Android

THE GOLDEN AGE OF ANDROID
SEVEN TIPS FOR DESIGNING THE NEW ANDROID EXPERIENCE

Android’s troubled history is over
Designing for Android used to be a uniquely terrible experience. It meant device fragmentation, a foggy and undefined
navigational structure, and clunky frame rates that crippled the user experience. And it meant sleepless nights racking
your brain, trying to figure out where to even begin.

But with Ice Cream Sandwich, all that has changed. Today’s Android (which includes Ice Cream Sandwich and Jelly Bean)
not only stands toe to toe with iOS in performance and appeal, but in many ways surpasses Apple in innovative design
and providing a seamless user experience.

Today, our Android Design Guidelines for Gingerbread are a remnant of the past. And so is everything else that came before
Ice Cream Sandwich.

We have finally entered the Golden Age of Android.

Ice Cream Sandwich marks Android’s turning point from a
growing framework to a mature, cohesive, and beautiful OS.

© 2012 Mutual Mobile, Inc. | (512) 615-1800 | mutualmobile.com 2

How Ice Cream Sandwich changed everything
Android’s been rapidly improving from version to version, The Evolution of an Android Application: Evernote
but most of those changes took place under the hood.
Gingerbread, for example, introduced NFC. And it made
Android faster, smarter, and easier to understand. But like
its predecessors, it suffered from the same stilted
user experience:

• Important information was left hidden in frustrating
contextual menus

• Transitions were rigid and clunky

• The architecture as a whole felt dense
Evernote released their first Android application in 2010.
and verbose
It suffered from jerky performance, lacked polish, and its
The first major design shift occurred with Honeycomb, design was based closely on iOS. In 2011 they took a first
an innovative UI built specifically for tablets. It was beautiful, crack at the action bar and reorganizing the data to suit
but it was only for tablets. So they replaced this with Ice the platform. But performance was still an issue, and the
Cream Sandwich (ICS), the first Android framework built to application’s hierarchy descended screen by screen to create
span all phones and tablets. an overly dense experience. In 2012, they released their
latest design. Utilizing Jelly Bean’s speed and patterns of
Where Honeycomb hinted at the promise of more
simplicity, they transformed their complicated program into
standardized design, ICS made all devices look and act the
an app that is fluid, intuitive, and extremely easy to use.
same. ICS turned the once dense platform into a cognitive
and consistent experience across all phones and tablets.

By introducing the Action Bar, for example, Android took its A note on user distribution
first step towards consistent navigation. And the Android For the moment, most users are still running
team even took a firm design stance with their definitive Gingerbread. But that’s not by choice; OS upgrades
design guideline (Android’s Design Guidelines) complete are unfortunately at the behest of the device
with an inspiring vision statement and an amazing amount providers. This makes it difficult to predict when we
of instruction. will see the massive shift towards the new Android
As a result, today’s Android is smooth and graceful. frameworks, but at the very least we can expect a
Its navigation is intuitive and wonderfully simplified. constant change as long-time users hit the end of
But most importantly, it is consistent across all devices. their two-year upgrade cycles. And we can expect
Android used to be the platform that challenged us an equally massive shift for consumer companies
designers to create quality applications. Now it challenges and the enterprise as they race to respond to the
us to innovate. huge demand of mainstream Android users.

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SEVEN THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT DESIGNING FOR THE NEW ANDROID

1
Simplify design patterns for a user-centric experience
One of the key principles of Android’s Design Guidelines is allow for a comfortable reading environment and can easily
“Simplify My Life.” By using animation and transitions as be brought back by the unassuming navigation options at the
direction, simplifying UI patterns, and relying heavier on bottom of the screen. This navigation is so simple that while
imagery than on lengthy text, an Android application can using the application, you’re left thinking purely about the
stand as the epitome of User Centric Design. content and not at all about how you got there.

