Here is the link to the first design presentation of the GuessWHO? app. :)


https://www.dropbox.com/s/8q07r2acm1fjye9/guess%20who%20design%20views.pdf

Dating app prototype

https://www.flinto.com/p/bc3363fb

#thursdayapps: Relay!

Relay is my current addiction. Instead of typing, this application allows the users to stop texting and start sending GIFs.  It has a huge archive for GIFs that you can save as your favorites. They recently added a feature of making your GIFs that I haven't used yet but I am glad I have this option.

Special Features:

1) The Huge Archive
2) Making your own GIFs
2) Unlimited Group chat members

When designing a new application for the iPhone, developer need to know how to make it easy for users to interact with the commands as seamlessly as possible. And I think Relay managed to do that and make it fun. 

First Round of Designs

Last week's prototype: https://www.flinto.com/p/3e63a360

This week's prototype: https://www.flinto.com/p/6e402c79

New Character Designs:

Thursday App: Akinator

Akinator is a game app that asks you to think about a character, famous or not, fictional or non-fictional, and then asks you 20 questions in which he tries to guess who the character is. It is quite accurate for such a game, and is extremely fun!

Pros:

Extremely addictive.
Unexpectedly massive list of characters available.

Cons:

Design is not as modern
Requires data to work


There is also an online version of the game that could be found here: http://en.akinator.com/

#thursdayapps: Good Weather.

Unique Feature Games. This app is designed so that each particular condition unlocks a special mini-game where you get to play with the components of the conditions.

Features Celcius or Fahrenheit • 5-day forecast • Current conditions along with temperature, precipitation chance, cloud coverage percentage, and wind speed • Cities/Location

Pros

• Simple, clean, iconic and aesthetically pleasing representation of the current weather conditions along with temperature, precipitation chance, cloud coverage percentage, and wind speed.
• You can also tap the temperature to bring up the five-day forecast, but the pictorial conditions (icons) are the definite highlight of the app. The designers used information hierarchy wisely.
• Each condition has a different background color. I find this helps with differentiation, and I could almost tell which color denotes which condition.
• Each particular condition unlocks a special mini-game where you get to play with the  components of the conditions. For example, when it’s sunny, you can play a Doodle Jump style endless jumping game with the sun. There are different games for snowing, raining and cloud shooting game. I’m not spoiling the surprise, you should download the app and discover what games there are.
• The app keeps track of your high scores for each mini-game and levels you’ve unlocked so far. Each one features an exquisite visuals and soundtrack, making it a joy to play.
• The app supports multiple cities with accurate and updated statistics.
• Games can be played even if there’s no Internet connection
• 3 preloaded weather conditions from 3 different cities (Oz, Winterfell and Neverland), which mean you have 3 unlocked games from the get go.
• Succinct instructions for games, they are simple enough to figure out what to do.
• For kicks, you can type in any imaginary cities in popular books/movies. I did that. I typed in Narnia and it gives me perpetually sunny. Free cities - overcast. Westeros - didn’t work.

Cons

• There’s no predictions on hourly weather for the day. I was wondering if it’s going to stay, for example Sunny the whole day, or just at that particular moment of the day.

Smile factorGood Weather makes me want to check the weather every day to find a new form of conditions, and unlock a new mini-game. Because of that, I don’t really mind that I’m unclear or unsure if it’s going to stay sunny, overcast, etc for the whole day or just at that particular moment. 

The VerdictThe app displays really simple weather info, it gives what you need for a quick glance, and draws you in with the allure of the games. Each one isn’t much by itself, but together the collection provides plenty of enjoyment. The only extra to add now would be Game Center leaderboards and achievements to tie to the mini-games, and daily conditions.

#thursdayapps: Dumbo

Search DUMBO retail and restaurants, take a tour, explore the neighborhood like never before. Whether it’s a tech meetup, a new gallery opening, the launch of a new website, or a hackathon. 

This app exists for a multitude of reason. Mostly, however, we wanted to turn the neighborhood inside out and expose the creative work and people of DUMBO as well as the great local businesses and events. We hope that through this app, we can bring greater exposure to everything in DUMBO.

– Tendigi. Dumbo App developer.

Features  News • Community • Events • Current Weather & Forecast • Search Businesses & Restaurants • Check-in to your favorite locations with Foursquare • Take a tour and discover new things

Pros

• Clean and clear visual design
• Fast and easy access to get information
• In one glance, you get Weather forecast, Noteworthy news about Dumbo, Events, Hot Spots and a really short introduction of these places. And how far away the featured hotspot is from you.
• How do we get all that in one page? The app uses simple scroll animation and excellent information hierarchy to accomplish all those.
• When you swipe up, you get 3 day weather forecast.
• The tour lists the places you can visit, all categorized.
• You can skip a certain place if you aren’t interested, and pause the tour or resume it whenever you feel like.
• It then maps the route from your current location to the next listed place.
• Events lists all upcoming events neatly. When you click on it, you then get details of the event, including program itinerary for the night.

