Safari launching on an iPhone (it took many tries to get this screenshot right!)
More and more gadgets use fancy animated graphics. From your cellphone to your high-end Linux box running Compiz Fusion, they’re all looking better than ever. But animation is more than looks. And today I’m going to cover many of the benefits of animations in software, from multiple angles.
Animations are exciting
Animations makes people go “Ooh” and “Aah”. This makes people happy, and they’ll be more likely to like the software. Even Vista with all its problems was famous for its Aero flip 3D. Bringing animations to your software also makes it seem more professional and complete. Static software is boring, animations are not. Too much is not good either, so finding a place in the middle is important.
Using animation to hide slowness
Everybody hates slow software. Animation is a great way to hide this. Of course, the best solution is to make software faster. But when this is not possible because of limitations in hardware, animations can be a great solution.
A very good example of this is launching apps on an iPhone. You zoom from the springboard (desktop) to the app. It may only take milliseconds, but it gives the app some extra time to start that doesn’t annoy you. Many apps are ready to use when the animation is done, making the launch seem instantaneous instead of having a tiny delay. This gives a great user experience, and is one of the “secrets” to why people love the iPhone.
Using animation to give feedback
Animations is a great way to give users feedback on their actions. When you click something, you expect something to happen. A good example is the jumping dock icon on Macs when you launch a program. Another one is minimizing windows on almost any operating system.
On Windows 7, you get outlines when dragging windows to the edge of the screen, highlighting that you are about to invoke the Snap feature.
Using animation to show relations
Animation is a great way to show how things are connected. A perfect example is switching screens in a table-based iPhone app. When you press an item in a table, the table slides off to the left and a detailed view comes in from the right. When you go back, the opposite happens. This gives the user a sense of relations between objects on and of the screen. The app seems more logical and self explanatory.
This works so well because we humans are wired to see relations between objects. This is also the reason why interfaces inspired by real world examples often work well (provided they are well executed).
How to implement the correct animations in your software
Knowing that animations can be used for many things is good and well, but how do you use them the right way? The easiest way to know if animating something is the right thing to do, ask yourself these questions:
- Are you sure it won’t impact performance too much?
- Will it help users understand what happened?
- Will it make the software look better?
- Will it make the software seem faster?
- Are users going to be excited by it?
- Is it fast to implement?
If the answer to at least three of these questions are yes, you should really consider implementing animations.
Finding the right animation for the task is even harder, but this is so different from case to case that I won’t recommend anything specific. A great general tip is to look at software you love to use and learn from it.
Often used animations most people undestand are zooming, bouncing and sliding. Be careful not to let the animations become the main focus. They should generally last for under 1 second and be gone. A bouncing icon that repeats over and over until you click is not a good user experience.
Debate, test and ask
Are you unsure about animations in your software? Do you want to learn more? Debate with friends, test software yourself and ask people what they think. Hit me up at twitter if you have any specific questions, or leave a comment below.
Yes, I was right (as usual). Apple will give out free cases to all iPhone 4 owners, at least until September 30th. The biggest surprise for me was that they are going to let you choose between their own “bumper” cases and third party cases, mainly because they can’t produce enough bumpers.
They also (as I predicted) unleashed the beast of Jobs With Numbers™, showing how small this issue really was. 0,5% of users have even called Apple about the issue, and only 1,7% have returned their phone (compared to 6% on 3GS, which is also quite low if we are to believe Apple).
Me, I believed all along that this issue was overblown. I am going to get an iPhone 4, now happily with a free case. I use a case for my 3GS at work already, to stop myself from destroying it when I accidentally bump into stuff or scratching it when I get the phone up from my pocket past my keys hanging in the belt, ready to scratch anything in their path.
They also announced release dates for many more countries, including Norway, to be 30. July.
If you haven’t been living under a rock, you probably have heard about the signal issues with iPhone 4.
Well, today Apple will hold a special event, most likely to address this issue. I write “most likely” because they haven’t explicitly said so, just that the event will cover iPhone 4.
Predictions
I have two predictions, each quite likely. I think option 2 has a slightly better chance of being correct, detailed below.
Option 1
Apple will give out free bumpers or gift cards to all iPhone 4 buyers to date. New iPhone 4s will be bundled with a bumper of your choice.
Option 2
Apple will explain that they have discovered two possible issues, one in software and one in hardware. The software issue was partially fixed with today’s 4.0.1 update, but will be fully remedied by 4.1 coming soon. This will fix the problem for most people. The hardware issue will be explained to affect only some of the early adopters. Those who have experienced problems will be eligible for a free exchange at any Apple Store.
Apple will also announce that they’ve perfected the production method such that new iPhones will not experience this issue at all.
The usual stuff
Of course this will come after Apple goes through the usual list of iPhone reviews and numbers, praising the phone as the best smartphone ever. They may even be bold enough to mention that Consumer Reports rated the phone as the best smartphone to date but won’t recommend it, and hope they will change their mind now that the issue is resolved.
What is that plus icon next to the price?
I’ve heard many people ask what the plus icon next to app prices in the app store is.
The explanation is very simple: Apps with a plus symbol are adapted for both iPad and iPhone. Buy once, use native on both.
This is nothing but good news for you, so if you have an iPad or are planning to buy one, you should choose these apps when available.
Kin
If you haven’t heard of it already, Kin is/was Microsoft’s attempt to make a phone for the young, connected crowd. The ones who use facebook and twitter but doesn’t need a smartphone. A few days ago rumors said that the phone sold only 10.000 units and had been canceled. The truth was even worse.
People inside Microsoft have reported that they’ve sold only 503 Kin phones since release. That is 0,01% of iPhone 4′s first weekend sales. It is a disaster. Microsoft purportedly spent over $1 billion on the project. Most other companies would be bankrupt by such a failiure. How could this happen? Most of the tech pundits I listen to said this when Microsoft first showed of the phone. I too didn’t think it would sell great, but not this bad.
But in hindsight I can see where it all went wrong:
- The Kin wasn’t done. Many features were missing or buggy
- It wasn’t a smartphone, but it had smartphone plans, costing as much a month as an iPhone or an Android phone
- The marketing was bad
- The target market is small or non-existant. I can’t imagine who would choose a Kin before an iPhone
- Microsoft doesn’t understand it’s customers
When you look at it this way, it may even be surprising they sold any. Of course, some of them was sold to people who try new stuff, blogs and others who doesn’t get review units.
What does all this lead up to?
I will go on record saying that Windows Phone 7 will also be a flop. Not as bad as the Kin, but still a flop. It will sell a few units in the first days, until people understand the weaknesses of the system and the reviews comes out. Word of mouth will also slow down adoption. Some businesses will pick it up, if they are 100% Microsoft shops already. Then they too will see where it comes short, and go back to Blackberry or whatever they were using before.
Microsoft simply can’t produce a product that is good enough to compete with iPhone and Android in such a short time. Just read interviews with the Windows Phone 7 team leader. They know the product won’t be done. It won’t have all the necessary features. They will be playing catch-up for years to come. Maybe they can get back in the game, but not this year. Not yet.
