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July 28, 2015

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July 28, 2015

The Back Story

OUR EXPERIENCE

 

Knowing they needed a redesign but having few resources themselves, the team approached Opoloo to get design and interaction on the samelevel as the development. For the task, we delineated goals to attract new users and keep the existing user base satisfied.

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.

Establishing Digital Styles & Standards

HOW WE MADE IT

 

If you’re pressed for space and clarity, using black for general interaction works well because it integrates in the system bars and lets you focus on the content, especially when the colors are defined by the user. Also, focusing on the user’s physical abilities and mindset is paramount for a good experience.

One thing we underestimated, despite intense research and good progress on the presentation side, was the hardcore user’s need to customize their calendar experience down to the tiniest detail (for example, changing the font’s transparency). Only after this initial UI exploration did we realize how much work would be needed — not only to implement the design suggestions, but also to customize everything.