Studio Brief 02 - Understanding Apple's UI design

Looking at Apple's user interface guidelines for iOS will help give an understanding of the unique design philosophy of digital applications. This was researched to serve as a basis for the idea to have publishers preview their magazine on Instagram through an interactive editorial "story".

Take for example something as simple as iOS Gestures, although not necessarily the first thought when first thinking of the app's design, it will become a major issue when the gestures are not aligned with the gestures of the overall OS. The way the user navigates around the app should be entirely based around the established gestures of the OS, as stated by Apple "People generally expect the following standard gestures to work the same across the system and in every app." This will provide a seamless, hassle free user experience when navigating the story. Looking into the iOS guidelines is also helpful in that it lists out all of the gestures that are available for the Apple user. These can be implemented into the story. 

A problem that could arise with the content rich story could be long loading times, especially if people do not have access to good data or wifi. As a workaround, Apple suggests to mask the loading screen. Content must be shown as soon as possible, people's attention span on mobile devices are usually low and having content appear instantly makes for a positive user experience. Masking the loading screen or having placeholder elements as the content loads are ways to distract the user into having content shown instantly to them. Nevertheless, the app must make it clear that content is loading. 

Navigation is also another area that will be important for the briefs solution, more so to the website idea than the extension of Instagram stories. For example a content-driven or experience-driven navigation that could create a dynamic layout for the magazines content. As stated by Apples description, this type of navigation allows the user to move freely through the content which is more appropriate to books and other immersive apps. The danger with this style of navigation is creating a system that can become confusing. Therefore always maintaining a clear path for the user and using standard navigation components will allow the user to explore the content freely without the worry of getting frustrated with the website.