Research on Existing Products

'Birth Year' Apps 
I am going to start by looking at the competition, to see if there are any other apps currently on the market that are similar in both concept and execution to my idea. This will help to evaluate whether I need to refine certain aspects of the concept before I begin developing it into the visual/design stage.


 The Year You Were Born
The Year You Were Born (Website)

Cost: $0.99 / Free version available but with limited content

This is the only app I could find that has the same fundamental purpose as my app idea; to educate/inform people about how the world was in the year of their birth. As far as I can tell it is only available on the iPhone and I found it difficult to source much information about the nature of the app as it is only available in the U.S.I managed to find some screenshots (above) which give a good indication of the look and feel of the app and also the navigation options. Immediately I am struck by the unprofessional design and overall poor quality of the app. The predominant use of text to display information and the amateur-looking stock images reminds me of a primitive html-based website. 

There are several things I can learn from here in order to ensure that my app is more of a success. The use of custom-designed vector icons would work much better for the menu options, as well as using a more interactive menu (rather than just listing categories). I also think that photographs and videos would enhance the experience, rather than relying on simple sentences in Times font to relay information. I like the idea of presenting the content in my app on a timeline interface - I think this would work particularly well on an iPad because the screen is much larger than an iPhone, meaning that there is more space to arrange assets/information.
 

'Timeline' Apps

The following apps use timelines to display content in a similar fashion to the interface I would like to use in my app concept.

Lineal
Lineal Timeline (Tech Crunch Feature)
Lineal Timeline (Video)

Cost: £2.99

Lineal is a timeline-building app that allows users to construct their own timeline based on past, present and future events. The 'look and feel' of the app is very simplistic, which fits with the visual style of iOS7 (the app is a recent release and so was designed with iOS7 in mind). The app does not come pre-loaded with content, and it is up to the user to upload their own assets - this is both a similarity and difference with my concept. In my app, the user will already be able to access a vast array of content (which is the main driving force in them using the app) but they will also be able to upload their own content, personalising the experience.

Navigation Controls:
To navigate, simply scroll the timeline. To zoom in, tap any blue date on the timeline and select 'zoom'. To zoom out, tap the blue back arrow in the bottom left corner of the screen. You can zoom out as far as millennia and zoom in as far as minutes. 

To create an event, tap any blue date on the timeline and select 'create'. 

Single-tap an event to bring it to the front, and double-tap an event to view and/or edit it. 

As events stack up over dates, you can scroll the stacks up and down to see everything. 

If you choose to color tag your events, the colors will begin to appear in the bottom right corner of the screen. Tap the colors to bring up a filter menu. This allows you to choose which color events to display. You can also give text descriptions to your color tags from here. 

Search is located in the top right corner of the screen in the navigation bar. If the navigation bar is hidden, tap in any empty area of the screen to reveal it. 

The menu button in the top left corner of the screen has an option for changing your timezone from automatic, to something specific like UTC time.

In my opinion, Lineal lacks a "driving force". Other than the timeline interface I don't really see much difference to generic organisation apps (such as EverNote). I like the clean, simple layout and some of the navigation controls could be useful when I start to think of how users are going to navigate my app - I particularly like the 'stack' option, where similar items can be grouped together and then expanded or collapsed as necessary.

Timeline WW1

Timeline World War 1 (Website & Video)

Cost: £6.99 / Free version available but with limited content

This app is relevant to my idea, as it presents a historical overview of a topic in an intractable manner. Although this is focused on one event, the arrangement of the assets on a timeline is a useful example of how different types of content can be arranged chronologically. Similar to the Lineal app, some content is 'stacked' in order to maximise space and avoid over-cluttering. There is a clear visual style, in terms of what content can be interacted with - I think this is hugely important to enable the user to know what elements they can control/manipulate within the app. The free version of this app has limited content - you are able to see a portion of what is available in the 'full version' but are unable to access some of the main features, for example the interactive map, without completing an in-app purchase (costing £6.99).

The layout of this app is very similar to the look and feel I am leaning towards with my own app. I like the combination of image/video/text on the timeline and the scroll-bar along the top that changes the year/month. The only problem with this is that to move to a different point in time you have to press and drag on the green bar, whereas I would expect to be able to just drag anywhere on the screen to advance the timeline. Most of the iPad apps I have experienced enable you to scroll through content in this manner. 

Timeline Builder
Knowledge Quest Maps (Website & Video)

Cost: $4.99 (only available in the U.S)

Similar to Lineal, this app allows users to build their own timelines. This appears to be geared more towards people interested in historic or political events and unlike Lineal the interface seems very primitive. Although it may be useful for hobbyists, or people possibly researching their family tree, I don't think the app looks particularly user-friendly. The interface resembles more of an html-based website than an interactive app. I am going to steer away from any design considerations that could ultimately lead my app to look like this!

