Useful resources
Notesfrom thestudio
Reference material we often share with clients before a commission begins. Free to read, free to pass on.
aVocabulary
- Hierarchy
- The order in which elements are noticed, set by size, weight, colour and position.
- Design tokens
- Named values — colours, spacing, type sizes — shared by designers and developers.
- Prototype
- A clickable model used to test ideas before building.
- Information architecture
- How content and features are organised, grouped and labelled.
- Cross-platform
- One codebase producing both iOS and Android apps.
- Component library
- Coded, reusable interface parts matching the design system.
- Code review
- A second developer checking each change before it is accepted.
- Staging
- A private copy of the product for testing changes before release.
- Store review
- Apple’s and Google’s checks before an app is published.
- Data-safety form
- Google Play’s declaration of what data an app collects and why.
- Rollback
- Returning to the previous version if a release misbehaves.
bBefore you commission
- Describe your first users in a sentence.
- Collect three products you admire, and say why.
- Note any brand guidelines, fonts or imagery you already own.
- Decide who will approve designs and who will look after the product afterwards.
- Consider what personal data the product would need.
Three references you admire say more than ten pages of requirements.
cReading
dImage credits
Photographs on this site are illustrative stock images from Unsplash used under the Unsplash licence. They do not depict Karizena staff, premises or client projects.