Dublin hiptsters beware, Noho have jumped on the iPhone/iPad bandwagon and finished their first app. The app is available in the app store and you will find a thorough description here. We were commissioned by Dublin City Council to create this app, re-purposing content we had created for the Medieval Dublin Project . As it was our first iPhone app, we took our time at it. It looks pretty cool so far, but we will make some improvements to it throughout the year, and we would love to hear some feedback. John set about developing the application working from some wireframe sketches rattled out on a long journey to China. Dara worked away on the design with Niall interfering here and there. We design and create content for a wide range of different media so making a switch to iPhone wasn’t a major leap. In fact our experience in both video and interactive design gave us the skills to immediately get some working models done quite quickly. From a design point of view, we had to ease off on the ‘ye-olde’ look of the medieval dublin project, but not go too cold or clinical as a City Council signage strategy. We also found that clarity at such a small scale is an issue, so problems need to be figured out in terms of scale even when you have the facility to pinch in. Video and file-size was also an issue. The app is quite large (at 85mbs) and we agreed early on that the video should be contained within the app so that if using it on the street, the user is not streaming video, particularly if they are a visitor at the mercy of roaming rates. So it’s a little heavy on the initial download. We have been doing the location-based before and after video clips for many years on the Medieval Dublin project and were always looking at ways of showing the video at the actual location. The iPhone’s video and GPS functionality enabled us to do this in a nice little interface. From a usability point of view we wanted to get across the before and after simulations as best as we could. These are a little tricky because you need to stand in a specific spot that is different to the actual hotspot. We solved this by creating a different icon on the GPS interface specifically for the before and after sequence. Another feature of the App shows a high resolution image of Dublin in 1500. The image is packed full of historical detail taken from our work with experts on the Medieval Project and is an great way of exploring the medieval city (go and see the Dublinia exhibition if you get a chance for the real thing). So, go and buy it, it’s only 3 euro and if you have time, give us some feedback, or even better, give it a good review and tell your friends.