It is amazing how much one company has influenced our digital lives. You can not seem to look at any “smartphone” today without seeing Apple’s influential design sprinkled in. Need proof? Take a look at the Android prototype before the iPhone came out. Now look at Android today.
Does Apple get everything right? Heck no, but they have been setting the interaction trends for the last several years. This can especially be noticed when you are developing for iOS. If you have ever released an app to the iTunes store and not followed the standard interactions Apple places in its apps, then you know what it is like to get negative reviews from users on seemingly trivial interactions that ultimately still get the job done.
As a designer, interaction patterns matter because subconsciously they matter to users. Users like to understand things instantly without relearning how the same task is done. A user who has learned how to delete an email in one app does not want to have to learn a new set of gestures or buttons to delete a video in an editing app.
Sometimes even interaction patterns that can be improved on, but are consistently implemented across other apps, are considered right just because so many users understand them from repetition. Apple thought of this and is kind enough to provide a designer/developer with a set of iOS Human Interface Guidelines (HIG). But when you are designing and developing the next killer app, how do you know when to follow the guidelines or not?
There can be many reasons to design an interface differently than the HIG but the “good” reasons are limited.
1. It is an interaction or app that is innovative and thus is not covered by the HIG’s limited set of interactions, controllers, and controls.
You are really not breaking the HIG in this situation, so there is no question its your opportunity to innovate. Have fun, young Jeff Raskin.
2. You are designing to differentiate your application from the rest in the App Store.
This is a bit tricker, as the interaction had better be very powerful and memorable to break the mental model users have learned from all the other apps. In this case its often better to just stylize your design but keep the controls and interactions in line with the HIG. This way users understand how your app works but remember your design as being different and/or fun.
3. You have a limited budget and you can build your non-standard design quicker than what is in the HIG.
This is a dangerous path that many fall into, but rarely does it work out well (although there are exceptions). If you are a bigger company with a hot established brand you may find you can get away with this allot more often than the little guys. More often than not, user reviews, Gruber, and general market confusion often force this designer to go back and rework the app to match the HIG and thus it ends up costing more in the long run.
In general, remember the HIG is your friend and can save you design effort and research, giving you time to focus on what makes your app unique and insanely great. I look forward to paying you $0.99 for making my life easier. Now if Apple would just give me a way to add another 200 app screens to my iPhone…
Do you want to launch a successful mobile application?
Find out about the Fastest path to launch a mobile business.
