PHIL HOARE TIME
Apple Human Interface Guidelines
As some of the games I have designed are for mobile devices, as well as the Apple Watch, I reviewed the Apple HIG to explore what they require from apps on their platform. My evaluated notes, and the highlighted document, can be found below. The highlighted document is in a slideshow format for each section.
typography
Apple always recommends using their system fonts over others; these fonts adjust dynamically to accessibility requirements the user enters into their device’s settings, as well as being easy to read on the device. The system fonts available are variations on their San Francisco (SF) and New York (NY) fonts; IOS devices prefer SF Pro whereas WatchOS uses SF Compact. For my “propulsion through time game” (which will hereafter be referred to as Propulsion for the rest of this page) I would use the SF font, as it has a style that is sleeker and would fit in with a sci-fi aesthetic. With the “escape the shadow game” (hereafter referred to as Shadow) I would primarily use the SF font but also include the NY font to complement it and add variation in the text.
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Apple does also allow custom fonts, which I will likely include to achieve the visual style I am aiming for, however they must accommodate accessibility options well, such as enlarged text. I should also allow the option of switching back to the system fonts, should the player have difficulty reading the fonts in the game.
inclusion
Apple would like apps on their platform to be inclusive to all. This means that developers should aim to make their apps accessible to all, as well as ensuring not to exclude people in representation within the apps. I plan to incorporate these requirements in my design decisions; I aim to make my game accessible to as many people as possible, and I will ensure that I do not gender my characters when it is unnecessary. For example, with Propulsion I intend to maintain a stylised and abstract view of the civilisations on the planet surface, and I should not need to add a gender to any of the people as they will be more akin to shapes.
accessibility
All apps on Apple devices should be accessible to everyone. The benefits of doing this are twofold: it allows disabled users to engage with the application whilst also making it easier for anyone to use in different situations. I aim to accommodate the system recommended accessibility features, such as dynamic text, first. Then I plan to add other enhancements to the game to ensure everyone can play it.
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With Propulsion, which is a very visual game with a lot of colour to indicate different civilisations on the planet’s surface, I intend to use symbols as well as colour for colourblind players. This will also add to the visual style of each civilisation. The player’s spaceship also contains different modules for upgrades that they get throughout play, so I will need to make each of these visually distinct.
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I plan on making Propulsion fully playable for blind users by allowing the voice commands “up” and “stop”. These, when spoken by the player, can be used to control the ship’s flight upwards. The game will give clear verbal feedback for statuses in the game, such as when the fuel level reaches specific points (25%, 50%, 75%); when they reach specific heights; the locations of incoming objects or fuel pickups in respect to them; when their time reaches specific milestones. The player will be able to request an update on any of these statuses by speaking keywords such as “fuel” or “height”.
Layout
iphone
