Secrets of the successful design of the children's application - an interview with the developer
In Little Beetle, work is in full swing. Employees are passionate about creating a new application that will be something special, such as we haven’t yet created. One of the most striking features of the Little Beetle's new children's app is the memorable and original design. The theme of the future application - the adventures of pirates.
We present to your attention an interview with the leading designer of the company - Azamat “Keetano” . In this interview we will try to uncover important topics and get answers to many questions regarding the design of children's mobile applications and the designer’s place in the design process.
')
Little Beetle: How does work begin?
Keetano: Work usually starts with an idea. We are given a task in the spirit of “invent a new children's application”, and while we do not invent anything, we are not working. Sometimes we already have some ideas, because they appeared before the opportunity arose to implement them. Due to the fact that resources are not limitless, each employee cannot make several applications at once, therefore they lie in the heads “on the shelf”, and the team remembers about them when the question arises about the new application.
Having defined the idea, we must develop and substantiate it. For example, explain what the essence of the application is, why it will be interesting for children, and how it will be possible to develop this application further. If this is a game, then you need to decide how to complicate the levels or how to add new tasks, is it possible within the bounds of this idea.
After the specific developers of this application are selected from the team, we get together to discuss what we have to do and what the application will be like. It creates something like a design document, which is Kalyaki-Malaki in a notebook.
At the first stage it is enough to estimate where to move. The designer and programmer get their tasks, and the project manager oversees the processes and helps to solve problems that may arise during the work.
“Pirates of the Milk Sea” I proposed at the next meeting, when we were discussing new applications. I have always liked the pirate theme, and I am sure that children also love sea adventures and fearless pirates. In addition, the plan with the islands made it possible not to make a small application, but to collect many others in one game so that the adventures were long. Also, the game with the islands is easy to update, adding new islands to the map with new tasks.
Before proceeding with the design, I read a couple of books about pirates, watched several films and rummaged around the Internet in search of illustrations on the pirate theme, portraits of the pirates themselves, images of treasures, sea monsters, islands, ships and other paraphernalia. This is not the case with all applications, but the fertile topic of pirate life demanded a more thorough approach to it. All this allowed me to figure out what islands we will have, what will happen to the heroes of the game, and what they will do.
After doing the work, having collected my thoughts, I sat down to draw in the notebook of the island and invent names and characters. At the very beginning we had a slightly different concept and other heroes. Perhaps we will return them to one of the islands, because they are great guys, but it would be difficult to start with them.
After finishing with the islands on paper, I scanned them and began digitizing them in Illustrator. After that, the main work started, directly related to the application.
You see the most terrible island, the “Southern Cross”, where travelers will be met with cemetery horrors. Pirate stories must thoroughly tickle the nerves, otherwise they will not be all the charm.
Little Beetle: What do you focus on in your work, what inspires you?
Keetano: I focus primarily on other similar applications that already exist in the App Store. You need to learn what is on the market in order to figure out how to do better.
For the "Pirates of the Dairy Sea" opportunities to find inspiration was a whole ocean, because all these stories about sea adventures are very developed in many different directions. There were no problems here.
As for our other applications, for example, “ABCs of ABCGDake” or “Merry accounts” , then, often, ideas come in the process of testing preliminary versions of an application. While you are busy with him and you face some problems, there are ideas how to do better or add something new.
In addition, we receive dozens of letters from our customers with suggestions for updates and many ideas for creating new applications. Through feedback, we can interact directly with parents who purchase our products for their children. We can and we try to fulfill their wishes, implement their ideas - this is simply wonderful.
Little Beetle: How do you decide on stylistics? First comes the idea of ​​the application, and then you invent images, or vice versa?
Keetano: As a rule, a general idea is first formed, and then details like characters. In Pirates of the Milk Sea, the main concept is simple: this is a game with educational and developmental elements about pirates designed for children. Who will be in the game and where they float, then it is decided. This is not like in the comics, where the main character is born first, and only then his past and character are thought out.
With all the simpler style. Since we make applications for children, everything should be so that they like it.
