Design Lab – Alexander Younger

Alexander Younger, the founder and the president of Design Lab, was our speaker today. He has been in the field for 20 years. Despite his excellent credentials and work background, he had a humble personality. He said he really likes Sheridan College students because they have good knowledge in the design and business field. If there's a chance, he is definitely someone who I would like to work for once I graduate. I was particularly excited about his talk on Mobile Design.


BACKGROUND

• Canadian Securities Commission – CSC, Investment Advisor
• King's College – Philosophy, Economics
• Concordia University – Fine Art
• Upper Canada College

ABOUT DESIGN LAB & AY

• Started 20 years ago.
• No web at all, but technology is changing rapidly over the internet.
• Clients include Diamond, Aircraft Vertica
• Believe in green design lab. All power in the office generated by solar panels.

MOBILE GROWTH – LUKEW.COM

• 371 k babies per day
• 378 k iphones sold per day
• 700 k Android devices activated per day
• 562 k iOS devices
• 200 k Nokia smartphones
• 143 k of blackberry devices

BEST PRACTICE IN MOBILE DESIGN

• Establish business goals, know your audience!
• Deliver a sound business results
• Segment your audience
• Keep it simple
• Don’t make me think
• Things users shouldn’t have to think about
• Scroll bars and what they can select
• Advanced functionality should be easy to find
• Labels – keep them clear and consistent (no shortcut)
• Icons should be obvious, not cryptic
• Scrolling vs multiple pages
• Usability test it
• Get inspired
• Know what the competition is up to
• Be on top of new innovations (no duplication of other people’s work)
• Save time and money
• Go social
• Get people involved with the apps
• Facebook/twitter/Google+
• Remember the ranking
• Rankings are extremely importantly
• Great apps get free promotions
• Measure!
• Try to download it
• How many people you have been sharing it? Hitting the target or not?
• Try to see the results

CASE STUDY - ANGRY BIRD

Get the freebies out, then let people test it. Then make people get attached to it and go buy it later on. Then sell all the merchandise (download full version, t-shirts, cups). Once you build the apps, then you build everything around it.

CASE STUDY – THE BEER STORE

• Ask 643 clients about mobile device ownership
• Redesign the website and make it simple

The Beer Store App
options:

• No App
• app that skins the mobile website
• full app

features:

• beer passport to encourage sampling
• community building
• store and beer finder

simple, single focus

RESPONSIVE  DESIGN

• Regardless how people resize screen, it will keep all the key elements, (it will shift accordingly)
• www.barackobama.com
• www.foodsense.is/
• www.coding– smashingmagazine.com (responsive web design: what it is and how to use it)

How TO IMPRESS COMPANIES LIKE DESIGN LAB?

• Look at the culture of the company
• Make sure to work with a company that has put together a great portfolio
• Have a great attitude (need enthusiastic people)
• Research the company and your interviewer (people will ask what kinds of projects you have to work for in that company?)
• Ask lots of questions (what will be my roles in the company? What's the company culture like? Need to show interest in that company)
• Don’t settle! (Average in a designer is 6 years. How are you going to grow here within a company? What kinds of work will the designer do? They will encourage people to improve their skills. Find the job that fits)

CONTACT

ay@designlab.net
Linken: http://ca.linkedin.com/in/alexander305454
155 George Street
Toronto, Ontario
M5A 2M8