Good Dog Design

Our first Android project is now live. ShoutOUT (from Promptu) is a free speech recognition app that lets you compose text messages in natural speech instead of typing. You can learn more about ShoutOUT on the product site.

We worked with Promptu to port the existing iPhone ShoutOUT App to Android.

Getting Started
We’ve designed and developed for the iPhone, but Android was new to us. To familiarize ourselves with the platform, we experimented with a handful of Android apps on an HTC Magic phone. Specifically, we were interested in mobile apps that were originally designed for the iPhone, and were then ported to Android. We researched how designers and developers handled the transition, and identified best practices for development.

Findings
Although the iPhone and Android phones are both touch-based, there are several differences that impacted our design translation:

Menu Bar

iPhone productivity apps generally have a dedicated menu bar for navigation, but Android leverages the ‘Menu’ button to display contextual navigation. Both methods work, but we removed the iPhone-style menu to make the app behave more like other Android apps.

Physical Buttons
Since Android phones have dedicated ‘Home,’ ‘Menu’ and ‘Back’ buttons. Physical buttons have their pros and cons, but we used the ‘Menu’ button to move items that were in the iPhone menu bar into the contextual menu overlays. This enabled us to gain a bit of real estate that was originally reserved for the Menu Bar. Since the Menu button’s features varied based on the screen, we mapped out all of the potential scenarios. It was difficult to keep the behavior consistent, and while we were concerned that some menu items could potentially be lost, we assumed Android users would be familiar with this pattern since it’s a core part of the native apps (such as Mail, Contacts...etc.)

The other physical button that needed attention was the back button. Initially, it’s behavior seemed fairly defined, but there were a number of instances where we had to workout the best response. This was especially important if the user was in a modal-input view, we didn’t want to users to loose any input by a mistaken push.

Physical Scroll
The Android handset invites multi-modal input. The physical trackball allows users to precisely scroll up and down lists, and it also allows selection via a physical click. Our design needed to take these methods of scrolling and selection into consideration, since they don’t exist on the iPhone.

Fragmentation
Designing specifications for iPhone and iPod Touch is pretty simple (for now). Every application will work the same way across each model since they support the same features. The Android platform is more complicated. The handset makers support different hardware and features, and subsequently the carriers can customize Android and add proprietary UI elements (to distinguish their phones from the competition). The fragmentation issues added complexity to the design task, as we worked out which base set of features we could rely on across all the targeted handsets.

Design
The visual design translation was much more straightforward. We were able to migrate the main UI elements from the iPhone app directly to Android. We did modify the button styles to make them look and feel like Android elements, and we also created specific icons to support the contextual buttons (although many icons were freely available from the Android library).

Screenshots
Taking screenshots with Android was a huge pain. This may have changed with newer handsets, but the only way we could get images from the phone to our desktops was really complicated. We did appreciate some great directions over at Download Squad (via Christina Warren @ Download Squad).

Takeaways
The Android OS is a highly viable platform, and it has already proved a commercial hit in the mobile space. From a designer’s point of view, it’s fairly easy to ‘think’ in Android, and many successful iPhone applications can and will be ported to Android.

We worked with Alibris to develop the look and feel for their updated book search.

The main goal of the search redesign was to improve the organization and presentation of search results, and incorporate modern front-end web technologies to enable Alibris customers to quickly find the right book.

The Alibris team completed extensive research and wireframing on the search pages, and  also engaged in user testing to define the project requirements. The Good Dog team developed the visual design, and produced the final seach templates.

Head on over to Alibris to learn more about the latest release:
http://www.alibris.com/blog/alibris/a-new-book-search-at-alibris

visit portfolio

We recently had the opportunity to collaborate on an ambitious project with Vallarta Adventures, the largest, safest and most professional tour operator on Mexico’s Pacific Coast.

We were joined in this great undertaking by Vertebrae, a Bay Area-based branding company extraordinaire (and our next-door neighbors). The endeavor spanned more than a year, and Vertebrae’s team deserves enormous credit for arriving at a vigorous new identity that is in keeping with VA’s No. 1 standing in its marketplace.

