Design
Learn some insights about the decisions we made regarding the design of Everycards.
A paper study card, a source of knowledge and inspiration.
We have selected a few topics that highlight our design process and the rationale behind our choices when designing the app. Andrew Alex, the designer of Everycards, answers a few questions you may have.
— Why does Everycards have an Apple-like design? Did you consider a more unique style?
Yes, such a design is intentional. There are a few reasons for this.
First, a study card app is not something super innovative. Apart from using flashcards and quizzes, most people spend the rest of their time to:
• Browse items in the app library and on the store (cards, categories, albums, folders).
• Enter data (text, photo, drawing, audio file or recordings).
• Sort data (rearrange, rename, move items, change languages).
Therefore I opted to utilise the UX/UI solutions provided by the operating system for performing simple actions. This approach minimises the learning curve for users who are new to the app, resulting in a more user-friendly experience.
Also, to match the system style, I created 40+ glyphs in SF Symbols style. When you open the app, hopefully you will be unable to tell between the symbols we made and the symbols Apple made.
Custom SF Symbols glyphs designed for Everycards.
On the other hand, the unique part of Everycards is how we manage the actual learning experience. More details about this on the “Easy-to-navigate” page.
The second reason is budget and accessibility. The app was developed as a bootstrap project, so the costs of development and support is crucial. It also costs less for standard operating system (OS) components, as well as not requiring additional modifications to provide maximum accessibility features.
Early draft and working product.
The third reason is it is my personal belief that Everycards could be even more beneficial to people by being integrated into the OS. For example, right now third party developers cannot add the Study command to the context menu at the system-wide level which allows people to add words, sentences, or images to Everycards with two taps.
We’ve implemented a similar opportunity with the Share menu command and the Activity Sheet. But it requires 3–5 more taps (and seconds, for every use!) than can be done by integrating Everycards into the OS.
— Okay, so what’s the solution?
I hope that Apple will eventually have a look at our project and acquire it in the interests of our users. Patents pending.
— Why, despite the serverless architecture of the app, does it not sync between devices? I may lose all my data along with the device.
That’s a valid point. While the Everycards app offers the highest level of privacy among user-friendly study card apps, it currently lacks synchronisation capabilities. Although you can still collaborate with friends by using the share features.
We are working to support sync via iCloud but we are limited by our budget. Each download of Everycards will help accelerate further development. If you find the app helpful, please spread the word to your friends.
— What was the most challenging part of developing the user scenarios and flows?
Well, that’s a good question and the story isn’t short.
Every investor knows that the idea of creating something universal is not the best idea. But this app must be versatile so that people can use it for a long time and want to do so.
As a student, you need to study today; as a parent, you need to support your child’s learning tomorrow; and then you can become a lifelong learner which is even good for your health.
In addition, the activity of the app consists of two separate stages. Firstly, this is the preparation of educational materials, some kind of author’s work. Secondly, it is a learning process, a highly personalised process where one size cannot fit all.
Some people may participate in both heavy preparation and learning, while others may only participate in one, making it hard to determine which stage they are participating in.
So one user can be both an author and a reader, but another can be only one of the two. Plus the aforementioned versatility in relation to the age category. How do we resolve all of this?
Early user flows and UI prototypes.
I wrote all the user scenarios, drafted user flows and then made a lot of low and high-fidelity prototypes. I tested them all with available family members and friends (thank you all!), both in studio and remotely. Some early prototypes used the system components, some not.
I listened to my heart before making a final decision, and… as a combined intuition- and data-driven result, in Everycards you initially go into browsing. This was the common link between everything we tried.
While browsing, you can check what you are going to study and whether everything is adjusted accordingly. Then, with a single tap, you can switch to the learning modes: flashcards or quizzes. While learning, also with a single tap, without any conditions, you can return to browsing. Similarly, with a couple of taps, you can start editing cards while browsing them.
— How do you know this is the way forward?
I gave the app to Apple Design Evangelists for review, and they confirmed my ideas.
We will add the option to start learning immediately upon launching the app, providing even greater versatility. But this feature will be toggleable.
Everycards has Master Mode as a method of focusing on content. But is it an accessible feature?
Wouldn’t it be easier to provide a button for every action instead of trying to navigate cards with only hand gestures? Buttons can be easily tapped, clicked or called by a voice command.
Yes, the buttons are more accessible in general. However, it’s hard for some people to focus on the card content when numerous buttons surround them.
Also, managing cards with hand gestures is the closest we can get to learning with physical cards. This is an important kinesthetic connection. I am confident that the widespread adoption of augmented reality glasses will increase the use of gesture navigation even more.
We will add navigation by voice commands but without displaying buttons in Master Mode.
Everycards AR (augmented reality) prototype.
What was the reason behind designing such a sophisticated language management system for the app? It’s just a flashcard app, it’s not rocket science.
User data is considered sacred and should be retained whenever possible. That is why changing the content language in Everycards is not destructive, unlike all similar competitors.
If you are the author of educational materials that you would like to translate into many other languages, you will appreciate it — the speed of such localisation increases tenfold.
Language pairs and concept-based approaches.
Who is responsible for writing the text for your interfaces?
Usually, I write the first draft myself, aiming to convey the right meaning in the shortest possible form. After multiple revisions with our copywriter, the end result is refined and refined until it becomes clear and consistent.
If you have any suggestions for how we can improve, please let us know.
Everycards has a lot of onboarding screens that you can’t skip. Why?
You can skip the onboarding screens. To do this, press the “hand” icon on the first screen. It is also available from the Profile button menu. Don’t be afraid to tap around Everycards. We’ve designed the app to be unbreakable.
We made the Skip button less noticeable here because the detailed onboarding process is necessary for Everycards. It is due to its multifaceted nature, which can be challenging for some users to master on their first encounter, especially if they are unfamiliar with flashcards.
So yes, the first time you call core functions, you will see a brief explanation. But you can disable them as mentioned above.
And if necessary, you can re-enable onboarding in your device’s settings.
Happy learning with Everycards!
Thanks, good luck to you!
too playful
too generic
too aggressive
just right
Iterations of the Everycards icon.