I, in general, are against the generally accepted children's standards, when the design for children is made “childish”: all the colors of the rainbow, cartoon characters, dubbing voices and so on, which you can see on the street and on TV - I mean all sorts of “teletps” , "Winx" and other vermin. However, practice shows that it is possible to persuade parents for a very long time that higher standards can be imparted to children, and to do for children, first of all, as for people, and not “childishly. But this, as a rule, will not lead to anything, because this process takes a lot of time.
In other words, if you want your application to be sold, you need to do it in such a style, so that parents define it as “childish” and the children react to the attractive icon standing out from the crowd with some funny character that radiates joy and happiness. Children can distinguish the icons of gaming applications from the icons of other programs, even if they have never seen them before.
Little Beetle: What do you use in your work? For example, do you use ready-made images from stocks, etc.?
Keetano: Since I am not an illustrator, it’s quite difficult for me, and sometimes it’s impossible to draw an entire application from scratch - all backgrounds, objects, characters and so on. I usually draw the interface myself, but for more complex images I use the services of photo stocks. Unfortunately, sometimes it is more difficult to find what you need than to draw it yourself. Also often have to redo the purchased image to fit your needs. In such cases, the file opens in a vector editor, and it remains to hope only for the best.
I also have a notebook in which I test the pen, because it is not always easy to imagine a picture in my head - sometimes you have to try variations on paper to decide what will look better and how best to draw it before you start working on a computer . Sketch a pirate ship faster on paper. Immediately the result can be shown to colleagues to get their opinion. This helps not only to simplify the process of work, but also a little distract from the work at the computer.
Little Beetle: Have you had any failures, failed projects that failed only because of the design and graphics?
Keetano: Now that the design of the application is closed only because of the design - this has not happened yet. Sometimes in the App Store there are comments like “dismiss your designer”, but this happens rarely, and, as a rule, only in the Russian App Store. The public here is very critical, and for one mistake they can put the lowest rating, although this is unfair. I will not argue that we are doing divine applications for children, but we cannot criticize us for ugly design - this would be biased, because there are never serious problems with design.
Little Beetle: What features can you highlight in applications designed for children (from a design point of view)?
Keetano: I believe that applications for children should hold their attention, so you need to make a spectacular first screen. It is desirable for us to be met by some character or company of characters, because in children's cartoons, fairy tales, toys there is often some creature that the children are watching or playing with. To support their expectation, you need to have some hero in the application.
It is good to use animation and interactive, since all kinds of “whistles” that react to touch have advantages over static games or television, where you only have to watch. These benefits need to be used.
Further, such applications should always be clear and without text prompts - you need to use as few transitions in the menu as possible, fewer buttons, fewer settings, so that the children are busy playing, rather than picking the menu. It is necessary to highlight and place important elements in expected places, such as the Play or Back buttons, so that the child does not fall into a stupor. The non-obviousness of actions in the application will quickly force the kid to close the game.
We must not forget that there must be a noticeable reaction to all actions with the interface, so that the child can understand whether he is playing correctly. The reaction to the actions of the child can be supported not only graphically, but also with the help of animation or sounds.
Sound plays a big role in children's applications, because it not only helps the interface, but also creates an atmosphere, and children can memorize some melodies. For example, in ABCGDake Alphabet we have a beautiful song about letters that can be sung along with painted letters. Parents write us grateful letters and comments precisely because they and their children liked the song (it is really a hit - it is very difficult to forget and get it out of my head). All buttons should be voiced (except for the mute button) - it's not only usability, but also that children like to make noise with different sounds. Parents who have bought pipes for their children, harpsichords, beeps, drums, whistles and other musical things, are well aware that such toys do not bother their children for a long time. And this is one of the prerequisites for the creation by us of an even more new application than the “Pirates of the Milk Sea” - in parallel, we are creating an application for teaching music.
Animation (or, more precisely, animation) traditionally accompanies the childhood of almost every child. Moving characters or animated backgrounds attract and keep children's attention. They are wondering what will happen next, and this is definitely more exciting than a static picture. Try to use animation more often, so that the application does not look dull. But do not forget that if you overdo it, there will be such a farce from which not only children, but also adults will have a headache. Here, as elsewhere, it is important to know the whole measure. It is good to use the animation with the reaction to the touch, when something starts to move, only if you touch it.