Google Current (Fig. 1) is a perfect example of these Navigational structure is important, but so is presentation.
principles in practice. It visually presents everything the user When the two work together, the user shouldn’t even have to
needs on the very first screen, making every possible action think about how they move between content. They can just
clear and easy to follow across both the Action Bar and Side enjoy the experience.
Drawer. When reading a blog, the action bar disappears to

Fig. 1: Google Current makes use of an extremely simple design pattern


2
Create engaging experiences with gestures and transitions
Choppy performance has long been a complaint As mobile design advances, we’ll be able to use this speed
against Android. But no more. to create even more tactile and cognitive experiences.
Google states that “real objects are more fun that buttons
At the unveiling of Jelly Bean, Google revealed the suitably
and menus,” and we’re now seeing designers forgo heavy
named “Project Butter” as their major motion to fix all
arrays of buttons and menus for a much more fluid,
performance issues. Project Butter improves speed to
gesture-based experience.2
approximately 60 frames per second, allowing for smooth
transitions and animations to augment the already simplified Feedly’s delightfully simple navigation (Fig. 2) uses almost
design patterns. By combining this improvement with well nothing but a series of swipes. Their tappable icons have
thought-out gestures (such as the Bezel Swipe), we can been whittled down to almost nothing, and you dismiss
create a truly integrated experience for the user that seems side menus by flicking them closed. Tasks such as
to transcend software entirely. marking, saving, or closing an article are activated by a
series of cognitive gestures that make for a quick and
human experience.

Fig. 2: Feedly relies more on the user’s tactile expression than on memorizing a
button-based navigation. It’s a great example of an application that uses transitions
and gestures to create an immersive experience.

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3
Use intents to build ‘application villages’
Intents are one of Android’s most powerful features. We’ll discuss intents in more detail later on in this series,
They’re not new, but should certainly work their way into but when designing an Android application, it is important
your design. to understand how using intents can make your feature
set extraordinarily robust by simply utilizing functionality
Intents are part of an extremely flexible system in which
provided by other applications. Here is a great list of all the
separate applications share information and speak to
features you can easily utilize from other applications by
each other. On iOS, you have to hard code an application’s
using intents.
communication with Facebook or Twitter. But with Android,
any two applications can share information as long as
they’re both fashioned to utilize intents. This creates a rich
ecosystem of diverse actions and a massive network
of sharing.

Intents in Practice: I decided to take this picture of a Mutual Mobile t-shirt concept. From the gallery, I was able to
choose from any other application on my device that allowed intents. Though I only wanted to document this image
and notate it using Evernote, I could have posted it to Facebook, pinned it to Pinterest, geolocated it with Foursquare,
or sent it to a friend over Skype. Or all of the above. And by combining intents, I could have pinned it to Pinterest and
then commented about the pin on Facebook with just a few taps.

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4
Porting from iOS used to be a bad idea. Now it’s inexcusable.
When Android lacked a clear vision, it was no surprise that be navigated through. This gives each page a very clear
many early applications pulled heavily from iOS patterns. hierarchy. Android, however, abides by the philosophy of
Sure, this didn’t create the best Android experience, but it “Only show me what I need when I need it,” meaning even if
created an experience. And that used to be good enough. all the options are not immediately available, the main user
journey is obvious and clear, making for an extremely refined
Android and iOS devices rely on different UI patterns that
experience for the majority of users.
speak not only to the hardware used, but also to the different
platforms’ user bases. At this point, iOS is a wonderfully Make sure you’re not just copying over iOS design patterns,
worn suit that their users are completely comfortable with. but creating for your unique user. Simplify actions using the
But that same suit does not fit your typical Android user. heralded action bar, use gesture-based navigation rather
than tab-like buckets, and focus more on the majority use
If you follow the creative vision provided by Android’s
cases than the infinite corner cases. Finally, avoid using iOS
guidelines, it is clear that Android benefits from a much
visual paradigms (button styles, icons, etc.) to carry your
more simplified experience. For example, iPhone’s familiar
application. It may be intuitive for Apple users, but this is
Tab Bar shows the user all the key functionality that can
likely not the case with Android users.

Pinterest (Fig. 3) does a phenomenal job adhering
to each platform’s particular user needs.
You can see that iOS presents the same navigation
functionality across the entire application. It does
not prioritize these functionalities depending on the
setting, but always gives each equal importance.

Android, however, focuses the experience to the
primary use case, and makes the secondary
functionality accessible from different, easily
findable locations. On the Android Pinterest, the
user can swipe between their profile, their home
screen, and the category screen with a series of
simple tactile swipes. Also, notice that the Camera
on Android is presented as an action and not
a function. On iOS, the camera is a linear function
along the bottom with everything else.

These subtle differences play to the philosophy of
the different devices: while iOS provides a familiar
experience to long-time iOS users, Android favors
Fig. 3: Pinterest’s mobile experiences recently found patterns of simplicity and cognition.
for iOS and Android.


