William Van Hecke is User Experience Lead at the Omni Group. His nebulous job is to make software civilized enough to bring out in public. His work often ends up entwined with documentation, marketing, quality assurance, customer support, and Dungeon Mastering, too. Previously, Bill wrote code in Chicago for companies on the Board of Trade, and in Green Bay. When not shoveling pixels or graphemes, Bill likes creating video games, translating video games, and, occasionally, playing video games.

“This book contains everything you need to know to create awesome, life-altering applications. . . . I pride myself on knowing a lot about design, but when reading this book, I probably didn’t encounter a single page that didn’t offer at least one interesting idea, new concept, or clever design technique. It’s also written in a way that prevents you from putting it down. . . . You’re in for a treat.”

—From the Foreword by LUKAS MATHIS, author of ignorethecode.net

Transform Your Ideas into Intuitive, Delightful iOS Apps!

As an app developer, you know design is important. But where do you start? Learning iOS Design will help you think systematically about the art and science of design, and consistently design apps that users will appreciate—and love.

Pioneering Omni Group user experience expert William Van Hecke first explains what design really means, and why effective app design matters so much. Next, using a sample concept, he walks through transforming a vague idea into a fleshed-out design, moving from outlines to sketches, wireframes to mockups, prototypes to finished apps.

Building on universal design principles, he offers practical advice for thinking carefully, critically, and cleverly about your own projects, and provides exercises to guide you step-by-step through planning your own app’s design. An accompanying website (learningiosdesign.com) provides professional-grade sketches, wireframes, and mockups you can study and play with to inspire your own new project.

Coverage includes

- Planning and making sense of your app idea

- Exploring potential approaches, styles, and strategies

- Creating more forgiving, helpful, and effective interactions

- Managing the constraints of the iOS platform (or any platform)

- Crafting interfaces that are graceful, gracious, and consistently enjoyable to use

- Balancing concerns such as “focus versus versatility” and “friction versus guidance”

- Understanding why all designs are compromises—and how to find the best path for your own app