Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!
UX design, few things are more intricate than time and personal time management — only a good arsenal of mobile design patterns and information architecture principles can save you. This is the story of redesigning the UX for a popular calendar tool on Android: Business Calendar. We’ll cover designing systems, interaction design problems, scaling across screens and platforms, research, and big business decisions and their outcomes.
Business Calendar started out as a side project, a one-man show, and is now run by a team of eight in Berlin. The app was very successful right from the time Android entered the mainstream market, and it now has an active user base of 2 million. But instead of modernizing the design and usability regularly, the developers focused on implementing user requests and customization options. Outdated design and new features stuffed in had made the app heavy and complex — full of features, hard to maintain for the team, hardly accessible for new users.
This post contains [animated_text variations=”spoilers,trailers,images” color=”#151515″][/animated_text]
Knowing they needed a redesign but having few resources themselves, the team approached Opoloo to get design and interaction on the same level as the development. For the task, we delineated goals to attract new users and keep the existing user base satisfied:
- Improve user experience
Strip down and reorganize the user interface to revive the simple, fast, efficient work process of a productivity tool. - Improve accessibility
Keep old users happy, lower the barriers for new ones. - Incorporate task management
Integrate tools that users need every day to create more value. - Apply modern design standards
Address the main criticism: “Could be prettier.” - Extensive tablet support
Improve the tablet experience as a first step to ubiquity.
The hardest part of any mobile calendar’s interface is the density of information, with each little piece fighting for attention: grids, events, time indicators, text labels, colors and other elements to interact with, manipulate and customize. Finding the right balance is what makes for an accessible calendar UI. Below are a few tricks we pulled with the presentation of data (i.e. how pieces of information are consumed, searched for and compared).
Although an iconic and heavily used feature of Business Calendar, the favorite bar was barely accessible: It became too small and too crowded to use as the number of calendars grew. Our solution was to use Android’s black system bar as an optical trick: The favorite bar now feels much taller and easier to tap, due to the black-in-black design. Additionally, we improved touch targets, made visible and invisible states clearer, and implemented a scrolling pattern to house more calendars.
“Treasures of Zakynthos” is a film completed in its entirety using the timelapse cinematography technique in the most beautiful parts of the Greek island – Zakynthos. Some of the places portrayed in it are typical tourist destinations, while others are unique, quiet and magical. The real treasures for the eye are the unexplored, off-the-beaten-path locations. The film lets the viewer experience the extraordinary nature and magic of the formidable Greek landscapes. Enjoy.
This film was made thanks to the enormous commitment of many wonderful people.
4 trips, 840 hours spent on Zakynthos, 2000 km travelled on the island, 28 days of shooting, 3TB of timelapse footage, 380 hours of post-production, 100 kg film equipment weight.
It took me a couple of weeks to finish the first draft of the chapter, then it was reviewed for the first time. Vitaly gave some nice feedback about where I could go into a little more detail (he is always thirsty for more knowledge), so I did. After the second review, there wasn’t much to edit anymore. I went over the chapter one more time and sent it for proofreading.
We used Basecamp as the communication management app. By “we” I mean Vitaly, the Smashing team, and everyone else who worked on the book. It was my first time using Basecamp and I quite liked it — it helped keep everything organized and in perspective. Knowing where everyone was in the process of writing was also quite helpful.
When I told Vitaly I wanted to write this article to introduce the SVG chapter to you, he asked me to be as critical of the entire writing process as I wanted, and mention anything I did not like about it, or even about him! But I couldn’t come up with anything, really.
The one and only criticism I have is the delay in the release date. I’m a very punctual person and when we started working on the book it was scheduled to be released in March and to start shipping in April, but it took a few months more to do that. That said, everyone who worked on the book also had a ton of other commitments and stuff to do besides writing it, so delays like this are only natural, I guess.
tem
It took me a couple of weeks to finish the first draft of the chapter, then it was reviewed for the first time. Vitaly gave some nice feedback about where I could go into a little more detail (he is always thirsty for more knowledge), so I did. After the second review, there wasn’t much to edit anymore. I went over the chapter one more time and sent it for proofreading.
We used Basecamp as the communication management app. By “we” I mean Vitaly, the Smashing team, and everyone else who worked on the book. It was my first time using Basecamp and I quite liked it — it helped keep everything organized and in perspective. Knowing where everyone was in the process of writing was also quite helpful.
When I told Vitaly I wanted to write this article to introduce the SVG chapter to you, he asked me to be as critical of the entire writing process as I wanted, and mention anything I did not like about it, or even about him! But I couldn’t come up with anything, really.
The one and only criticism I have is the delay in the release date. I’m a very punctual person and when we started working on the book it was scheduled to be released in March and to start shipping in April, but it took a few months more to do that. That said, everyone who worked on the book also had a ton of other commitments and stuff to do besides writing it, so delays like this are only natural, I guess.
Just like all of our Smashing Books, the book isn’t concerned with trends or short-lived workarounds. It’s focused on actual techniques used today in real-life projects. We’ve designed the book to be as practical and hands-on as possible. No fluff, just the techniques that have actually worked or failed, and why.
