red flag, to show the bad items, no other item will be marked, neither the good ones nor the one within a threshold between good and bad. Let's sit and wait to receive feedback that what we assume we might need is actually needed.
What would you have done?
My Recipe for Success
Posted by Michael Gaigg
Recipe for success
In a large bowl, add the original user need. Stir in business strategy, market and technology opportunities. Add a pinch of sponsor-, cost-, and lifespan-considerations. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat. Let it simmer for 1-3 sketch iterations, or until mockups thicken. Season with images, jQuery animations, and cascading stylesheets. Bake in pre-heated development environment until golden brown. Serve while still hot.
Correct Use of Ellipses in Menu Commands
Posted by Michael Gaigg
Example for an ellipsed command
As traditional web pages morph more and more into web applications, it also becomes more important to understand and properly use elements that originated on the desktop.
Just recently I found myself in the middle of a design meeting - and you know how that goes, mostly opinionated programmers 
- talking about the latest mockups. So somebody said, and probably rightly so, that our menus and command buttons should have ellipses like any Microsoft-esque app.
A fierce discussion started, not IF we should do it, but rather HOW and WHEN we should do it.
So WHEN should we use ellipses?
Quickly the general opinion became: "whenever an action displays another window". Like in a flash of genius I refused to make up standards and promised to do some homework research. And sure enough, above statement is incorrect like the Windows UX Interaction Guidelines from Microsoft state on page 236:
Indicate a command that needs additional information (including a confirmation) by adding an ellipsis at the end of the label.
Menu commands are used for immediate actions, but some actions need additional input and require the user to make further choices before performing the action - that's when the use of ellipses is important to provide visual cues of this fact upfront.
Incorrect Usage
Do NOT use ellipses only because the action triggers a new window. Prominent examples are "About", "Advanced", "Help", "Options", "Properties", or "Settings". The all display another window when clicked, but don’t require additional information from the user. Therefore they don’t need ellipses.
Cases of ambiguity
The document states that there might be cases of ambiguity, e.g. if the command label lacks a verb that describes the action.
Example
More colors...
Version information
In the first example, users are most likely going to choose a color, so using an ellipses is correct.
In the second example, users are most likely going to view the version information, making ellipses unnecessary.
In case of ambiguity decide based on the most likely user action.
About Me
I'm Michael Gaigg, Lead UI Engineer at Esri's Prof. Services.
I have over 8 years of experience in designing map interfaces and can't stop thinking about improving them.
Help me by sharing your thoughts, ideas and comments.
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