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anotherhue
I'd suggest adding some ability for the app to be driven by hardware buttons. Then make the image full screen.

Two cheap generic BLE buttons, one for 'next contact' (wraparound) and one for call -- then automatically start a video call.

Then the phone can be docked and all the BS of unlocking or fingerprint reading, or any of the other accessibility assumptions can be ignored.

jph
Great ideas thank you. I'll add these to the roadmap page.

I've seen very promising work by Framework users who have modded a Framework laptop into a whole new kind of form factor. I wonder if that could be a viable approach for trying your ideas?

dendrite9
Have you looked at the xbox accessibility buttons/hardware? It might be useful for working on fitting various needs to go with the phone. https://www.xbox.com/en-US/accessories/controllers/xbox-adap...
jph
Thanks for the xbox hardware link. I'll take a look now.

I'm discovering that water-proofing and drop-proofing are especially important: imagine holding a drink in your hand, having hand tremors, forgetting about your drink, then trying to tap your phone-- which makes you spill your drink, then drop your phone. I'm very much seeking ideas to improve the whole interaction.

bdominy
Cool idea. Keeping the interface very simple is essential, but you might consider adding some config within the app instead of relying on setup within the Contacts app. So, maybe add a ... button to the top of each contact where a popup window could be used to select the call action or to exclude that contact from the list altogether. You might also try Text to Speech to say the contact's name after a slight delay. Good luck! I think this could be very useful.
jph
Great ideas. Much obliged. I'll add these to the roadmap page.

For config, my hope is to enable capabilities for a caretaker to select the contacts, add photos, and the like.

For text-to-speech, iOS and Android have libraries that I aim to try. And Google's new "Project Relate" is like Translate for speech disabilities.

holonsphere
It has been a few years since ive done any kind of android development but i would be more than happy to share some safety/security features as well as some potential implementations for alot of usecases i think youre missing.

The MAXS framework could do a lot to take this to the next level. http://projectmaxs.org/homepage/

If you wanted to create something that generates revenue offer your xmpp/lifealert system as a hosted solution and sell refurbished Motorola Z2 Forces pre-installed/configured w a custom rom.

I have done this exact same thing once before as part of a b2b/b2g saas solution and would love to contribute freely (wireframes, process diagrams, branding/design, documents, etc#). All i would ask for in return is your pov/guidance on some of my own efforts.

LMK

jph
Excellent, thank you. Yes let's connect. MAXS and XMPP look promising especially for my next step writing the equivalent Android app. My email is joel@joelparkerhenderson.com.
almata
Maybe the button with the phone icon could be green and much larger than the other buttons. I think that would make it easier for users of this app to understand and remember where they need to tap to call the person on the screen.
mlloydw
Great project, Josh! I'd love to see where this goes.

As a general design style, the pattern you have landed on with two big prev/next buttons and then very few action buttons (call) sounds great. I can imagine this working very well for a number of other journeys in the app. e.g. if you start to add config, making all the lists or menus work this way could be a lovely, simple interface. I'll keep an eye out and chime in if anything else comes to mind as you go.