The hybrid mobile/tablet app is on the rise. The reasons for building an HTML5-based application in a native wrapper (ObjectiveC or Java) are even more evident now: it is easier to adapt or improve, cheaper to build and much faster to prototype.
Oliver Reichenstein, owner and manager of Tokyo-based Information Architects (iA), emphasized the need to prototype with reasonable constraints during the third week of the Knight-Mozilla Learning Lab.
“HTML is a better design tool than anything else out there. The trouble with Indesign is that it renders text to beautifully. Fireworks renders type so badly that putting it in HTML is a pleasant surprise.”
This issue — what fidelity to strive for in prototypes — is critical because it is one of the key reasons to make hybrid apps. Once you are ready to touch the computer, it makes sense to prototype a hybrid or web app in HTML. “Paper is for sketching idea; the rest should happen in your real medium,” he said.
For news apps, ObjectiveC’s (the programming language for Apple’s iOS apps) and Java (the language of Google’s Android apps) encourage a richness of experience not necessarily needed for news consumption. Paper prototyping deliberately leaves open all kinds of possibilities but prototyping in motion-based tools, like Flash, risks introducing unnecessary functionality and visual distraction.
“Interaction design is mostly trying to reduce. No matter how thought-through your ideas are you will fail if your grids are not based on ad formats…” said Reichenstein. “…the article has one function: to be read. The article is the atom of news site.”
Reichenstein showed that subtracting the advertisements can make for a much stronger news experience. The user interaction is much cleaner, however, it ignores business logic. Still, the issue of economics is perhaps easier to solve than the problem of interaction. “UI is not eye and screen, it’s head and hand. News design is not about shaping surfaces but complex processes,” he said.
As I explore the potential of adapting Newscaster to mobile, tablet or even television screens the most critical issue is ensuring the success of the news consumption experience, in this case, watching a story. If the act of selecting a news video and watching it feels natural, an improvement on the remote control and television experience than Newscaster will work.
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