Review | aboutDesign App

Over the next few days I will be posting reviews to some iPhone / iPod touch / iPad apps, as I am planning on creating an app myself, and the reviews are part of my research, and I thought it would be useful to share with you :)  

(Screenshot images were taken from the itune store)

Description: aboutDesign is a glossary of design and print terminology that are useful for designers and design students. The application has a database of terms, which you can search through, when you found the type you want, you click on it to view a detailed description of the term as well as a visual image.

It’s features include: stylish interface, over 1100 terms, search by clicking the side index, and search by entering the first few characters of the term you want to find.

To look out for in the future: links to external information, in-depth information on the key terms, and print and reprographics history. 

What problem does the app solve? The app allows users to look up and find graphic terminology and find out what the term means.

What products have you seen that perform a similar task? There aren’t any other mobile apps, that have a design glossary, however this information can be found on the web, but having an app makes it more accessible.

How do apps navigate from screen to screen? To get from screen to screen a glossary term has to be tapped. And then the “back” button has to be touched to get back to the main page. 

How do they organise information? Information is displayed in a simple list

The application icon is very simplistic, and it just shows a letter “a” just by looking at the app icon, it isn’t very clear what the app is about. And it may even look more like an app that is to do with typography, as they tend to just have a single letter as their app icon. The app icon might be more visually exciting if it contained more of a graphical design. 

The name “aboutDesign” is quite clever, as the viewer will automatically know that the app is about design. 

The layout of the app is typical of a glossary app; it displays a list view of all the terms in alphabetical order. And the page that displays the definition of the key term, just displays a two white boxes. One of those boxes has a written description, and the other with a visual to explain the term better.

Overall the app would be very useful to design students, as when they hear design terms they don’t understand they can easily look them up with this app.