Create a Mobile App Icon in Photoshop This tutorial is part of a three-part series explaining how to design UI elements for mobile applications in Photoshop. In this part, we will explain how to design an icon for your mobile device's home screen. Let's get started! Tutorial Assets The following assets were used during the production of this tutorial. Wood Texture Step 1 Create a new document. Step 2 With the Rounded Rectangle Tool (U) draw a shape using a red color. Step 3 With the Brush Tool (B) Paint a vivid light red color to create a light spot on the upper right part of the icon. Step 4 Add a black shadow with the Brush Tool. Step 5 Add a shape like this on top of the icon with the following Layer Style. Step 6 Duplicate and reduce the last shape with Cmd/Ctrl + T. Step 7 Refine the upper lights using the Brush Tool (B) alternating light and dark red. Step 8 I refined the bottom part using the same way as the previous step. Step 9 Step 10 Make a Rectangular Selection. Step 11 Step 12 Step 13 Add two Highlights stripes. Step 14 Step 15
Yiibu - Lovingly crafted mobile experiences The Smartphone Snapshot Showdown (Global Smartphone and Mobile Video Stats) Mobile Site vs. Full Site Based on usability testing of hundreds of sites, the main guidelines for mobile-optimized websites are clear: Build a separate mobile-optimized design (or mobile site) if you can afford it. When people access sites using mobile devices, their measured usability is much higher for mobile sites than for full sites. A mobile app might be even better— at least for now.If mobile users arrive at your full site, automatically show them the mobile version. Sadly, many search engines still don't rank mobile sites high enough for mobile users, so people are often (mis)guided to full sites instead of the mobile ones, which offer a vastly superior user experience.Offer a clear link from your full site to your mobile site for users who end up at the full site despite the redirect.Offer a clear link from your mobile site to your full site for those (few) users who need special features that are found only on the full site. Mobile-Optimized Sites Why Full Sites Don't Work for Mobile Use
Usability of Mobile Websites and Apps: Research Report with Design Guidelines This report is based on 8 series of usability studies with users in 4 countries (mostly the US, but also Australia, Hong Kong, and the UK), reporting how they actually used a broad variety of websites and apps on a range of mobile devices, including touch phones and smartphones from many vendors. The report also presents the findings from two diary studies of users in 6 countries (Australia, The Netherlands, Romania, Singapore, UK, and US) that let us follow user behavior over a longer time period than is feasible in traditional user testing. The basic finding from this research is that mobile users face severe usability problems in attempting to get things done on today's websites, whether dedicated mobile sites or traditional desktop-optimized sites that are rendered through a mobile browser. This 293-page report presents 237 design guidelines based on our usability research. Topics Activities people perform on mobile phones Mobile strategy Should you go mobile? Benefits Articles
32 Examples of Usable Mobile Website Layouts The mobile web is clearly changing the way we think about layout design. Even back just 5 or 10 years ago there were barely any developers working on a solution for mobile. Now it seems everybody is doing their Internet surfing on some type of smartphone device. And because of this it’s a good idea to consider adapting your current layouts to fit a changing market. This process can be difficult without a bit of inspiration. United Pixelworkers Oliver Russell Charmin Cerahati Bodhum Love & Luxe Culinary Institute of America Orange Breaking News North Carolina Wine Atommica Orbital Devs South Dakota Sioux Falls The Land of Nod Bluegg Digital Agency Solid Shops Beth Israel Medical Center J Taylor Design Retail-Me-Not Heathlife Poet Freak The Backlog The Intro Workshops One Little Dream Tim Hortons Lifetime Pears WordPress Theme Orestis Web Development Team Treehouse Mobilism Conf 2012 Webshocker Humana
UI Patterns For Mobile Apps: Search, Sort And Filter Advertisement As I was waiting for a table at a local restaurant the other day, I flipped through a couple of the free classified papers. I was shocked to realize how dependent I’ve grown on three simple features that just aren’t available in the analog world: search, sort and filter. AutoDirect and some of the other freebies are organized by category (like trucks, vans, SUVs) but others, like Greensheet, just list page after page of items for sale. But after taking a look at Craigslist mobile, it became obvious we could all benefit from some best practices around mobile search, sort and filter UI design. Search Patterns Before you ever try to design a search interface for any platform, buy and read these two books: Search Patterns: Design for Discovery by Peter Morville and Jeffery Callender, and Designing Search: UX Strategies for eCommerce Success by Greg Nudelman. Then take a look at these search patterns specific to mobile applications: Explicit Search Auto-Complete Dynamic Search Sort
