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| ©2012 Scott Okumura |
This is an idea for a dive log app for tablets that I'm considering. Once I've had some time to reflect, I'll produce a set of wireframes to explain the functionality in greater detail. I'm accustomed to manually placing information from my dive computer into a custom spreadsheet, so this is an effort to make the process easy, fun, and more visually appealing. I do that because it gives me the opportunity to organize the information according to my own preference and to experiment with it as a design challenge. It also allows me to include a lot of other observations that I find valuable to track.
To date, I've used Adobe Numbers to record dives along with a printed log page that I've designed (below). Initially, I maintained a spreadsheet in Excel. Both applications allow me to chart observations like water temperature and clarity, to sort dives by type or location, and to calculate deepest, longest, coldest/warmest dive, etc. I merely wanted to explore alternatives and don't strongly favor one application over the other. They both offer the same dry, clerical user experience.
Most of the segments (buttons) in this design open a form dialog. Exceptions include the three orange segments with icons which navigate to either a list (Buddy, Wildlife) or gallery (Photos) and the Locked/Unlocked and FSW/FFW segments which behave as toggles. I'm presently thinking about how the design can accommodate multiple tanks with varied gas mixtures and checking to see if I've forgotten anything else important.
The red [Save/Load] segment at the bottom-right is intended to present a menu of options including Sharing, Removing, Resetting, Saving/Loading New, and Settings (for choosing metric or imperial and possibly for adding advanced features like multiple tanks/mixtures).
Green arrow segments page through log entries and the far-right [Menu] segment would present them in a table with sort options.
Colors for Time In and Time Out are intended to change depending upon whether the time entered is AM (light) or PM (dark). Similarly, the Maximum Depth segment would range in color from light blue to dark purple depending upon the atmospheric pressure (i.e. 1 to 33 fsw = light blue, 34 to 66 fsw = blue, 67 to 99 fsw = dark blue, 100 to 133 few = purple, etc).
By tapping on a Stop or, later a Deco segment in the central column, an editable form would be established and a new Deco segment would appear below it, successively until the Final Pressure Group was pushed downward. I'll try to combine all Deco stops in a single form in my next iteration since I'm trying to keep everything within the area of the circle.
As more advanced features, I would try to add the summary charting capabilities that I like about Numbers and Excel — for water temperature and visibility mainly (per site) and perhaps a map of marked sites with the ability to record GPS coordinates — a customizable list of sites, each with a separate details page. The Wildlife list could expand in the same manner, allowing the user to enter Latin names, notes, descriptions, and possibly upload a representative photo.
