作者：Sammy Maine

现在，多数人都拥有平板电脑、手提电脑或智能手机，应用开发成为最高产的设计领域之一。以下是由应用设计领域的先驱者们提供的10个开发技巧。

addictive apps(from creativebloq.com)

1、针对设备来设计

加州Smule联合创始人Ge Wang说道：“设计应由里及外，也就是说，针对设备进行设计，产品应与设备的功能和限制相符。而不是根据自己的想法凭空设计，随后努力让其迎合设备的要求。”

“我们努力利用iPhone与传统电脑的不同之处，制作不仅‘可移动’而且拥有独特体验的应用。”

2、融入现实生活

开发者Andrew Kaz坚持表示：“应用呈现的应当是直观且让人内心产生满足感的体验。首先，打开你的思绪，开展头脑风暴。然后，清晰确定概念，再开始编写代码或绘制草图。制作令人上瘾应用的最佳技巧是利用背景，将对象和互动融入现实生活。考虑你的用户最熟悉的是什么。”

3、没有人会阅读介绍

PopCap Games建议道：“在设计时假设用户不会阅读指导和介绍，确保应用具有完全的直观性，用户理解用户界面只能够所有内容的含义。”

“引进各种游戏元素，通过富有吸引力的方法来吸引用户。我们设身处地为最终用户考虑，想象从未接触过该应用的人在看到应用各阶段内容时会产生的想法，这便是应用设计的关键所在。”

4、保持简单化

The Noble Union的Ryan Shelton说道：“尽量保持应用的简单化，以此作为构建应用的起点。”

“这种想法有助于去除那些你不需要的设计内容。优秀的应用会专注于少数关键的想法。如果能够在复杂化和简单化之间做出选择的话，务必选择简单化。”

5、专注于一个功能并把它做好

数字化媒体总监Russell Quinn解释道：“优秀的应用通常是单一目的的功能性应用，能够帮助用户解决日常生活中的问题。”

“现在市场上有许多有趣和新奇的应用，但制作解决日常问题的应用同样可以吸引用户。设计应当以想法为出发点，而不是应用本身。”

6、提供动机

Apposing的Dave Brown说道：“我们总是在强调，应用应当做得比手机网站更好，更快速地满足用户的需求，这样才能保持用户总是能够及时了解到信息。让人们可以同他人互动，当用户做某些事情时发出通知。奖励用户这样的行为，这会让应用更具成瘾性，将这些奖励融入社交媒体，让你的应用如病毒般传播。”

7、挑战传统

Zolmo的Ian Wharton鼓励称：“不要总是拘泥于传统的做法。对于我们的《Twenty Minute Meals》应用而言，每次呈现的内容都进行了良好的平衡。它不是个你选择性阅读的食谱。对我来说，手机平台完全革新了纸质行业数十年来的传统做法。”

8、找到吸引点

Neon Play的Oli Christie说道：“关键在于找到独特的角度，对应用展开良好的营销。《Fat Booth》和《Talking Carl》之类的应用拥有在酒店中展示伙伴的病毒性效应，《愤怒的小鸟》和《Flick Kick Football》具有非凡的成瘾性，让你愿意在每天的空闲时间玩游戏，比如乘坐公交车或等待开会之时。”

9、质量、稳定性和曝光度

Brandwidth的Dean Johnson建议道：“快速访问是关键，这正是手机应用开始取代网站成为拥有获得信息的首选途径的原因。”

“质量、稳定性和曝光度是应用的根本，如果你的应用三者兼有，那么就表明你已经走上正轨。”

10、动力

Glasshouse Apps的Graham Clark反映道：“应用开发中需要做各种各样的事情，有些事情甚至与开发或设计无关，比如营销、版权、客服支持、战略计划等。”

“你需要有完成这些工作的动力。如果没有动力，你就会觉得这些事情很麻烦。”

游戏邦注：本文发稿于2012年4月18日，所涉时间、事件和数据均以此为准。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，拒绝任何不保留版权的转载，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

10 secrets for creating an addictive app

Sammy Maine

With most of the population now glued to a tablet, laptop or smart phone, app development is still rising as one of the most prolific design prospects. Take a look at our top ten secrets for developing your very own addictive app, provided by the forerunners of the app design world.

01. Design for the device

“Design from the ‘inside-out’ – that is, design for the device, embracing its potential and limitations – instead of designing ‘idea-first’ and then trying to make it work for the device,” says Ge Wang, co-founder of California-based Smule.

“We strive to take advantage of how the iPhone differs from traditional desktop and laptop computers; to make apps that aren’t simply ‘mobile’, but also truly unique experiences.”

02. Draw on real life

“An application should be an intuitive, psychologically satisfying experience,” insists developer Andrew Kaz. “First, open your mind and brainstorm. Then define a clearly focused concept before writing a line of code or drawing a line of illustration. The best tricks for creating an addictive app completely depend upon the context – draw from comparable real-life objects and interactions. Consider what’s familiar to your audience.”

03. No one reads instructions

“Assume that the user doesn’t read instructions and ensure the application is completely intuitive as far as understanding what does what in the user interface,” advises Andrew Stein at PopCap Games.

“Handhold the user – in an engaging way – through the introduction of the various game elements. We put ourselves in the place of the end user and consider what somebody who has never looked at the app before might think about what’s presented to them at every stage – that’s the key.”

04. Stay simple

“Keep things as simple as possible and build it up from there,” says The Noble Union’s Ryan Shelton.

“This will help you steer clear of designing anything that you don’t need. Great apps are focused around a few key ideas. If there’s a choice between complexity and simplicity, choose simplicity every time.”

05. Do one thing and do it well

“Good apps are generally single-purpose, functional things that help users out in their day-to-day lives,” explains digital media director Russell Quinn.

“There are plenty of fun and quirky apps, but creating something that solves a common, daily problem is how you hook users. Start with the idea and not with the app.”

06. Give incentives

“We always say that an app needs to do something more than a mobile website – something better and quicker, which enables the information to always be there in the palm of your hand. Enable people to interact with others, and provide notifications of when users do something. Rewarding users’ behaviour like this can prove very addictive, and pushing those rewards to social media can help take your app viral,” says Apposing’s Dave Brown.

07. Challenge convention

“Never re-purpose material,” urges Ian Wharton at Zolmo. “For our Twenty Minute Meals app there was a balance of how much content can be digested efficiently in one go on the iPhone. It’s not like a cookbook where you selectively scan a double-page spread. For me, it was a real eye-opener into how a mobile platform can completely revolutionise something that’s been done the same for years and years in print.”

08. Find a hook

“The key is to find a unique angle, and market the app well. Apps like Fat Booth and Talking Carl have that viral effect where you show mates in the pub, while Angry Birds and Flick Kick Football are so goddamn addictive that you want to play them in any spare gaps you have in the day – on the bus, waiting for a meeting or on the loo,” says Oli Christie at Neon Play.

09. Quality, stability, visibility

“Fast access is king, and that’s why mobile apps are starting to replace websites as the first choice for information and fulfilment,” advises Brandwidth’s Dean Johnson.

“Quality, stability and visibility are fundamental – if your app has all three, then you’re on the right track.”

10. Be motivated

“There are all sorts of buttons that need pushing in app development, many of which don’t even involve developing or designing: things like marketing, copyrighting, customer support, strategic planning – the list goes on,” reflects Graham Clark at Glasshouse Apps.

“The one thing that you really need is a deep motivation to make a go of it. Without that, all the button-pushing can very easily get the better of you.” (Source: Creative Blog)