Finally, learning applications cannot do without praise. Children love to be praised for completing the assignment correctly. You do not need to praise them all the time, but if everything is done correctly, then this must be reported. It is important to voice the compliments sincerely, so that good can just seep from the speakers of the iPad. You can support clever men and clever men not only with your voice, but also with characters, salutes, applause and other elements of the holiday, in order to show that achieving your goals is important.
Little Beetle: What do you think, can a project become successful only because of a well thought out and high-quality design, if the rest is very simple, simple, maybe even not very well worked out?
Keetano: If the application is buggy or has bugs, then this is bad. Good design will only help show beautiful screenshots, but otherwise it will not help. You can just get a bunch of angry comments and low ratings from users, who will “lead” to beautiful pictures.
Little Beetle: What do you think is the secret of successful application design?
Keetano: If the application solves its problems, then its design was a success.
Little Beetle: Any recommendations for mobile app design? Tips? Suggestions to other designers, illustrators?
Keetano: Before you start making an application, look at how they did it before you. Surely, you will see something interesting.
You can invest a lot of money in the promotion of the application and in programming, but if you don’t spend it on design, you will not only lose profits, but you will not get a dedicated audience. Your screenshots in the App Store will look very unconvincing and unprofessional. And it is precisely in this real trouble many applications, especially children.
If you are working on a children's application, and you do not have a good designer, then either find one, or do not continue working at all, because children should not be shown ugly things, including curved programs.
Ideally, for a children's app you need to have a good illustrator and a good designer. The first is able to draw beautifully, but he has no idea where to put the button and which one to make it. The second may not be able to create a wonderful children's world for you, but he organizes the space of the application so that the child goes further than the first screen and wants to return to the game again and again. I sincerely wish good luck to all developers and designers!
Little Beetle: Thank you, Azamat, for such an informative interview. We hope your advice will help designers engaged in the development of mobile applications.
On behalf of the company Little Beetle, we would like to inform you about the important news: the release of the new children's educational application “Pirates of the Dairy Sea” for iOS will take place on March 14th. We will certainly share the details about this event with the readers of our blog on Habré. Stay with us!
We present to your attention an interview with the leading designer of the company - Azamat “Keetano” . In this interview we will try to uncover important topics and get answers to many questions regarding the design of children's mobile applications and the designer’s place in the design process.
')
Little Beetle: How does work begin?
Keetano: Work usually starts with an idea. We are given a task in the spirit of “invent a new children's application”, and while we do not invent anything, we are not working. Sometimes we already have some ideas, because they appeared before the opportunity arose to implement them. Due to the fact that resources are not limitless, each employee cannot make several applications at once, therefore they lie in the heads “on the shelf”, and the team remembers about them when the question arises about the new application.
Having defined the idea, we must develop and substantiate it. For example, explain what the essence of the application is, why it will be interesting for children, and how it will be possible to develop this application further. If this is a game, then you need to decide how to complicate the levels or how to add new tasks, is it possible within the bounds of this idea.
After the specific developers of this application are selected from the team, we get together to discuss what we have to do and what the application will be like. It creates something like a design document, which is Kalyaki-Malaki in a notebook.
At the first stage it is enough to estimate where to move. The designer and programmer get their tasks, and the project manager oversees the processes and helps to solve problems that may arise during the work.
“Pirates of the Milk Sea” I proposed at the next meeting, when we were discussing new applications. I have always liked the pirate theme, and I am sure that children also love sea adventures and fearless pirates. In addition, the plan with the islands made it possible not to make a small application, but to collect many others in one game so that the adventures were long. Also, the game with the islands is easy to update, adding new islands to the map with new tasks.
Before proceeding with the design, I read a couple of books about pirates, watched several films and rummaged around the Internet in search of illustrations on the pirate theme, portraits of the pirates themselves, images of treasures, sea monsters, islands, ships and other paraphernalia. This is not the case with all applications, but the fertile topic of pirate life demanded a more thorough approach to it. All this allowed me to figure out what islands we will have, what will happen to the heroes of the game, and what they will do.
