Continuing with the topic of icons…
From the start, the appearance of your application in the app menu makes a difference in how people interpret your app. If your icon looks stylish, has the correct shape, and people can guess from the app’s name what it does, your app is on the right track.
If the shape of the icon is different from the rest of the icons on the phone, your app will feel alien and not like an integral part of the phone. Some people might think the app is a (cheap?) copy of something else; others might think you simply don’t care. This opens the door to bad reviews, since people launch your app with a negative attitude even before they have really seen it. It is very hard to recover from that initial negative first impression!
Example of a badly shaped launcher icon and truncated app name.
The same holds for the app name; you should try to keep it short enough that it will not be truncated. It’s not easy to come up with a short and catchy name, but it’s definitely worth the effort. In addition to looking better on the phone (let’s be honest here; it does look better when it’s not truncated), a short app name is more likely to be remembered by users. This makes it more likely that they will recommend it to their friends (because they will also love the app, of course!).
So, how to make things right?
- Use the templates and guidelines from the Full touch design library.
- Keep the name short and check how it renders on the phone (you can even use Nokia’s RDA service to check).
By taking care of just these seemingly minor details, you help set people into a positive attitude before they even open your app.
Happy developing,
Sanna
