

How I taught myself Design and shipped an app in 12 weeks - udayaprakash19
http://www.slideshare.net/udprakash/how-to-become-your-design-cofounder-16095569

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endtwist
I hate to be the negative nancy here, but there is absolutely nothing in this
slide deck about learning design. You learned how to use Photoshop and parrot
other designs--and that's a fine start--but you absolutely did not learn any
design fundamentals.

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udayaprakash19
Bulls-eye with the comment, Learning design takes several years and I am in
the process, I see this more like a guide for getting a MVP done. I ve
outlined my learning journey.

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philbarr
Well done and looks good!

One thing I would add - I noticed a few clumsy typos in the slides and in the
title of this very post. Please do proof-read your copy before you publish for
your app. It probably doesn't matter as much here, but I think you can ruin
your carefully designed professional impression with just one or two misspelt
words.

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udayaprakash19
thank you! yea did realize it a little too late. But will be more careful next
time.

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ColinWright
You could actually edit the title of this submission to remove the typo.

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udayaprakash19
thanks a million, Done.

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shuaib
Why did you decide to go with Photoshop, and not Illustrator? I am asking
because I am in pretty much exactly the same situation, and getting ready to
get dirty with design skills.

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mathewsanders
Personally i would suggest neither.

At it's heart, photoshop is a bitmap editor it's original purpose was for
manipulating _photos_ various tools have been added with new versions that
make it more useful for web design.

Illustrator is a vector-based app for creating free-drawn _illustrations_.
Again newer versions have added things like pixel snapping to make it okay for
web design (but its better suited for logos, visualization etc).

My preference is Fireworks. It's got great exporting tools and I find it a lot
faster than working in Photoshop (for web/mobile work).

Remember also that design involves a lot of iteration. If you're concerned
with efficiency, please get comfortable expressing your ideas with pen and
paper - it's the fastest option :)

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shuaib
Thanks for recommending Fireworks. Seems like the right way to go.

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ctbeiser
A few things that should be noted:

"There are only a bunch of fonts that designers use." This really isn't true.
There are about a hundred or so that are particularly common that any good
designer should be able to recognize on sight, but there's an enormous long
tail, many of which are perfectly servicable for specific uses.

"Corrections at this stage will generally be minor" Your interface's visual
corrections may be minor, but in terms of usability, information architecture,
and so forth, if you haven't incorporated results of real testing by this
point, you're in for a real suprise. Especially if you're not versed in design
and usability literature, you're likely in for either a lot of frustrated
users or a lot of reworking.

I'll also just point out, while I'm at it, that on your screenshots page, your
Facebook icon is next to the word "Twitter," and proximity implies
association.

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udayaprakash19
bunch of fonts should more be like "bunch of fonts that they use on a regular
basis" and I would like to incorporate your second comment into the slide if
it is ok with you. I am making corrections in the app based on usability tests
and thanks for pointing out the fb and twitter icons.

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ctbeiser
I'd say "bunch of fonts that are widely used." Some designers have obscure
favorites that they use regularly.

If you're really looking for a good grounding in HCI fundamentals, The Design
of Everyday Things, The Humane Interface, and, oddly enough, the OS X Human
Interface Guidelines are among the best. For type, try "The Elements of
Typographic Style," and for a basic, general overview of some concepts you
should understand, "The Universal Principles of Design" is, well, not bad.

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patothon
If you're a web/mobile developer, why not just learn design principles and
directly code?

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udayaprakash19
I am unable to understand your question, In the presentation I have just
outlined how I learnt Photoshop to design elements in our mobile app.

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patothon
I'm just saying that, if you're a developer, isn't it better to directly code
and ship an "almost okay" app in 1/2 week, get feedback and iterate than
learning photoshop, wireframe, design, code and ship in 7/8 weeks?

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udayaprakash19
In any case we had to get a design guy, even novice guys cost bomb, So I
thought it was better spend a few weeks and learn.

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patothon
I understand that. But which one is better : 8 weeks to learn how to play with
photoshop, or 8 weeks to learn about your market and users?

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aneth4
If you end up with an app that is marketable and users will respect, the 8
weeks is probably worth it.

Besides, it's a skill that keeps giving. Now he cans spend the next week both
writing and designing his next app instead of getting stuck with an ugly app
and no designer.

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pubby
Please, be explicit when you say the word "design". It's not a single skill;
it's an all encompassing term that means nothing more than the step before
creation.

Anyway, good for you and nice slides!

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prabhats
Great Post! I am in a process of learning a visual design tool myself. It was
great to read a fellow entreprenuer's journey to this hugely hackneyed notion
of design.

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udayaprakash19
glad u liked it :) and best of luck in your endeavor.

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jkd
we have help here hackdesign.org I am also in similar position. But have some
time to learn. Is it only iPhone app? I am from Bangalore and have android
device.

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udayaprakash19
Hello fellow banglorean! initially we plan to roll out an iphone version,
andriod will come a few months later.

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udayaprakash19
Guys, Traces is a mobile blogging application for iPhone, we are planning to
launch in a couple of weeks time.

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STRML
So has it only been 8 weeks since the beginning and you're planning on
shipping in 4? Otherwise I don't really understand the 'shipped in 12 weeks'
remark.

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udayaprakash19
Exactly! I finished the app in about 8 weeks, but dint read thru the
guidelines and had to rework the major portions from scratch again and took me
another few weeks to get it completely done. Not paying attention to apple
guidelines cost me dearly.

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cpursley
This is pretty impressive. Do you mind posting a few links to learning
resources as well?

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udayaprakash19
few people have mailed me asking the same, I am planning to put it up as a
small eBook and give away.

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cpursley
You should write specially about learning photoshop to design mobile apps and
charge for it. I'd pay $15. Especially if it included some PSD freebies. You
should do a little sample and build another sign-up site to generate some
interest.

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udayaprakash19
now that is tempting, may be sometime in the future & thank you for your kind
words.

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mattberg
did anyone else think "Desgin" was a new framework for building mobile apps?

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thebiglebrewski
yeah

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dreen
Well good for you, im happy you could launch an app.

Is it a particularly hard thing to do? Is it news-worthy? I really don't think
so.

Good luck with your future work.

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cpursley
This is hacker news. His example is the embodiment of the hacker mentality -
learn the skills necessary to overcome an obstacle with as little time and
money spent as possible.

As someone who's a novice programmer, I'm impressed. I'd also like to learn
the fundamentals of design.