Cons

• It has its own Twitter, with posts updated everyday. I’m not sure how the Tweets help this app in anyway
• The tours lists as many 10 things to do, but not a feature where you can find out about the place. I think even a short introduction might help, especially if the name of the place doesn’t give any clues whatsoever.

Smile factor
Truly all in one app that promotes DUMBO. It’s got weather forecast, details, events and tours complete with mapping feature.

The Verdict
Although i like this app a lot, I can’t get past the fact that it has no personality and very factual. Perhaps it’s just my own subjective view.

#thursdayapps: SpotSetter

Unique Feature A Facebook account is required to login, the app’s recommendations are prepared and personalized, by pulling data from your social networks. It takes a while, but it gives you the confidence and/or illusion (your pick) that it is personalized. Here’s the really promising official description:

1. Spotsetter provides personalized recommendations for places to go. "Where to go" is socially relevant and we help answer that through the vast amount of content your friends have already created across all social networks.
2. These friends set the standard for the best spots and we call them Spotsetters. Not only do they explore all these great places, they also love to share opinions about them.
3. Spotsetter helps you find these amazing spots and what your friends have to say about them. Find friendly tips, reviews, and photos about these places, no matter where they’ve been shared.

Features Fast map navigation • Integration with Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Foursquare  • Bookmarks • Search • Browse friends’ activities

Pros

• Clean, easy to use.
• Home screen provides a quick glance at friends’ latest photos/places they’ve been to.
• Recommendations are entirely based on your social network friends, from the places they have been to.

• You can set up filters by time frame, who the posts are from (two categories: me or friends), and which social networks to pull data from.
• I like that there’s the map view that shows friends facebook profile pictures in the “pins” dropped on locations. As I can quickly glance through which places and which friends have been to which places. From there I can delve deeper and see their comments and pictures.
• Auto-complete tool helps you find all the places, friends, and things they’ve said.

Cons

• There are only 4 recommendations, every time the app is launched, depending which friends’ activities are the latest.
• You can’t choose which friends’ travel or places you’d want to feature.
• There isn’t a pull down or refresh feature, which for me can be confusing. I’d want to constantly update the recommendations.
• As of now, it seems that my featured recommendations are dominated by instagram users that I follow. I wonder what happen to my Facebook friends who constantly check-in.
• There is no way to deactivate the networks in the app, you have to email to request for disconnection.
• The map feature only works on one city, the more you zoom out, the less friends you will see.

Smile factor

Entirely friends’ recommendations and comments of a place.

The Verdict

I’m constantly wondering if the places displayed are the most up to date, but i love the map view, with little “faces” on it. Makes it easier too, to scan and find certain places. I don’t like the fact that I can’t automatically de-activate certain networks. As of now, it seems that my featured recommendations are dominated by instagram users that I follow. I wonder what happen to my Facebook friends who constantly check-in. I’d like to see more improvements in the app. I feel like I’ll get bored of it easily, though the premise and concept is brilliant.

#thursdayapps: Monument Valley.

Gif by Luke Plunkett

This MC Escher inspired perceptual puzzle game is over too soon. There are only 10 levels. The visual design is really beautiful and the experience enchanting, you can’t help but want more. There isn’t many words in Monument Valley and that’s because you don’t need it. We follow Princess Ida's journey, through mind-bending gameplay and melancholy music. Her journey is certainly felt, not read.

Jaz Rignall of USgames.com writes:

It packs brilliant moments of discovery: smack-your-forehead situations where you're completely flummoxed, but then are utterly delighted when you figure out what you need to do. It has moments of wonder as something comes into view, or something unexpected happens, or when pieces of architecture literally click into place. And it all plays through an audio-visual experience that is of the utmost quality. 

HOW IT WORKS:

Guide the silent princess Ida through ancient abandoned cities, their twisted walkways turning at my touch to produce impossible paths. My job was to facilitate her journey, tapping the screen to manipulate either select bits of scenery or rotate entire stages. Broken roads, turned to the correct angle, became whole. (Source: Mike Fahey).

I will be re-playing Monument Valley from stage 1 as soon I hit the post button.

Three games for iPad

I recently played three games for iPad. Each of them was unique in its own way and worth sharing.

Out There - This is a space exploration/resource management game. It's fun but really hard. The art is done in the style of a comic book. This game is made by Mi Clos Studio.

Year Walk - This game, by Simogo, is based on Swedish folklore. The art is beautiful and the interface is well designed for the iPad. It makes great use of parallax. I haven't gotten all the way through this one yet. It's very atmospheric, but so far the game play is a little slow and confusing.

Device6 - This is another game by Simogo. It is a contemporary take on a text based game. The graphic design and sound design are very well done. Like Year Walk, makes great use of the iPad's technical capabilities.

Even if you aren't that into games, I recommend checking these out for their interaction design qualities. The two by Simogo in particular are really experimenting with what is possible as far as using the iPad as a gaming and story-telling device.