Mobile Patterns and Why Use Them in Design Mobile Patterns or Mobile Templates are, as the name obviously states, templates to use for easing our work when designing a site for portable devices. As mobile web design means more and more nowadays, designers often have problems reaching deadlines because of a high workload. In web design we have grid systems we build on in order to help us maintain a clean visual pattern, but also to help us build a web page faster. The truth is that designers always looked to ease their work and move on to the next project, therefore mobile patterns are something the experts start to look into more and more. Mobile patterns are structured, organized and well researched before going online. Mobile Environment It is very important not to forget you design for mobile devices and not for the web. With so many things to keep in mind, it is surely not easy to design for mobile interfaces. How To Use Patterns In case you want to design your own template, there are some things you should consider. Conclusion
Avatars - Create an Animated Talking Character for Your Website Padcaster Turns Your New iPad Into a Complete Video Production Rig | Gadget Lab The Padcaster gives your iPad legs and a lens. Photo: Courtesy The Verge The third-generation iPad has a great camera, but you’re not going to shoot high-quality video by holding the tablet in your hands, and awkwardly aiming it at content. No, you’re going to benefit from some mechanical assistance, and the Padcaster could be the solution. It’s a super sturdy, $200 iPad case that attaches to a tripod and a camera lens, promising a cost-effective method for tapping into the performance of Apple’s improved camera hardware. In the image above, a Carl Zeiss lens was attached to the case using Padcaster’s $80 Lenscaster mount. For those questioning the iPad’s video chops, know this: The third-generation model can record 1080p video at up to 30 fps, which is actually on par (spec-wise, at least) with some DSLRs. The Padcaster debuted at the National Association of Broadcasters 2012 show in Las Vegas this week, and it’s on sale now. via The Verge
Harness the Power of SharePoint Search on the Go! - Anand Raja's blog As SharePoint continues to be one of Microsoft’s fastest growing platforms, it’s quickly becoming the de facto choice for document management across the enterprise. The ability to efficiently search for information has become essential as site and folder structures continually grow. Microsoft has responded to this need by providing a powerful SharePoint desktop search mechanism. Enterprise Search is a robust feature that was introduced in Share Plus Enterprise 3.0. The following is an example of how to use the Enterprise Search feature of SharePlus to search for a SharePoint document on an iPad. 1. 2. 3. The full text search will be performed on the SharePoint server. We can also search using other criteria such as: Document typeModified DateAuthorMeta Data The following is an example of locating all documents written by a specific person: The resulting document(s) may now be accessed from the device. OpenEditAdd to FavoritesCopy URLEmail documentCopy it to your deviceCheck Out / In
HealthCare Access Through Mobile Technology "mHealth"..... "mobile health"........ what is it exactly? And how does it give patients access to better care? I like Dr. Ruchi Dass's definition of mobile health: "Mobile health is not about healthcare and mobile phones; I think that's a misconception. So mHealth, for me at least, is healthcare that you can access where and when you want it. There are so many avenues to pursue, and so many ways of connecting patients to care. HealthWorks Collective is interested in pursuing this and will host a live webinar next Wednesday, May 23rd at 1pm to explore this topic. We have 3 excellent distinguished panelists that will give a short presentation, and then answer questions from the audience: Dr. Dr. Dr. And our esteemed moderator, Brian McGowan, PhD is a research scientist who has worked as a medical educator, mentor, accredited provider and commercial supporter. Please join us for this exciting and very worthwhile webinar! photo:De Mango/Shutterstock Connect: Authored by: Joan Justice
Microsoft Kinect -- surgery, not gaming, could be Kinect's calling Microsoft’s Kinect motion and voice-based controller accessory was launched with gaming in mind, but researchers have taken the technology in a number of different directions. German researchers transformed the Kinect into an interactive augmented reality X-ray machine, and Microsoft Research is now in the process of trialing the use of its Kinect sensor as a surgical assistant. On May 8th, a surgeon at Guy’s and St. Thomas’ hospital in London used a custom Kinect installation to browse through medical images and real-time X-rays while repairing an aneurism in a patient’s aorta, NewScientist reports. The system created by Microsoft Research allows surgeons to call up images or perform a number of other tasks without assistance and without having to touch anything, thus avoiding any potential contamination. Carrell is eager to continue trials with the system. Read