Good Dog’s role was to define objectives for VA’s new website, as well as to develop the site’s structure and layout, create its information architecture, implement a more intuitive user experience, and engineer a back-end database system.

VA’s new tagline is “Inspired By Nature,” which leant itself to a great visual presentation. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so we chose to keep copy to a minimum, opting instead for broad panoramic images and plenty of white space to let them breathe. To create a more visceral feel, each photo features a person or group participating in an adventure.

In terms of the user experience, we streamlined the site’s architecture to provide intuitive and consistent navigation. We also employed rich media like video brochures, offline chats with agency representatives, third-party social networking, and blogs.

The breadth of activities VA offers is truly remarkable, so much so they once devoted a separate site to each individual experience. We opted to put the various adventures under one roof, with “Learn More” buttons taking the user to individualized landing pages with information on available dates, activity level, what to bring, and testimonials from past visitors.

Integrating an onsite reservation system was an enormous priority and challenge. VA wants more clients to book travel online, so designing an easy-to-use checkout process was crucial. The new site intergrates with VA's SAP reservation system via a customized series of data hooks.

Over the course of this venture, the travel industry was beset by a global economic downturn and the outbreak of the H1N1 virus. But VA remained committed to the project, for which they will always have our heartfelt respect. We ultimately created two sites:  Vallarta Adventures and another for Cabo Adventures.

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It’s always a thrill to partner with a company that’s the vanguard in its industry. Promptu is just such a company, and we’ve had the privilege of working with them on developing a number of iPhone and Androids applications.

Promptu is a leading innovator of voice recognition-based search and navigation services for mobile apps. They’re at an exciting time in their development, with analysts saying the company is at the tipping point for a mobile revolution fueled by Voice User Interface (VUI) applications.

Recently, as Promptu headed into a new round of fundraising and product launches, they determined that a site refresh was an immediate priority. Going forward, this new site would serve as a first line of information for the media, investors, customers, consumers and partners. 

Good Dog’s role on this project was to define the new site’s objectives, develop its visual design and produce templates to enable the site launch. We promised Promptu a look and feel that was cutting edge, with a dynamic presentation on the home page to showcase the Promptu product line. The design would be flexible, with information architecture that would improve access to and use of existing site features, and would facilitate the integration of future site tools and components.

The focal point of the new site is the lively presentation on the homepage, where Promptu rotates through its most relevant products to a front-and-center position. Coupled with each product is a customer or partner quote, turning third-party testimonials into headlines.

We were also charged with better relating that Promptu is an international company. To that end, we made the site available in five languages, and allowed space on the homepage for news Promptu is making globally. A text block in the lower left-hand corner states that Promptu’s easy-to-use voice-to-text solutions are available worldwide in 40 languages and dialects.

We were also charged with better relating that Promptu is an international company. To that end, we made the site available in five languages, and allowed space on the homepage for news Promptu is making globally. A text block in the lower left-hand corner states that Promptu’s easy-to-use voice-to-text solutions are available worldwide in 40 languages and dialects. Whereas their previous site was static (view a sceenshot), this one is dynamic and fluid, accurately conveying that Promptu is a company with momentum. View more screenshots in our portfolio.

It’s a joy to work with Promptu. Please check out their new site at http://www.promptu.com.

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For many years we've designed and developed interactive projects for consumer packaged food companies. We enjoy working with food and beverage companies, and love to exploring online brand expression.

We started brainstorming food and beverage products with usage that can be emulated on the phone. We focused on developing game concepts that took advantage of the iPhone's multitouch interface.

After developing some mockups we pitched a few clients, and soon found a brand who was looking to take the plunge into the world of apps. We leveraged their product's core usage characteristics with fun and simple gameplay, which in turn supported the product's key marketing messages. At the end of each game, users are given the chance to post their score to social networks, driving traffic back to the game

We see mobile apps as a great way to expand reach and provide consumers with fun and useful applications that engage them in a brand in new ways. With good apps, there's a strong viral opportunity that lets brands get their message out of their websites and into the hands of the end user (literally).

There are lot more iPhone apps in the pipeline, so follow us on Facebook or Twitter for more updates.