Lifestage is the latest attempt from Facebook to do what Snapchat has done to win over teenagers... with yet another standalone app, one that's exclusively for people who are 21 and younger.
Helmed by 19-year-old product manager Michael Sayman, Lifestage aims to help teenagers connect with their classmates via videos or selfies (called faces, as in "my angry face" or "my sad face") that will serve as profile screens. Users will be able to upload videos that will reflect everything from their music taste to favorite hobbies.
Considering Facebook's history with standalone apps, who knows whether the future will be kind to Lifestage or not. For now, the fact that it's being designed by a person in the target audience is certainly refreshing – far too often the kind of apps attempting to target the young feel a little bit too much like this. If the audience will be interested or not in this... well, that's for time to tell.
OTHER DESIGN-RELEVANT NEWS
Overcoming the woes of list design
What goes on behind designing for a huge booking site? Trivago designer Dejan Ulcej goes a bit into the process by talking about incorporating Atomic Design principles into an existing platform. This specific post focuses on the design of the search results, essentially, how information will be structured and communicated to the user. And then how this affects other viewports or devices. A truly wonderfully documented article.
How to do E-commerce right by eBay
The MIND Patterns library is eBay’s very own living document (as in, ever-evolving) containing patterns for the design and development of e-commerce websites. As you know, eBay is huge. So it’s easy to say that such a document will be extremely handy for anybody interested in the medium.
Format/Draplin
Design legend and Field Notes creator Aaron Draplin was recently featured in Format Magazine talking about his craft, album covers and the occasional new-record disappointments he gets from some artists or bands. And of course, there’s also his interview with Marc Maron from almost a year ago.
A new future for Principle
Animation app Principle has reached version 2.0 and with it came Components (which essentially sound like compositions in After Effect) and a new license model similar to that of Framer and Sketch. This means, buy once and get free updates up to a year before you need to update your license.
SO, WE WENT ON THE INTERNET AND FOUND...
Tinder meets… uh… Kingdom Management – This is Reigns, and it is… exactly what it sounds like. Is the church too powerful in your kingdom, yet they want more? Swipe left! Have some miners found treasure which could be shared equally by the kingdom? Swipe right to keep it to yourself! And so on and so forth. Good, simple fun.
The Design Team – A webcomic that follows intern and aspiring designer Petunia in her first forays into the design scene in the heart of the tech world. Pretty enjoyable!
Her name is Eleven? – Alas, we’re still suffering from Stranger Things withdrawal. You can, however, take a look at this graphic tribute before binge-watching it all over again. You might remember, Game of Thrones and True Detective also got this treatment at some point!
NOW PLAYING
Here is where we share what our team members have been exposing their eardrums to the most during the week. This week, Juan Herrera shares his sound wave of preference.
“I’ve been hooked on Paul Draper’s music, as well as that of his old band Mansun, for quite a few weeks now. Meaning, since the aptly titled EP One came out. It follows Mansun’s tradition of mixing alternative rock, psychedelia and a good ol’ dose of progressive rock influences, albeit with the far more concise approach to songwriting that only come with experience. Here’s the first cut of the EP, Feeling My Heart Run Slow.”
