Designing Across Platforms

Hello everybody. My name is Cas Lemmens. I'm a designer here at Apple, and I'm delighted to see that so many people have showed up to talk about designing across platforms. It's a pretty amazing view from here. I wish you could see it. Alright. At Apple, we're really proud of the platforms that we create. For every platform that we've created, and for every time we update a platform, we aim to improve your day-to-day life, and hopefully create a meaningful relationship between the platform and you.

And that relationship doesn't have to extend to just one platform.

The more Apple products you use, the more you rely on not just single platforms, but on the entire ecosystem.

You might start your day with a run on your Watch.

At work, you might be using a MacBook or an iMac.

When you head home, you might look up public transportation on your phone, or use CarPlay in the car.

When you're at home, you might unwind watching a TV show or a movie on the Apple TV, and at the end of the day, you might finish a book on your iPad.

Regardless of the device you're using, you can rely on Apple's ecosystem to recognize you, to understand you, and to help you.

Creating and contributing to this ecosystem requires a very deep understanding of every single platform.

As a designer at Apple, that's a very familiar challenge.

For every app that Apple creates, we carefully consider on which platforms it should live, and how it should scale between them.

If you look at the apps that Apple creates, you might notice that some of them live on all of our platforms, like Photos, or Music.

Others only exist on a few, like Notes, or Mail, or TV.

Some of our services work really well if you have more than one device, like ApplePay.

And, others work only if you have multiple devices available at the same time, like FaceTime. Today we're going to talk about a process that we use at Apple that can help you design across platforms.

The goal is to efficiently, but purposefully, bring your apps to more platforms.

We're going to start with selecting. We're going to look at the capabilities and the context of each platform, and make our decision based on that information.

Then, we going to adapt. We're going to look at all the features and functionality we want to bring to our platforms and manage that.

Then, we conform. We try to find a balance between our own brand and the platform guidelines, and to find our look and feel on them. Then, we connect. We see what happens when you go from one platform to another, and how it can make that experience seamless and effortless.

And, lastly, if possible, we try to extend. We see what can happen when multiple platforms become available at the same time. That's the entire process, and hopefully, at the end of this talk, you will have all the required information and knowledge that you need to make your apps work amazing in Apple's ecosystem. So, let's dig right in. Let's start with selecting.

When we talk about selecting, we really want to answer the question, "What platform do I go to?" Maybe you haven't launched your app yet, and you're trying to decide what your first platform will be. Or, maybe, you have launched your app on one or two platforms, and you're trying to decide where to go next.

Two words come to mind that are really important when we talk about selecting a platform.

Context and capabilities. Context is the time, the place, and the environment in which your platform really comes alive.

And, capabilities are the unique functionality that makes the platform distinct from all the other ones.

It's really important to understand context, as when people switch context, they often switch platform.

I'll give you an example. Let's say that you're working behind a desk at school or in the office. That's a very focused and stationary context that you're in. When you then leave that place, and let's say you go to a bus or a train to head home, that becomes a very dynamic and mobile platform.

And, mobile context, sorry.

That's a very big switch in context, from being very stationary and focused to being very mobile and public. And, that also explains why people would switch device. They go from a MacBook or an iMac, to maybe a phone or Watch. And, that's because a phone and a Watch is better optimized for that context. Understanding capabilities is equally important, as they really allow you to see what makes a platform unique, and how your app can benefit from that capability. I'll give you a few examples to show you what I mean. Let's start with the iPhone. Maybe the most familiar platform amongst all of us here.

If you look at the context of the iPhone, it's always on, it's always with you, and therefore it's mobile. It's a very personal and private device. You wouldn't easily share it with other people, and it's all optimized for quite short engagements. Often when you use the iPhone, you maybe use it for a couple of minutes, not more.

The capabilities support the context. Because the phone is always on and always with you, it's very environment aware. It has a gyroscope, an accelerometer, and all that information is accessible with background processes even when you're not using the iPhone.

Because your phone is personal and private, it's protected with Touch ID.

And, to make those short engagements really easy and fun, you have a very detailed touch screen. The Watch is quite similar. It's also always on and with you. It's also personal and private, but it's much more instant, and much more optimized for very short interactions. A Watch face, for example, gives you the right information just by looking at your Watch. And, notifications just show you more just by looking long enough.

The capabilities, again, support it, because the Watch is so personal it can track your movement, it can track your heart, even your location.

The haptics can tell you when you should look at your Watch, and the Watch faces allow you to customize the information you want to see at a glance. Let's look at the iPad. The iPad has a very mixed context. You can use it both at home and on the go. You can do very precise and focused work on it, or just use it as a lean back device, for watching movies, TV shows, or playing games.

And, all of those are longer engagements than the phone or the Watch. The large screen really supports the context, because it allows you to do all that precise and focused work. The ambient light sensor allows you to use the iPad both in the evening and during the day. The high-fidelity speakers allow you to create a very immersive experience with games and movies, and you have that same touch screen as on the phone.

And, if you add a pencil to it, well then it becomes a very precise interaction. Let's look at the MacBook. The context of the MacBook is always in a very professional environment. You can do very precise and complex work on a MacBook which is why it's the preferred platform to design apps or to develop them.

It can be used as a shared device, but it's always personal as everybody has their own account.

And, you use the MacBook or the iMac for very long engagements. Most of us here would probably be using a MacBook or an iMac several hours a day. Let's look at the capabilities. To do all that professional work, it has a very high