iOS Design: Sudoku & Sleep Cycles
The idea of Sudoku for iPad was born just weeks after the iPad 2 launched. I spent my free time outside of university designing the interface, icons, buttons and layout of this working iOS app — with my friend Dan Palmer writing the code.
Designing and crafting the animations for changing between “Numbers” and “Notes” was one of my favourite parts of this design, second to the use of superscript characters for “Notes” — possible solutions to a cell.
This app was designed in 2011, during iOS 5. The use of subtle textures and shadows create a sense of depth and place to the interface, whilst maintaining familiarity with the rest of iOS.
Ensuring Sudoku could be used by right and left-handed users was vital. The iOS Split View Controller made this possible by allowing the menu to change sides based on a user preference.
Sleep Cycles for iOS
This app was a simple concept I had based on our scientific understanding of sleep cycles and how they can help us wake up feeling refreshed.
Specify when you want to wake up tomorrow and Sleep Cycles tells you when to go to bed today.
Alternatively, launch Sleep Cycles when you go to bed and it’ll suggest a few good times to wake up. Then, set your alarm confident you’ll feel good in the morning.
Previewing an interface on an iPhone whilst designing taught me a lot about what works — and what doesn’t. This personal project was a great exercise in conceptualisation.
