Book Image

Hands-On Android UI Development

By : Jason Morris
Book Image

Hands-On Android UI Development

By: Jason Morris

Overview of this book

A great user interface (UI) can spell the difference between success and failure for any new application. This book will show you not just how to code great UIs, but how to design them as well. It will take novice Android developers on a journey, showing them how to leverage the Android platform to produce stunning Android applications. Begin with the basics of creating Android applications and then move on to topics such as screen and layout design. Next, learn about techniques that will help improve performance for your application. Also, explore how to create reactive applications that are fast, animated, and guide the user toward their goals with minimal distraction. Understand Android architecture components and learn how to build your application to automatically respond to changes made by the user. Great platforms are not always enough, so this book also focuses on creating custom components, layout managers, and 2D graphics. Also, explore many tips and best practices to ease your UI development process. By the end, you'll be able to design and build not only amazing UIs, but also systems that provide the best possible user experience.
Table of Contents (21 chapters)
Title Page
Credits
About the Author
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
Customer Feedback
Preface
13
Activity Lifecycle

Planning navigation


Before leaping into your latest app idea, it's a good idea to stop and consider what you are trying to allow the user to do, and figure out how they will actually do it. One of the best ways to do this is with the decision tree or navigation tree. These can be easily drawn on paper, or if you're collaborating with other people, index cards on a magnetic whiteboard (or even a pin-board) are very effective.

The idea is to not just draw out the possible screens in your app, but how the user will get to each one. Navigation diagrams don't just help to define what screens your application actually needs, but will help ensure that the user will never be "lost" in your application. If the navigation lines become too complex, then you need to simplify the navigation (possibly by adding or removing some of the screens). Overly complex navigation is often hidden in the use of an application, but when drawn on a diagram, the complex relationships between screens become obvious, and...