This is a slide deck that aided a presentation I gave at an Android Developers Group meetup. It can help you get past a few of the areas of the guidelines that could benefit from some further explanation and some modification of language. Please download the file and view in presentation mode to see the animations that were put in to help with the navigation section.

1. Android Design Guidelines:
The Missing Pages
Tricia Cervenan
Mobile Product Manager & UX Architect
November 29, 2012
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2. HISTORY
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3. Android Market, circa 2010
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4. Android iPhone
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5. Android 4.0 (ICS) released
November 2011
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6. Android Design Guidelines released January 2012
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7. Fragmentation in
May 2012
(via Flurry Analytics)
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8. @triciacervenan 8

9. WHY FOLLOW GUIDELINES?
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10. @triciacervenan 10

11. “These design principles were developed by
and for the Android User Experience Team
to keep users’ best interests in mind.”
- Android Design Guidelines
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12. “Your app will play an important part in
keeping the overall Android experience
consistent and enjoyable to use.”
- Android Design Guidelines
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13. You have about 30 seconds to captivate
someone before you potentially lose them
forever.
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14. My own personal mantra: If I have to tell you
how to use it, I didn’t do my job right.
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15. Ratings and reviews are second most
important contributor to rankings.
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16. It’s easier to develop to the guidelines...
if you understand them.
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17. Let’s Talk Guidelines:
Seventeen tips (and four rules) to delivering a better app
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18. NAVIGATION
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19. Root Navigation
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20. Section Main View
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21. Item Detail
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22. Collection List
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23. Up is not Back, except when it is.
Up is Back, except when it’s not?
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24. “When the previously viewed screen is also the hierarchical
parent of the current screen, pressing the Back button has the
same result as pressing an Up button—this is a common
occurrence.”
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25. “When your app supports
navigation from a list of items
to a detail view of one of
those items, it's often
desirable to support direction
navigation from that item to
another one which precedes
or follows it in the list.”
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26. “However, a notable
exception to this occurs when
browsing between related
detail views not tied together
by the referring list.”
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27. “You have the ability to make
the Up behavior even smarter
based on your knowledge of
detail view.”
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28. Rule #1: As long as the user stays in the same section, up is
back.
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29. Rule #2: A collection list is not part of a section, so up is back.
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30. Rule #3: If a user jumps to a
different section or app, up
takes the user to the top of the
new section.
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31. Rule #4: See rules 2 and 3.
A collection list isn’t part of a
section, but the detail view that
it can bring a user to is. So, if a
user navigates to a detail view
from a collection list, up takes
the user to the top of that detail
view’s section.
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32. The Problem?
That’s a lot for a user to remember.
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33. ?
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34. Tip #1
An app is not a website. Be careful
about linking between sections. Or
don’t do it at all.
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35. Tip #2
Your user is not stupid, but they are
in a hurry. Don’t make them have
to work extra hard to get the thing
done they are trying to do.
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36. Tip #3
If you have to provide an alternate
“easier” way to do something, take
a look at your app structure. The
user may benefit from a revision
there instead.
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37. ACTION BARS
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38. 1
1
2
2
1 Main Action Bar
1
2 Top Bar/Tab Bar
2
3 Bottom Bar
3
3
3
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39. 1
1 Main Action Bar
A
A C
C
B
B D
D E
E
A. Up button
B. Branding
C. App section navigation
D. Active app section’s options
E. Active app section’s options overflow
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40. Tip #4
Don’t use an up button on the root
navigation view.
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41. Tip #5
Google got rid of the menu button for
a reason. Don’t hide your navigation
in another version of a menu.
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42. Tip #6
Keep your branding simple.
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43. Tip #7
The action bar icons are not the
place to be creative. Use common,
standard, easy to understand icons
to indicate what the action is.
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44. 2
2 Tab Bars
A
A
B
B
A. Fixed Tab Bar
B. Scrollable Tab Bar
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45. Tip #8
Fixed tab bars do not scroll. Only use
them if you have two or three tabs.
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46. Tip #9
Tabs should be used to group like
things together, not as your main
navigation.
Exception: Your app truly has only one section.
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47. 3
3 Bottom Bar
A
A
B
B
A. Icons for view specific options
B. Overflow icon
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48. Tip #10
Only use the bottom bar if you are
using it as a contextual bar. Section
options stay in the main action bar.
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49. Contextual Action Bar
1 Top Bar v.1
1
2 Top Bar v.2
2
3 Bottom Bar
3
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50. @triciacervenan 50

51. Tip #11
Don’t forget about your view
transitions. Make it obvious to your
user that views with contextual
action bars are different.
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52. FEEDBACK
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53. @triciacervenan 53

54. @triciacervenan 54

55. Tip #12
You need to constantly and
consistently give your user feedback
so they know what they did right and
what they did wrong, even if the
feedback only appears for a second.
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56. What else?
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57. Tip #13
Only provide landscape for an app that
will truly benefit from the size and
shape of that screen orientation.
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58. Tip #14
Your average user probably bought
their smartphone for Facebook, to
take good photos, and text with a full
keyboard. Your app will be used as
much as it is memorable.
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59. Tip #15
Do user tests. With real users.
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60. Tip #16
Google doesn’t always follow their
own guidelines.
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61. Tip #17
Be nice to your UX people and
product owners. They may change
their minds a lot, but its only
because they want what’s best for
the user.
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62. THANK YOU!
Follow me:
@triciacervenan
linkedin.com/in/triciacervenan
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