Examples of Good/Bad Applications

When beginning to study for this section of my research, I found it rather difficult to really find any examples of bad apps, in the means of functionality as well as design. I can only speculate this is down to the Apple App store being so highly monitored and with strict guidelines in how to submit applications. 

However, I did find a few examples of how a good application should look.

1. Things

Things is a simple app allowing people to easily manage tasks, notes and other vital pieces of information that you may need to remember.

Despite the design of this application appearing very simple and not necessarily inspiring, it's under my list as an example of a good app for a very big reason. The designers have kept to the same layout and interface as the iPhone itself, making this application instantly usable, accessible and understandable by iPhone users, technologically aware or not. I think the idea of keeping some aspects of an app's design similar to the interface of the actual device is something that can be so easily looked over by enthusiastic designers, keen to make their creation stand out.

2. Jamie Oliver

Jamie Oliver's new app is something that I really like. Being quite the fan of his shows and recipes myself, it features the opportunity to have all of these in one place, along with how to videos and more.

As for the design, I can't get enough of the layout, the homeliness of it and the great use of textures throughout. They've stuck with a dark wood texture and it fits the feel of his type of cooking and attitude about home cooking and embracing nature in a very clean and effective way. The images are clean and well taken throughout and the tabs are easy to use and explain themselves clearly. Very nice.

3. Hipstamatic

Hipstamatic is a great little app, that allows for some really nice freedom of analog feeling photos with a simple iPhone camera. I think my favourite thing about this app however, is that it's managed to keep the feel of the use of these old cameras within the design. 

The textures are almost flawless and it really makes you feel at home with the app and familiar to the surroundings if you have had any experience with analog cameras in the past. There's also some nice, clean integration to other apps such as social networking sites and flickr which allows the user a great opportunity to show off their snaps.

It's a shame I couldn't really find any examples of badly designed apps, however the high standard in which Apple keeps their apps in the App store is enough inspiration to make sure that if I decide to go along the app route for this project, I'll want to maintain that level of quality.