After doing the work, having collected my thoughts, I sat down to draw in the notebook of the island and invent names and characters. At the very beginning we had a slightly different concept and other heroes. Perhaps we will return them to one of the islands, because they are great guys, but it would be difficult to start with them.
After finishing with the islands on paper, I scanned them and began digitizing them in Illustrator. After that, the main work started, directly related to the application.
You see the most terrible island, the “Southern Cross”, where travelers will be met with cemetery horrors. Pirate stories must thoroughly tickle the nerves, otherwise they will not be all the charm.
Little Beetle: What do you focus on in your work, what inspires you?
Keetano: I focus primarily on other similar applications that already exist in the App Store. You need to learn what is on the market in order to figure out how to do better.
For the "Pirates of the Dairy Sea" opportunities to find inspiration was a whole ocean, because all these stories about sea adventures are very developed in many different directions. There were no problems here.
As for our other applications, for example, “ABCs of ABCGDake” or “Merry accounts” , then, often, ideas come in the process of testing preliminary versions of an application. While you are busy with him and you face some problems, there are ideas how to do better or add something new.
In addition, we receive dozens of letters from our customers with suggestions for updates and many ideas for creating new applications. Through feedback, we can interact directly with parents who purchase our products for their children. We can and we try to fulfill their wishes, implement their ideas - this is simply wonderful.
Little Beetle: How do you decide on stylistics? First comes the idea of ​​the application, and then you invent images, or vice versa?
Keetano: As a rule, a general idea is first formed, and then details like characters. In Pirates of the Milk Sea, the main concept is simple: this is a game with educational and developmental elements about pirates designed for children. Who will be in the game and where they float, then it is decided. This is not like in the comics, where the main character is born first, and only then his past and character are thought out.
With all the simpler style. Since we make applications for children, everything should be so that they like it.
I, in general, are against the generally accepted children's standards, when the design for children is made “childish”: all the colors of the rainbow, cartoon characters, dubbing voices and so on, which you can see on the street and on TV - I mean all sorts of “teletps” , "Winx" and other vermin. However, practice shows that it is possible to persuade parents for a very long time that higher standards can be imparted to children, and to do for children, first of all, as for people, and not “childishly. But this, as a rule, will not lead to anything, because this process takes a lot of time.
In other words, if you want your application to be sold, you need to do it in such a style, so that parents define it as “childish” and the children react to the attractive icon standing out from the crowd with some funny character that radiates joy and happiness. Children can distinguish the icons of gaming applications from the icons of other programs, even if they have never seen them before.
Little Beetle: What do you use in your work? For example, do you use ready-made images from stocks, etc.?
Keetano: Since I am not an illustrator, it’s quite difficult for me, and sometimes it’s impossible to draw an entire application from scratch - all backgrounds, objects, characters and so on. I usually draw the interface myself, but for more complex images I use the services of photo stocks. Unfortunately, sometimes it is more difficult to find what you need than to draw it yourself. Also often have to redo the purchased image to fit your needs. In such cases, the file opens in a vector editor, and it remains to hope only for the best.
I also have a notebook in which I test the pen, because it is not always easy to imagine a picture in my head - sometimes you have to try variations on paper to decide what will look better and how best to draw it before you start working on a computer . Sketch a pirate ship faster on paper. Immediately the result can be shown to colleagues to get their opinion. This helps not only to simplify the process of work, but also a little distract from the work at the computer.
Little Beetle: Have you had any failures, failed projects that failed only because of the design and graphics?
Keetano: Now that the design of the application is closed only because of the design - this has not happened yet. Sometimes in the App Store there are comments like “dismiss your designer”, but this happens rarely, and, as a rule, only in the Russian App Store. The public here is very critical, and for one mistake they can put the lowest rating, although this is unfair. I will not argue that we are doing divine applications for children, but we cannot criticize us for ugly design - this would be biased, because there are never serious problems with design.
Little Beetle: What features can you highlight in applications designed for children (from a design point of view)?
Keetano: I believe that applications for children should hold their attention, so you need to make a spectacular first screen. It is desirable for us to be met by some character or company of characters, because in children's cartoons, fairy tales, toys there is often some creature that the children are watching or playing with. To support their expectation, you need to have some hero in the application.
