GEOFF SCHULLER: One of the most challenging things
about designing an application for Android Auto
is providing access to the content
and the features apps provide in a simple and usable way,
so drivers can focus on what they really
need to be doing in the car.
And that's driving it.
I'm Geoff, and I'm a designer on the Android Auto team.
We understand these challenges.
And we've created some very important design patterns
and guidelines that you can use when you create or adapt
your app to work on Android Auto.
Now it might seem obvious, but it really must be said.
The most important thing a driver
needs to do while they're in the car is drive, with their eyes
on the road and their hands on the wheel.
When designing for drivers, it's important to remember
that driving is their primary task,
and using Android Auto is a secondary task.
When we designed Android Auto, our goal
was to simplify all interactions and minimize distraction.
Every part of the interface has been carefully considered.
And sometimes, this requires tough decisions
to be made to ensure simplicity.
As an example, we've set a goal that all tasks
should be completed in six button presses or less.
This is a very important guideline.
And it's enforced via our platform
when drivers interact with items in the drawer.
If you want to provide a great Android Auto experience
for your users, keep watching.
We're about to tell you how we accomplish
this in the applications we designed for drivers.
Now as an interaction designer on the Android Auto team,
I'm responsible for taking apps like Google Play
Music and the Dialer and making them ready for use in the car.
And that could be pretty challenging
when you consider how many contacts
and how much music we all have in our phones.
Typical Android users have anywhere between 100 and 1,000
contacts on their phones, and up to 18 days' worth of music.
Even more if you use a music subscription service.
How can you possibly browse through the list
of who you want to call or what you
want to listen to when you've got that much content to choose
from?
The truth is, you can't.
While designing Google Play Music and Dialer
for Android Auto, we had to find a way
to provide access to the features
and content in those apps while staying within the six step
limit.
It was challenging.
And it is possible.
Here's how we did it.
First, we took a good hard look at each application
and thought about the things that drivers really
needed while driving.
In Dialer, we focused on speed dial,
because it already provides a nice way
to call the people that we talk to the most.
We kept the list short, so drivers
wouldn't have to scroll through very many items while driving.
Four pages is the most.
No more than that.
And we used voice commands for complex interactions
like calling a contact that doesn't already
appear in speed dial.
It's much easier to tap the mic and say something
like, call Benmont Tench, rather than scrolling
through a long list of contacts to find him.
We put other functionality like voicemail,
dial a number, missed calls, and call history in the drawer,
so drivers could access those if they needed them.
And again, we kept the list short,
only displaying four pages of missed calls and call history.
You really don't need more than that while you're driving.
All of these design choices helped
us to keep interactions simple and achievable
and six taps or less.
Now let's look at Google Play Music.
When you look at the mobile version,
you'll see many things that are useful for drivers--
things like listen now, playlists, and radio.
Those are great, and we included them in the Android Auto
version, but shortened the list length to four pages' worth
of items, so the driver could find what they want and select
it in six taps or less.
Now let's look at Explorer and My Library.
These have many categories and long lists of content.
It really isn't possible to browse all the content
in these categories effectively while driving.
So what did we do?
Well, we chose to use voice commands
to say things like, play Tom Petty,
or play "Full Moon Fever," or play "Runnin' Down a Dream."
This is a much faster way to play something
by an artist, or an album, or a song.
Let's listen to something else.
Play "Stop Stalling."
COMPUTER VOICE: Playing "Stop Stalling."
[MUSIC - DERBY, "STOP STALLING"]
GEOFF SCHULLER: If you want drivers
to be able to use voice commands in your app,
implement the play this item on this app command.
There's a whole DevByte on that right here.
We realized that designing for drivers
requires you to consider things that you wouldn't normally
have to do when you're designing a mobile app.
And we know this can be a challenge.
But we're here to help.
We published some very helpful design patterns and guidelines,
which you can use to adapt your app for Android Auto.
You can check them out right here.
And I'll cover a few of the important ones right now.
First, take a good hard look at your app
and think about the things drivers really
need while driving.
Next, think about the voice commands
you can add to make it easier for drivers to do
the things they need to do.
Last, and most importantly, keep your lists short
and the depth of your content hierarchy shallow,
and understand that Android Auto's drawer
code keeps track of the taps.
Every tap the driver uses to open the drawer
and scroll forward through the content is counted.
And the driver can only tap five more times
once the drawer's open to find and tap the item they want.
If your content hierarchy is too deep,
the driver will run out of taps and will be stopped
from browsing any further.
You can avoid this by doing the following.
Only include the content and categories the driver really
needs while driving.
Next, limit the first level of the drawer to one or two pages.
And last, know that any forward scrolls or taps
the driver performs in level one reduces
the amount of content and categories
they can see on subsequent levels.
If you follow the two and three level drawer
patterns that we provided at the developer website
and keep your nav hierarchy shallow,
drivers will be able to access the content they
care about the most while driving
and will have a great experience while using
your app in Android.
Thanks for watching, and we wish you all the best
as you design your app for the Android Auto driver.
[MUSIC PLAYING]