As follow up to my Web App Masters Tour report, this last talk with Bill Scott from Netflix was focused on cross-platform experiences. Very interesting perspectives.
My notes on it:
- Many companies think one size fits all, but the reality is we need to design for many different devices. Not just web, but mobile and TV.
- HTML5 is now the way to go to base every version.
- Learn fast and fail quickly – Take risks, test results, make changes and adapt.
- Netflix way of managing across platforms
- Portability layer with HTML5
- User experience variation across platforms (web, tv, mobile, tablet)
- Consider user posture, device capabilities, among others.
- Consider restraints and design for mobile first.
- Mice – Web and TV
- Men – Mobile and tablet
- The design principles are the design, but they vary in input, posture, navigation and display.
- Three principles
- Design for physicality – add a realistic physical phenomenon to your application to make it easier, more intuitive and enjoyable.
- Don’t break metaphors by using language out of place or misplacing elements. The user’s mental model is the experience cushion.
- Strict physicality is hard to accomplish. You can add some ‘magic’ that replaces real life features.
- The evolution of the scrollbar – it’s now an indicator more than a controller. The content is the one that scrolls.
- Remember: fingers are fat. Recommended size of touch input is 44 pixels.
- Maintain flow – Take out the ‘jumps’ from your experience.
- Focus + context, simple navigation, user control
- Content is the flow.
- Minimize page transitions.
- Replace hover details with dedicated detail panels
- Keep navigation simple
- Three types of iPhone navigation: Flat, Tab, Tree
- Be responsive
- Use animations/transitions to create responsiveness
- What can be done with less is done in vain with more
- Use them just as needed and think about the reactions you will be generating in the user.
- Show state changes, focus attention, create delight, and simulate physicality, among others.
- Use invitations for related actions.
- Performance is not always a given
Luke Wroblewski also tweetted a couple of very good articles on the subject you might want to read.
For further highlights, you can follow me on Twitter.