It is good to use animation and interactive, since all kinds of “whistles” that react to touch have advantages over static games or television, where you only have to watch. These benefits need to be used.
Further, such applications should always be clear and without text prompts - you need to use as few transitions in the menu as possible, fewer buttons, fewer settings, so that the children are busy playing, rather than picking the menu. It is necessary to highlight and place important elements in expected places, such as the Play or Back buttons, so that the child does not fall into a stupor. The non-obviousness of actions in the application will quickly force the kid to close the game.
We must not forget that there must be a noticeable reaction to all actions with the interface, so that the child can understand whether he is playing correctly. The reaction to the actions of the child can be supported not only graphically, but also with the help of animation or sounds.
Sound plays a big role in children's applications, because it not only helps the interface, but also creates an atmosphere, and children can memorize some melodies. For example, in ABCGDake Alphabet we have a beautiful song about letters that can be sung along with painted letters. Parents write us grateful letters and comments precisely because they and their children liked the song (it is really a hit - it is very difficult to forget and get it out of my head). All buttons should be voiced (except for the mute button) - it's not only usability, but also that children like to make noise with different sounds. Parents who have bought pipes for their children, harpsichords, beeps, drums, whistles and other musical things, are well aware that such toys do not bother their children for a long time. And this is one of the prerequisites for the creation by us of an even more new application than the “Pirates of the Milk Sea” - in parallel, we are creating an application for teaching music.
Animation (or, more precisely, animation) traditionally accompanies the childhood of almost every child. Moving characters or animated backgrounds attract and keep children's attention. They are wondering what will happen next, and this is definitely more exciting than a static picture. Try to use animation more often, so that the application does not look dull. But do not forget that if you overdo it, there will be such a farce from which not only children, but also adults will have a headache. Here, as elsewhere, it is important to know the whole measure. It is good to use the animation with the reaction to the touch, when something starts to move, only if you touch it.
Finally, learning applications cannot do without praise. Children love to be praised for completing the assignment correctly. You do not need to praise them all the time, but if everything is done correctly, then this must be reported. It is important to voice the compliments sincerely, so that good can just seep from the speakers of the iPad. You can support clever men and clever men not only with your voice, but also with characters, salutes, applause and other elements of the holiday, in order to show that achieving your goals is important.
Little Beetle: What do you think, can a project become successful only because of a well thought out and high-quality design, if the rest is very simple, simple, maybe even not very well worked out?
Keetano: If the application is buggy or has bugs, then this is bad. Good design will only help show beautiful screenshots, but otherwise it will not help. You can just get a bunch of angry comments and low ratings from users, who will “lead” to beautiful pictures.
Little Beetle: What do you think is the secret of successful application design?
Keetano: If the application solves its problems, then its design was a success.
Little Beetle: Any recommendations for mobile app design? Tips? Suggestions to other designers, illustrators?
Keetano: Before you start making an application, look at how they did it before you. Surely, you will see something interesting.
You can invest a lot of money in the promotion of the application and in programming, but if you don’t spend it on design, you will not only lose profits, but you will not get a dedicated audience. Your screenshots in the App Store will look very unconvincing and unprofessional. And it is precisely in this real trouble many applications, especially children.
If you are working on a children's application, and you do not have a good designer, then either find one, or do not continue working at all, because children should not be shown ugly things, including curved programs.
Ideally, for a children's app you need to have a good illustrator and a good designer. The first is able to draw beautifully, but he has no idea where to put the button and which one to make it. The second may not be able to create a wonderful children's world for you, but he organizes the space of the application so that the child goes further than the first screen and wants to return to the game again and again. I sincerely wish good luck to all developers and designers!
Little Beetle: Thank you, Azamat, for such an informative interview. We hope your advice will help designers engaged in the development of mobile applications.
On behalf of the company Little Beetle, we would like to inform you about the important news: the release of the new children's educational application “Pirates of the Dairy Sea” for iOS will take place on March 14th. We will certainly share the details about this event with the readers of our blog on Habré. Stay with us!
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/171533/
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