Every chapter stands for itself. It delivers the value you expect, but it should exceed your expectations by far, too. We designed it to stand the test of time, too; to be more than just a manual or a guide. It’s really about the bigger picture you need to make smart decisions, faster. Hardcover, 584 pages. eBook contains 2 bonus chapters. Free worldwide shipping — obviously.
Now, a standalone release post would be boring and predictable, so how about bringing another perspective to the magazine instead? Below you’ll find some insights about the writing process by one of the authors of the book, Sara Soueidan, who has contributed an 80-page long compendium of useful techniques, tricks and strategies for dealing with SVG.— Ed.
The one and only criticism I have is the delay in the release date. I’m a very punctual person and when we started working on the book it was scheduled to be released in March and to start shipping in April, but it took a few months more to do that. That said, everyone who worked on the book also had a ton of other commitments and stuff to do besides writing it, so delays like this are only natural, I guess.
Just like all of our Smashing Books, the book isn’t concerned with trends or short-lived workarounds. It’s focused on actual techniques used today in real-life projects. We’ve designed the book to be as practical and hands-on as possible. No fluff, just the techniques that have actually worked or failed, and why.
Every chapter stands for itself. It delivers the value you expect, but it should exceed your expectations by far, too. We designed it to stand the test of time, too; to be more than just a manual or a guide. It’s really about the bigger picture you need to make smart decisions, faster. Hardcover, 584 pages. eBook contains 2 bonus chapters. Free worldwide shipping — obviously.
Now, a standalone release post would be boring and predictable, so how about bringing another perspective to the magazine instead? Below you’ll find some insights about the writing process by one of the authors of the book, Sara Soueidan, who has contributed an 80-page long compendium of useful techniques, tricks and strategies for dealing with SVG.— Ed.
Let’s be honest: We designers can be difficult to work with. We might come from a controversial company culture, work an unconventional schedule or get impatient whenever our Internet connection is slower than the speed of light. Would you be at ease with a service provider who matches this description?
When talking to potential clients, be aware that many will have never solicited a professional design service and likely have little understanding of the design process itself. Keep in mind, too, that some clients have had a poor experience in the past. For many clients, it can be an anxious jump into the deep unknown, a big financial investment steeped in risk.
But why should any of this matter to us? After all, it’s not our money. Being rewarded for our time and effort should be all that matters, right? This is true to an extent; our knowledge and experience shouldn’t be seen as a free commodity. However, at times, a little patience and empathy are required on our part.
Many designers will agree that clients, for the most part, need us to guide them through the design process (minus the industry jargon), to ask the difficult questions and ultimately to reassure them by delivering measurable results.
In essence, client experience is the sum of all experiences between a client and the service provider over the duration of their relationship. Whereas customer experience focuses on the relationship between a client and their customers through one or more services or products, client experience focuses solely on the working relationship between a client and the service provider — in our case, the designer — a relationship whose purpose is to achieve measurable business and commercial goals.
We should regard clients as our primary customers, for they are the ones who pay the bills. The better the result and experience, the more likely they’ll pass any future work your way. Of course, being a good service provider doesn’t necessarily mean saying yes to whatever the client wants.
It means carefully explaining and providing to clients what they need in order for the project and their business to succeed, and being pleasant to work with along the way. While being a user advocate is great, we don’t necessarily have to be right about everything. What we do need to do is to enact positive change for the client to improve their customer experience.
The client could be an individual, a startup, a department in a corporation or the corporation itself. You could be liaising with the CEO, the CTO, managers, colleagues and participants from a variety of departments, coworkers, peers — people who ultimately have a viable and legitimate interest in the work you’re doing and the outcome of the project. We often refer to such people as stakeholders.
In more complex environments, such as large corporations, you’ll rarely have direct access to C-level executives. However, be prepared because they will probably take an interest at some point. Remember that the responsibility of your lead contact is to inform the senior team on the progress and direction of the project.
Whether a project’s team consists of one or more stakeholders, you can be certain of one thing: Stakeholders will at some stage express differing and potentially conflicting opinions about a project. At the start of a project, stakeholders will often depict their concerns as being high priority. These opinions (political, procedural, financial) are often based on personal experience and on the experiences of those in their department.
Given human nature, this shouldn’t be a surprise. Nevertheless, your responsibility is to take everyone’s needs into account, to balance them out and to understand the bigger picture. Just improving the client’s overall customer experience is not enough. For meaningful and long-term success and to effectively support the customer experience going forward, change has to start within the organization. Provide the core team with tools and processes to manage, solve or even hack internal conflicts, to collect meaningful feedback and to seek approval for pieces of work.
Detracto erroribus et mea. Malorum temporibus vix ex. Ius ad iudico labores dissentiunt. In eruditi volumus nec nibh blandit deseruisse ne nec, vocibus albucius maluisset ex usu.
Malorum temporibus vix ex.Ius ad iudico labores dissentiunt. In eruditi volumus nec, nibh blandit deseruisse ne nec, vocibus albucius maluisset ex usu.



Nihil quaeque moderatius quo ut, eu vix noster fierent postulant. Est ut magna tation, nec timeam tractatos dissentiunt id, ne integre albucius eam. Animal docendi efficiantur ut eam.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, ocurreret assentior sit id, et nam impetus numquam. Detracto erroribus et mea. Malorum temporibus vix ex.