Wild About WWF Together

Why do I love this app so much?  Is it that I was just at the National Zoo in Washington, DC and watched pandas eating bamboo in the Panda House?  Is it because everyone loves animals? Is it because it is engaging for both kids and adults? Or just that WWF Together is one of the most beautifully designed, clever apps I have seen for the iPad?

The World Wildlife Fund just released their first US iPad app, WWF Together.  It is free and available for download.  Together features endangered animals that WWF works to protect, including giant pandas, marine turtles, tigers, bison, polar bears, snow leopards, whales and elephants. More species are to be added.

When an animal is selected, you are greeted with a large portrait and text that describes a prominent characteristic of the animal. The sections are based on the mobile magazine model of accessing pages vertically and  horizontally. A grid is superimposed on the screen at touch to diagram the options.  It is usually two or three pages vertically and 3 or 4 pages horizontally.  As you move around the app, you get visual cues as to where you are. Each animal has a fact sheet with population numbers in the wild, habitat, weight, height, distance from your location (when location is enabled) and a cute revolving 3D model of the globe that shows were the animal lives in the wild.

Have I raved about the photographs and video clips yet?  They are so compelling.  WWF obviously works with some of the best photographers in the world to get such intimate portraits that tug at our hearts and minds. I am watching a panda eating bamboo right now in one of the video segments.

A design element or rather a concept element that ties this app together is origami.  This is so brilliant. Origami appeals to kids and adults alike. At the end of each animal section you are prompted to go to instructions about how to make the animal by folding paper. You see an animation of a piece of paper folding into the specific animal you have just learned about through text and images. There is a link to instructions for the origami as well as links to share on Facebook, Twitter or to email a friend.  I suspect these links will be used often and play a major role in how effective this app is to advance their mission helping save endangered species. WWF has truly integrated this app with social media and their message.

All of these features are presented in a document that is designed for clarity and accessibility. The photo galleries have the standard icon of an i in a circle to indicate additional information.  The succinct text is placed over the image in white full caps to insure it can be read.  Any extraneous design elements are not frills but used to support clarity and access to information.  It is a beautiful example of a well designed document.

I am really looking forward to sharing this new find with my iPad buddies of all ages.