Vivian Chan | Critical Mass Toronto

On Wednesday, January 27, 2010, the tech world was abuzz. Apple had just announced their latest shiny new toy: the iPad.

For the weeks and months following, the announcement has been met with mixed reviews. In one camp, people have labeled it as just an oversized iPhone that was not quite phone, not quite computer. In another, it has been heralded as something that can be expected to revolutionize the gadget industry and way we interact with technology in ways we’ve seen Apple products do in the past. Within Critical Mass, we also had many discussions about the potential impact of Apple’s new iPad. Regardless of our discussions and each person’s opinion about the iPad, one thing was sure: There was a lot of excitement – especially at the prospect of designing some of the first iPad apps for our clients.

Rather than talk about the impact of the iPad on our industry and market (if you want a great read on the subject, see Neil Clemmon’s post here on Experience Matters), this post discusses some of the things we’ve learned about iPad app design and development through our own experience with some of our savvy clients. Through the course of our work with iPad apps, six main guiding principles have surfaced:

#1 – Realize that an iPad app does not equate to a scaled-up iPhone app.
This first principle is essential to embrace. From a logistical design and development perspective, the iPad app specs are obviously very different from an iPhone, and the effort required means the iPad design and development is essentially starting from scratch. It’s best to start with that assumption, rather than the assumption that the existing infrastructure of an iPhone app can be leveraged to shorten the iPad app production cycle. More importantly, an iPad should not be the equivalent to a scaled-up iPhone app from a philosophical perspective. Why? Read on.

#2 – Think customer usage.
The context of how, where, and when a customer will use an iPad, compared with how they would use an iPhone, a desktop or a laptop is essential to consider when designing an iPad app. This is one of the core reasons why iPad apps are not scaled-up iPhone apps. While a person may be highly mobile with their phone, using it everywhere and in spurts, they will likely be less mobile with their iPad. Similarly, they would be more mobile, casual, and spontaneous in their use of an iPad than with a desktop or laptop. So the apps designed for an iPad are ones that should suit that usage – casual, sit-down, spontaneous, but with more time for exploration and engagement than with an iPhone app. The other use case scenario that will be very powerful for iPad apps is in the realm of sales. Sales training, content, education, and product exploration. I’ll leave that with you to chew on.

#3 – Create utility.
The same principle in the creation of an iPhone app relates to the iPad app: utility. More specifically, customer utility. How will the app add value for a customer? Will it be functional, inspirational, educational, entertaining? Whatever the motivation, it needs to fill a niche in the lives of target customers to engage and encourage repeat use. We accomplish this by building an app that brings utility and value to a customer so they want to use it when they need and when they want. The key is providing an app that fills a need or generates a want.

Read more about the importance of Features, Interface and Flexibility to iPad app development.