Daily UI 004 - Calculator

The third challenge was to design a calculator. We weren't given a specific type of calculator (as you know there are quite a few) so I decided to go with a standard one for mobile use. 

Calculators are pretty simple, and I think they should be. All the complicated stuff should be behind the screen where they do all the tedious thinking so we don't have to. So I used this as an opportunity to play with color palettes. I got this one from coolors.co. 

I think the main things a calculator should do is be clear and be visible. I wasn't able to find many articles on how to design one. But I did find one complaint about not knowing what you pressed - which I solved by having the buttons respond with color - and not being able to see the previous operations - which I solved by displaying them above the current input with increasing opacity. In the app you'd be able to scroll upwards so you can see your previous operations.  

I mentioned that there are calculators that do many things. But then I figured why couldn't one calculator just do all of them? So this one has a slide up menu where you can switch between calculator types. That way you can calculate a tip, a mortgage, or switch to a more advanced scientific calculator.

 I'm not sure how these new types would change the UI of the first calculator, but this was a simple challenge and that would take a lot more time to design. Let me know what you think so far. 

~ Lisa Lou