This paper investigates and explores the effect of time on the design of mobile applications through the research of storage apps. The author will analyze app development and evolution, as well as compare the designs and updates. The psychological, neurological, technological and historical aspects of the subject will be discussed in this paper. A conclusion will be provided at the end to summarize the findings and provide suggestions to Graphic Design practitioners.

The time influences everything. Mobile application designs undergo the most scrutiny. As users, we often notice updates in branding and app icons because we look at them on the daily basis. Not only their design change from over time, but also the devices that carry them. In order to understand how time influences the designs of mobile apps, it is important to look back and investigate how smartphones came to exist and what necessities have pushed the society to invent new ways of communications. This research will reveal the factual, technical, practical and psychological perspectives about the given subject. The first chapter of this paper will investigate the origins of smartphones, their operating systems, as well as the evolution of application designs. Primarily, we will talk about Psion Organizer, EPOC operating system, Palm Pilot PDA, Nokia phones that introduced entertainment to the mass phone market, Apple’s iPod and iPhone. In terms of design we will cover skeuomorphic, flat, and material designs. In chapter two the author will provide three case studies that show how selected mobile applications change over time in terms of color, icon and typography. We will provide a connection between these design changes and mobile operating system trends. Having reviewed the history of the app design changes between 2007 and 2017, we will identify the common patterns that companies apply in order to stand out among the crowd. The last chapter will dive deeper and investigate why users require a regular stream of updates, what forces them to expect new features, and explore new options.

Read the rest of the article on https://medium.com/@anisadj/examining-the-effect-of-time-on-the-design-of-mobile-applications-9d9c9bacb874