March 5, 2010
iPad Design Conventions
The iPad may be a larger version of the iPhone in terms of the hardware and operating system, but treating it as the same device would be foolish. It turns out that increasing the display size of touch-screen hardware can transform it into an entirely new class of device. The iPad is a productivity platform in a way that the iPhone rightly never tried to be.
Matt's right, the iPad is a completely different animal than the iPhone in almost every way. The article linked above is a thorough walk-through of what to consider when designing iPad applications. His advice regarding the new methods for UX on productivity apps is perfect; spot on.
But I think his advice in the section Use the Psychology of Touch is heading in the wrong direction: novelty. I'm not convinced that performing actions on a computer should feel like you're doing it in real life. Scrolling is faster than flipping pages. Typing is faster than writing. Searching is faster than browsing.
Computers were invented to make analogue activities easier and more efficient. Why backtrack by designing software that mimics real-world activities that are less effective?
