Weekly UX fight 2OSs 1app 0mercy
Audioteka
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Fight #6
Main Screen & Widgets Not very intrusive banner, slider with recommended books and the list of categories. As a result we get rather nice, simple main screen in may opinion. Quick access to currently listened book is a nice move towards fulfilling user needs.
As an Android user I really like the idea of widgets. They are great especially for actions that do not require deep interaction, such as listening to music or audiobook: play, pause, stop, nextâ&#x20AC;Ś
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Yet, Audioteka doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t use widget potential at all.
Almost the same design both for Android and iOS version of Audioteka. Sadly once again we are facing navigation drawer (or hamburger menu). Why? No idea đ&#x;¤ˇ
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Navigation One of the amazing things about tab bar is that it forces the designer to make navigation as compact as possible.
5 elements, everything clear. What else do you need?
For real, if we feel irresistible need to treat hamburger menu as a must for Android, at least please letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s follow the guidelines.
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One row, one navigation element. It took me 5 min to notice Main screen here đ&#x;&#x2DC;ł The drawer should slide over the navigation bar.
Profile. Not Settings. Thank you đ&#x;&#x2122;?
Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m not sure if Settings is the right name for section containing profile informationâ&#x20AC;Ś #weeklyUXfight #MobeeDick
Catalogue Tab bar at the bottom, iOS tabs at the top - this feels like Human Interface design. Well done!
We cannot switch between tabs by slide - it is just as iOS tabs should behave đ&#x;&#x2018;?
Oh. Why use more menu icon for filters..? Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s completely unintuitive.
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Swipe to switch tabs on Android this is the right way to design tabs. Very nice to see native patterns đ&#x;&#x2018;?
Yet still, graphic design of tabs is something that definitely could be done betterâ&#x20AC;Ś
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Player Almost every action requires additional tap. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m pretty sure there are some better design solutionsâ&#x20AC;Ś This is a bit unusual to use text links instead of icons at the bottom of the screen. Also, the icons in this case would be rather obvious, so I canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t see a reason for this design decision. The list menu thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s slides down from the top of the screen is doubtfully usable solution and definitely not iOS-dedicated one.
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Although the icons themselves donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t look like Material Design, they work just like expected on Android. Chapters list on separate screen: readable, easy to navigate list đ&#x;&#x2018;? This is something interesting. Windows icon to switch between screens đ&#x;&#x2DC;&#x201A; Why hide crucial actions in the first place, anyway? #weeklyUXfight #MobeeDick
To sum up Overall, Audioteka on iOS is a rather clear and simple app nice main screen, usable catalogue. On iOS it follows the guidelines quite accurately and does the job by using tab bar. What bothers me most in it, is that the core functionality, which is listening to audiobooks could be designed so much better. Not only in terms of following Human Interface guidelines, but most importantly in terms of usability - the list menus sliding down from the top of the screen are truly a pain both to look at and use.
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While on iOS the Audioteka has a few flows but is not that bad in general, on Android it has a few advantages among numerous flaws. The drawer menu đ&#x;?&#x201D; is not only an unjustifiable design decision but also its implementation violates the guidelines. The â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;secondâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Player screen, where basic functions (forward, backward) are hidden, is a design pattern I find really hard to consider useful. Worth to mention, that for both systems widget feature is equally neglected! đ&#x;&#x2DC;¤
#weeklyUXfight #MobeeDick
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And the winner is…
…
Take care!
See you next week!
Kasia Jezierska-Krupa @Kasia_JK @ kasia@mobeedick.com
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Next fight requests? Comments? Let me hear them!