Audio Playback Integration
A leading distributor of books, video and music products to libraries, institutions and retailers asked for my expertise implementing audio playback functionality into their mobile(iOS & Android) library application.
Prototyping the application and performing guerrilla usability testing amongst teammates, friends, and stakeholders, I found out there was two major flaws in the experience. The first was figuring out how the player screen animations would function across two different mobile UI platforms (iOS and Android). The other challenge I faced was figuring out how the user could navigate back to the player screen while browsing through the rest of the application. The two Interfaces had to have the same general look and feel to stay consitant with the branding, although the UI elements and interactions differed slightly.
The Problem
I started out by wireframing the new audio playback functionalities. Once I had a general understanding of how I wanted the interactions to work I simultaneously designed the two interfaces keeping the same aesthetic in mind. I decided that a custom modal(iOS) and dialog box(Android) would be the best solution. That way I was able to keep the two designs similar enough and to keep the experience the same.
The Solution
Through rapid prototyping, I was able to figure out that we needed a static navigation element to return the user to the player screen. I proposed two solutions, and with guerilla user testing came up with a definite winner. Designing the vision demo took some time but was very valuable to show my development team how I envisioned the interactions to work.
The Result