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Design with flexibility in mind
Android is an open OS. This has helped Android’s quick rise
to prominence, but it also means there could be any possible Is that all there is to fragmentation?
number of devices to develop and design for. Fortunately, ICS
has helped reign in the problem of developing across screen Fragmentation goes well beyond designing for
sizes, devices, and resolutions. different devices and screen sizes. It refers to how
manufacturers actually customize and release
Today, overcoming Android’s device diversity is as simple distinct versions of the Android framework. This has
as simplifying design patterns. We develop two flexible fueled efforts such as the Amazon Kindle, but it also
layouts—tablet and phone—and utilize ICS’s framework for poses development challenges. We’ll discuss what
adapting these to work across all screens. We also follow fragmentation means—and how to manage it—in a
Android’s qualifying naming conventions (found here) to later piece.
isolate assets based on screen size and density, and use
9patching to keep asset rendering global and flexible.

We’ll explore how to develop across device sizes in much
greater detail in our next piece, but it’s helpful to know that
this is a well-documented, manageable task.

6
Think outside the pocket
The Android framework isn’t limited to mobile devices, So the true conversation of Android design lies beyond
and it isn’t just the Android-powered Google TV that’s making the app. You need to think about the experience as a whole,
a splash. Chinese car company Roewe recently released a and the way each touch points communicate with all
car with an Android console4, Nokia and Nikon have released others—from mobile to household appliances to industrial
Android-powered cameras5, and Casio utilizes an Android equipment and devices we haven’t even thought of yet.
POS system6. If you consider that all of these device could It’s time to start thinking about Android design as being not
be using the same code, the possibilities for design just a series of applications, but as an entire lifestyle.
become boundless.

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Android applications can be beautiful too
Android’s been treated as the ugly mobile OS for too However, considering what we know today about designing
long now. This is no surprise, considering the difficult for Android, beautiful design is absolutely obtainable for
learning curve to handling design assets and building the platform. By following Android’s creative vision and
across a fragmented device landscape with no universal being conscious of fragmentation and the limitations that
design standards. it may present, we can create applications that are refined,
graceful, and truly beautiful.

The application Weather Eye is beautiful,
minimalistic, and extremely easy to use.


THE NEW ANDROID HAS FINALLY EMERGED

Over the last couple of years, Android has evolved leaps and We’ll take a closer look at this new Android experience in our
bounds into a fascinating and innovative operating system. ongoing series: the Golden Age of Android.
Its start was patchy, but constant iteration and user
feedback have made the Android platform as viable to
design for as iOS, and equally important to consider in any
mobile strategy.

Look out for our next piece on creating a beautiful
experience across devices and screen sizes.

10

ABOUT MUTUAL MOBILE

Mutual Mobile has delivered over 400 mobile experiences We’ve received numerous awards and accolades, including
across Android, iOS, Windows 8, and web. Our end-to-end recognition as a Forbes Most Promising Company, a 2012
solutions have delighted major clients including Google, Audi, Webby Nomination in the Retail/Tablet category, and a 2011
Cisco, and Xerox. We work to bring consumer-grade design ADDY Award from the AAF. Mutual Mobile is experienced
to the enterprise, and in 2011 introduced the first Android at crafting mobile strategy that addresses enterprise-sized
Human Interface Guidelines to encourage design consistency concerns and challenges to create efficiency, engagement,
across Android. and measurable value for users—whether those users are
employees or consumers.

Citations

1
Android, Design Principles. http://developer.android.com/design/get-started/creative-vision.html
2
Android, Design Principles. http://developer.android.com/design/get-started/principles.html
3
Android, Design Principles. http://developer.android.com/design/get-started/principles.html
4
T
he Economist, Do Android Dream of Electric Cars? June 14, 2012.
http://www.economist.com/blogs/babbage/2012/06/car-infotainment
5
c
net, How camera makers are getting their design groove on. October 1, 2012.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-57517481-76/how-camera-makers-are-getting-their-design-groove-on/
6
C
asio, Casio America Releases New Android POS Terminal for the Retail and Hospitality Industry. July 27, 2012.
http://www.casio.com/news/content/18A90C33-337F-44A8-8EC0-CF93B115D782/
7
Images sourced from Android’s Design Guidelines. http://developer.android.com/design/style/devices-displays.html


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