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Hi all. I'm Jin, and I'll be working on the designs for the Stack Exchange sites as they graduate from the beta phase. Each site will have its own unique theme that will reflect its topic. However, all sites will share quite a bit of common elements so they feel like they're part of the Stack Exchange family.

I'm in the very early stage of brainstorming for design concepts of the Android.SE's official theme. I want to pitch some of my ideas to the community before I start t designing.

  • Overall look and feel: modern, clean and minimalist. The site should feel similar to the user interface elements found in most Android phones.

  • Use the Android robot as favicon or part of the header image, since we're allowed to use it legally.

  • Color scheme: white with black, yellow and green accent colors. Green from the Android Robot (#A4C639)

  • Typography: I'd like to use Droid Sans as the header and body text(via @font-face). However I need to make sure the font renders smoothly at a smaller size on Windows.

Please let me know what you think. Also feel free to post your own ideas. One thing I need to stress is that I'd like to focus on ONE overall look and feel. For now I feel the modern and slick one works well, since it represents Android UI. Feel free to disagree, but explain your argument.

Here are some of my questions for smaller details:

  • What should the tag and badge treatment be?

  • What should be used for the 404/error/captcha page images? I'm thinking about using the Android Robot for these, to keep a whimsical theme.

  • What are some of the Android related sites out there that you like(design wise). I've looked at quite a few, but haven't found any that stands out for me. Keep in mind, while I want the our site to look "Android-ish," but it's also important to give this community a distinct identity.

That's all, thanks!

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  • 3
    Be aware that since ".se" is a valid top level domain, it's extremely likely that .se sites are valid. It's confusing — not to mention in poor form — to use android.se to refer to this site when it is already android.se . Better to use something like "Android-SE".
    – mattdm
    Feb 17, 2011 at 1:55
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    android.se seems like it could benefit from a few design ideas as well!
    – mattdm
    Feb 17, 2011 at 1:56
  • @mattdm good point.
    – Jin
    Feb 17, 2011 at 3:33
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    Are there going to be any consideration for mobile browser? The standard StackExchange theme very not mobile friendly, and certain UI elements (e.g. the notification bar) is a usability mess on a mobile browser (in particular, the notification bar has the habit of not being easily closable since the close button keeps moving away from you and it completely covers the login button).
    – Lie Ryan
    Feb 17, 2011 at 11:04
  • @Lie we don't have any plans for a mobile version yet. but members from our stackapps.com community have created mobile apps using our APIs. for example: stackmobile.com
    – Jin
    Feb 17, 2011 at 15:24
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    @Jin: Android's Browser is quite capable of rendering the regular stackexchange, that much is fine. However there do exists some annoyances due to having small screen and touchscreen, such as the floating notification bar. While a true mobile version of StackExchange would require rethinking everything from the ground up (and with many other Betas waiting to launch, you probably won't have time to design a true mobile version), it shouldn't be too difficult to just hide the notification bar when a mobile device is detected, right? The problem with stackmobile is that it is read-only.
    – Lie Ryan
    Feb 17, 2011 at 16:45
  • Apologies in advance as I'm sure I'm being thick or something, but: "For now I feel the modern and slick one works well" - which modern and slick what now? :os Mar 7, 2011 at 19:00
  • @Jin: Do you suppose we could get an update and, maybe, a speculative guess at a completion date? Not trying to rush you; just trying to see where we are.
    – ale
    Mar 15, 2011 at 20:28
  • @Al We look at the weekly stats to decide which site to launch next. Of course these stats change each week. Android is getting very close. There's one more site to launch before Android.se.
    – Jin
    Mar 16, 2011 at 16:26
  • Hi Jin, I'd like to raise your attention to meta.android.stackexchange.com/questions/1001/…
    – Flow
    Mar 22, 2013 at 15:20
  • Can the design be changed?
    – Ruben Roy
    Sep 17, 2013 at 19:39

6 Answers 6

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Great news :)

The 404/error/captcha pages should feature Androidify versions of Jeff, Joel and the rest of the crew.

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I personally don't mind the Android Web Market colour scheme and look. It's a very minimalistic design that incorporates all of Androids colours (except for orange).

I think the logo should definitely have the Android in it.

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The look and feel of Android Patterns is another neat site. as for the front page especially and the questions, it would be cool if they were composed along the lines of the the system status window shade:

enter image description here

obviously we'd have more horizontal space to work with, but stretched it would fit the stack aesthetic pretty well. The little bumper at the bottom would be a fun trick to play around with if we were going to have a page/comment load transition.

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    The Android look-and-feel changed quite a bit in Gingerbread. This may already be an outdated design (although I like it).
    – ale
    Mar 3, 2011 at 16:24
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I much prefer a sans font, so I think that's a good choice.

As for badges/tags, it'd by nice if they were similar to the standard buttons.

A smaller version of android button with text might serve for badges. Change the color in the center for bronze/silver/gold.

The buttons here more android buttons are definitely viable for both. They gray/silver could be for normal tags, the yellow for featured tags.

How about this? possible-button-image It's actually an arm from the Android mascot.

Perhaps not as in-your-face green, but the radius of the curve evokes Android.

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    I think I'd prefer to reserve the button theme for buttons (e.g. Add Comment or Post Your Answer buttons) instead of for badges.
    – Lie Ryan
    Feb 16, 2011 at 14:31
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    I agree with @Lie. I'd like to reserve the 3d buttony look for actual buttons only so there's no confusion.
    – Jin
    Feb 16, 2011 at 18:07
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    Okay, then. What about the iconic Android's arms, only turned sideways?
    – ale
    Feb 16, 2011 at 18:58
  • @Al do you have a picture link for the Android's arms?
    – Jin
    Feb 16, 2011 at 19:04
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    oh you're talking about the capsule shaped arm on the Android Robot? That could work.
    – Jin
    Feb 16, 2011 at 19:04
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    Edited my post.
    – ale
    Feb 16, 2011 at 19:07
  • @al i like that. I think it works well.
    – Jin
    Feb 16, 2011 at 19:26
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Other places you might look to for inspiration: There is an Android Gmail theme, a Chrome theme as well as several themes for iGoogle (though these last are unofficial).

None of the Android blogs I read have designs that really "inspire". AndroidTapp looks the best (I think) but is not overtly "androidy".

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I like the look and feel of AndroidandMe.com.

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