Wonders of the Universe
Wonders of the Universe (Webiste & Video)

Cost: £3.99

This app sums up everything that could and should (in my opinion) be offered by a non-fiction storytelling app. The 3D graphics combined with intuitive navigation options offer the user a completely immersive experience - the rich media elements (including diagrams, videos and text) allow you to find out more about particular aspects of the universe and the non-linear nature of the 'narrative' makes the pool of information seem never ending. I particularly like the nav menu along the top, which presents different categories relating to the content of the app. Something similar to this would be useful in my app, as I would like the user to be able to customise the content that they view on the timeline, rather than being presented with everything at once. I also like the way that the sections are organised within the bottom menu. You can scroll from each topic header to find out more in-depth information. In these lists there is a mixture of photographs, videos, diagrams and texts - each asset assumes full-screen mode (and starts playing in the case of a video) when it is the centre of the timeline. To exit full-screen mode, the user needs to swipe up or down to return to the previous list. I might be able to use this depending on whether the assets on my timeline are arranged horizontally or vertically.

Social Networking Apps
Due to the partially 'social' nature of my concept (mainly the option for the user to upload their own personal content and share it with other users and integrate with other social networking profiles) I think it would be good to look at existing social networking apps, to see how assets are organised and how users are expected to navigate the environment. There are millions of social network users world-wide (http://pewinternet.org/~/media/Files/Reports/2013/PIP_SocialMediaUsers.pdf), and surveys indicate that social media is one of the top uses of an iPad (http://blog.flurry.com/bid/99859/The-Who-What-and-When-of-iPhone-and-iPad-Usage). It therefore seems relevant to focus on this in my research.

Facebook
Facebook iPad app

Cost: Free (users need to have an existing Facebook account in order to use the app)

The Facebook app is a visual and technical extension of the desktop (web-based) version. All of the main elements are the same and features including the timeline (where assets such as status updates, photos and videos are organised chronologically) are present in the iPad app. The main difference are the navigation options, which have been designed to accommodate the touchscreen interface of the iPad. The user can access content on their 'timeline' or 'news feed' by swiping up or down and by tapping on an individual asset to make it assume full-screen mode. There are integrated back buttons on some of the pages and the main menu options are present in the header across all navigable routes. The timeline is arranged vertically, with a thin line representing the span of time since the users' account has been active. Each 'event' is pinned to the specific point in time that it was created and users are able to select which year or month they view. If I am going to assume that my target audience is familiar with Facebook, then I think it would make sense to keep the layout of the timeline fairly similar so that they will instantly be familiar with how to use my app once they download it.

Twitter

Twitter iPad app

Cost: Free (users need to have an existing Twitter account in order to use the app)

The Twitter iPad app is similar to Facebook in that it replicates the look and feel of the main site. Twitter doesn't use a timeline metaphor in its interface, instead it arranges posts in the order they were uploaded with an indication of the date (usually in terms of how many hours or days ago it was posted). The simplicity of the interface is appropriate to the simple nature of the service Twitter offers, I think that adding any kind of timeline structure would impede the 'real time feed' that is central to its operation and success. The main element that I think I can apply to my app is the simple yet stylish layout, which places a primary emphasis on the content.


Websites
Through searching Apple's App Store and I have established that there are no iPad apps currently on the market that offer the same experience proposed by my app. It's worth extending my research to look at websites that might provide a similar service - although they operate in a very different way to an app, I could potentially find something useful that could be implemented in my app design.

What Happened in my Birth Year?
What happened in my birth year? (Website)

This website provides a text-based account in the form of a story, relaying some key facts from the year you were born. The words appear individually as the 'story' unfolds and some pictures are included for specific events. I found this frustrating, as you have to wait a while for the information to appear. It is also a tedious experience, there is no user involvement - you simply sit and wait as more information appears. The categories that are covered are similar to those that I intend to use in my app: world events, movies, music, fashion and technology. However, I think that presenting the information in a more interactive manner will improve the overall user experience. Also, a lot of the key phrases such as 'People buying popcorn in the cinema lobby had glazing eyes when looking at the poster' are repeated on each year that is selected. I think this detracts from the personal nature that should be offered by a service like this.

Day of Birth - What Year Were You Born On?
Day of Birth (Website)

This is the only other website that allows you to discover what went on in the world when you were born. As shown by the picture (right) this is even more basic than the previous example - the information displayed is very limited and focuses more on statistics (i.e. how many days old you are and your equivalent age in dog years!) which, although may be interesting for some people do not provide elements for a user to build a story/impression about life around their birth year. I don't think I will consider including information like this because it doesn't really contribute to a personal narrative.