feedback wanted on mobile version of WM Army Selector

[Dave]

Hey guys,

Got some spare time again, so I'm tinkering with the app. Some brief notes:

• This is just a mock-up. It's not functional.
• There will be three presentations of the same app. Which one you'll see will be determined by your screen resolution/browser window size:
  
  • the mobile version (screen <= 480px) - the one linked to in this post
  • the tablet version (480px < screen < 768px) - pretty much identical to what you're used to, the app will just expand to use the entire screen
  • the desktop version (768px <= screen) - what you're used to
• I'm looking for feedback on layout, usability and accessing everything you need

That being said, here's the link:

http://wm-selector.appspot.com/mobile.html

I'm especially interested in what people viewing this on a mobile device think. If you don't have one, just make your browser window really narrow (that ought to give you an idea of what I'm trying to do).

Some questions as you poke around:

• What do you think the tab icons up top mean?
• Are there tabs you don't think are necessary in the mobile version?
• Are there tabs you think should be added in the mobile version?
• Is it clear how you add/remove an unit from the army?
• Is it clear how to add/remove an upgrade to an unit?
• Is it clear when units don't have upgrades?
• Is it clear how you see list errors?
• What should happen if there's no errors?
• Is it clear how you find list building info (points, min/max) about a unit/upgrade?
• How should unit stats be presented?
• Other stuff I'm not thinking of?

Thanks guys!

[berzerkmonkey]

    What do you think the tab icons up top mean? - Home; Unknown; Unknown; Save; Print. They're not all intuitive, but once you tap them, you realize what they do. I think it would just take familiarization.
    Are there tabs you don't think are necessary in the mobile version? - I'd say Save; Print, but if you want the same functionality of the original site, they would be necessary.
    Are there tabs you think should be added in the mobile version? - Not known at this time.
    Is it clear how you add/remove an unit from the army? - Yes
    Is it clear how to add/remove an upgrade to an unit? - No, though I clicked the icon and figured it out immediately. I don't know how to make that more intuitive though.
    Is it clear when units don't have upgrades? - Yes, but only once I realized what the icon meant.
    Is it clear how you see list errors? - Yes
    What should happen if there's no errors? - Green icon with a checkmark
    Is it clear how you find list building info (points, min/max) about a unit/upgrade? - No, and mouseover won't work on tap devices, so you won't see the "?".
    How should unit stats be presented? - Tap the unit and an accordion expands to show stats. Tap again and accordion closes. A popup would work as well, but would only really be useful on a tablet - smartphone screens would be somewhat small, though I have seen it done.
    Other stuff I'm not thinking of? - A working sample might make it a bit easier to determine that.

I'm assuming that you're only coding two versions, and the mobile version will simply expand to screen size with CSS?

I'll take a look on my tablets and phone tonight and let you know what I find.

[andys]

The whole thing is a great idea. As an example of my tech-unsavvyness, could it be made as, say, an exe file that users could simply downloaded to a device for use off-line?

Or is that what you are proposing? (see, told you I knew bug'rall 'bout computers!) 

[berzerkmonkey]

I got home late last night and didn't get a chance to check the page out on my tablets, but I did look at it on my phone - it looks good on a 4.2 inch screen, so I would wager that it would work fine on a tablet. I had to tap on the unit name to get the extra info, so maybe putting a little question mark in a circle next to the name could signify that there is more information to be had.

The whole thing is a great idea. As an example of my tech-unsavvyness, could it be made as, say, an exe file that users could simply downloaded to a device for use off-line?

Or is that what you are proposing? (see, told you I knew bug'rall 'bout computers!) 

Not to put words in Dave's mouth (because I like to put other things in there)  , but there isn't any such thing as an .exe file for a mobile device. He'd have to write an app for either/both iOS and Android, and both are not easy tasks. To add to it, neither are similar coding, so he'd essentially have to write the app twice, plus the web app (which is actually a web page, thus being a completely different thing.)

[Dave]

Not going down the dedicated mobile app route, a web app can get the job done and is accessible on them anyway.

As to having a "internet free" version. That's possible too, as I can package all the HTML, JavaScript and JSON into a zip file for people to download and use when they don't have an internet connection. That would work for PCs, not sure how IOs/Android would handle it.

[frogbear]

Just writing from an iphone 4s now and I am finding the following;

I cannot add any units - the + symbol is not doing anything

The home tab dies not display anything

Anything u would like me to try?

[Dave]

It's just a mock up, see 1). Take a look at all the questions in the first post.

[andys]

As to having a "internet free" version. That's possible too, as I can package all the HTML, JavaScript and JSON into a zip file for people to download and use when they don't have an internet connection. That would work for PCs, not sure how IOs/Android would handle it.

That's the sort of thing I meant, something folks can use without going online - useful when you're somewhere without a connection. Mind you, it'd have to be self-installing or come with an idiot's guide for people like me! 

[horizon]

On a 7 inch it looks good, perhaps the font and overall sizes can be a tad smaller.
Will it be for all platforms? Android, iOS, Windows?

[Dave]

You'd likely see the tablet version on a 7" (can't say for sure without knowing the resolution, but I'm betting tablet) which would be 12px font like the current version in my sig.

It's a web app, so it's OS agnostic. If it can browse the internet it can use this app.

[Dave]

Had some time the past week so I've been tinkering some more.

http://wm-selector.appspot.com/mobile.html

I'm looking for usability feedback on the mobile layout. Make your browser really narrow to force it to use that layout. I'm curious what people think of the stat layouts (and if they can figure out how to find them/hide them again). Does anything need to change there. Should special rules for the unit be listed in there as well?

Should there be another grey bar at the top of the mobile selector with the army and perhaps the ability to add a label to the list?

Text, Save and Print do nothing yet. And the app doesn't do validation yet either.

[Jurisch]

Hi Dave,
Looks good at the ipad.

Regards,
Jurisch

[captPiett]

On an iPad it's good, virtually indistinguishable from the non-mobile version. Just tried it on the iphone and it's an eye chart - the selector fits, but the writing doesn't fill up the screen. Rather it's proportionally the same size on the screen as the non-mobile version. So, lots of blue space as well.