Tapworthy

Chapter 7. First Impressions

INTRODUCING YOUR APP

GOOD CHEMISTRY with an app works a lot like it does with a person: much is decided in the first few moments. To draw people in and put them at ease, your app should be attractive, trustworthy, and approachable from the get-go. Elements that you might consider mere accessories—the app icon, launch image, and introductory screen—turn out to be essential to the first impression. When you don’t get those things right, it’s like showing up on a first date with dirty fingernails. It might not put you out of the running, but it doesn’t exactly make you irresistible. A bad icon can dissuade people from even trying your app, and an unhelpful welcome for first-timers can leave them frustrated and nonplussed. Run a comb through your hair, and put on something pretty: this chapter describes how to design your app for love at first sight.

Your Icon Is Your Business Card

Business cards create expectations. When you hand someone a card, you give them information that goes beyond simple contact details. Heavy card stock? Printed on the inkjet at home? Flashy design? Color? Conservative font? Groovy image on the back? All these presentation decisions create an impression not only of the card’s design but of the person handing it out. Your card has to be crisply informational while communicating your professional personality (or at least your company’s). For people meeting you for the first time, that flimsy scrap of paper is one of the few things they ...