Here is a quickie. I’ve been busy finishing up Grades and wanted to show off a few details I’ve been working on recently, related to metaphor and realism. If done right, metaphor and realism can enhance an app’s personality and level of engagement, making your app worth talking about (people tend to share engaging experiences).
Go ahead and watch the short video above.
I’ve chosen a “drawer” metaphor, so when the app opens, the drawer opens up with some audio feedback. When the user scrolls, the wood background also scrolls (rather than just the paper on top, as most apps do). This gives the illusion that you are moving the actual drawer up and down. Finally, if you scroll too far down, you expose the drawer knob and the floor underneath it, just as you would expect.
Let me know what you think.
Update: the video is set to public now (used to be private, sorry!)
The video is private.
Can’t wait to see the example!
Very nice! Can’t wait to try it!
Thanks, Swiftman.
The video is a bit hard to see, but it looks neat!
Any idea when you will be releasing the app?
Yeah, sorry about the video quality. I’m using every spare minute to finish it. Trying to get it done in February but not sure if that will actually happen.
Hard to make out in the video Jeremy but I totally get what you are trying to achieve and it is a very nice touch! As you have always said make it fun and unique – that way you have a better chance of getting it noticed. Keep up the good work and hopefully you get it wrapped up before the end of Feb
Wow. Great idea & implementation!
… You do know that photo booth can flip videos & photos to display not mirrored?
I explained that to a guy waiting in line for Leopard who was telling a story of how he had to write a note in reverse because of the mirror affect. Ha ha.
Great job!
Thanks all. Hopefully next time I do a video I’ll not be rushing out the door to go to school and have some time to actually make it half-decent.
I definitely like the idea of not having stationary backgrounds, I like it. Thanks for sharing
Like your thinking on this. Very Apple like which is always good. Why not use the simulator instead though, and record the video there? Would be much easier to demonstrate. I use SimFinger from Loren Britcher over at atebits to make the video look even better…. Just a thought…
Thanks Marshall and Gareth.
Gareth, yeah that would have been optimal—though, who knows, maybe lower quality will increase anticipation. After release, I do plan to do a screencast that goes through the UI and talks about the design decisions in more detail. Will definitely do that in the simulator.