<Digg> iPhone App

Tony’s UX report #1

Expectations Before Use
Reading news, Easy to read, Finding some interesting content.

Focus on Content

Good : Titles with Big size and bold font, big images would let me totally focus on finding interesting articles on the list. Even in content detail view(fig.2), distracting things like Digg logos, menus that I wouldn’t use were not there. And once I start to swipe down to read, only top bar(which I might use anytime) remained in position and other stuffs like tags, prev/next buttons were disappeared. As using screens fully on content itself, reading experience was very comfortable.

Bad : Main list(fig.1) shows unread articles with bold font, but that was kind of confusing by just sneaking. I had to focus on font thickness while looking for some interests. In content detail view(fig.2), I didn’t know what the seconed icon at top bar means, but once I pushed the button, I found out that it was clear ad function. So it wasn’t that big deal.

Fluent Reading

Good : It’s very easy to get over to next article by swiping down little bit more, at the end of the article. I found this function accidentally from very first, and this was the fun part of the app for me. And not only next article, but also works same way with previous article. This would not be so helpful on ‘Top Stories’, but definitely works on reading RSS feeds.

Bad : They used same swipe up/down function both on scrolling and prev/next, so everyone can discover it pretty easy. And it works perfect when you reading a every single paragraph or a short article. But what if you want to skip an article right after you read the title? You have to push up/down button, otherwise you have to swipe all the way down. This is little annoying to change to different action. I guess it would be better swipe right/left for prev/next, so you can keep the same action as ‘swipe’.

Using Hidden Top Spaces

Good : It’s very wise to use top hidden extra space for some sub functions. They used the space for buttons like filter out unread or add specific keyword to reader menu. Once you push the button, it hides again, but you can find it with swiping down.

Simple Menu with Same Action

Good : Menu is all about reading as Digg itself. Interesting part is they used same action that I’m familiar with for hidden functions. Swipe down for reload and swipe left for delete.

Bad : It’s very cool to keep this way, but I wonder how my mom or dad would find the hidden functions.

Environment Control

Good : Even setting shows how they focus on ‘READING’. Some people would not want white background for the sore eyes. This small function could be the reason for some people to choose this app. Everything is dead simple and let you have the control on that simple environment.

Expanding Experience

Good : Sync with other application I already use is very cool. It expands the experience. And that makes me to keep using the app. In this case, I used the Pocket to read later function.