New Oxford American Dictionary
Oxford is the world's most trusted name in dictionaries. With over 350,000 entries in the New Oxford American Dictionary, rapid search and browsing present quite a challenge, even for a powerful mobile platform like the iPhone.
Handmark, Inc. trusted ZWorkbench to create the fastest, most convenient dictionary application on the AppStore to date.
The Client
Handmark, Inc. is one of the top distributors of mobile content. With access to top brands like Oxford, they require the very best user experience for their applications.
The Challenge
Database Size. The dictionary database contains over 350,000 entries. This database must be compacted to fit on the iPhone.
Performance. We wanted to enable rapid search autocompletion with no lag as the user types.
Usability. We wanted to provide browsing capabilities that required the minimum number of touches to get to a word. We had seen other dictionary implementations that were very difficult to use because of the huge number of words to browse through.
The Solution
Rapid Search
We poured our energy into creating the fastest word search we have seen yet. Even with the huge Oxford database, there is no noticeable lag when searching for words.
Great Browsing
After investigating various ways to browse a list of 350,000 words, we arrived at a solution that puts every word in the dictionary only 3-5 touches away.
Automatic History
Instead of having to bookmark words, the history tab automatically remembers recently viewed entries.