There are hundreds of thousands of mobile apps in the App Store, but only a small portion of them have innovative design principles, friendly user interfaces, and most importantly, widespread adoption by users. In this hands-on lab and lecture course, you will learn the core design thinking and strategy principles for creating effective user interfaces for mobile devices incorporating iOS, Android Material Design, Figma, multiple prototyping softwares, AI, design systems/frameworks, user research, design thinking/strategy, cross device UX, micro-interactions, gestures, tactile experiences, sensors, and more. You will discover useful patterns for developing mobile products and design a mobile user experience using an iterative and user-centered design process.

The school provides short-term licenses of commercial prototyping tools (Balsamiq Mockups and Fluid UI) for sketching wireframe and mobile prototyping. Designing your own prototype will provide opportunities to explore new types of touch- and gesture-based user interaction that can expand the functional possibilities of your apps. This exercise will demonstrate how mobile products can be rapidly developed and released to the market.

The course covers the trends, industry practices and techniques for the most popular platforms, and by the end of the course, you will have created an engaging user interface prototype for a mobile application or the web. This mobile UI prototype will incorporate the new conceptual and technical skills learned, and can also function as a portfolio piece for future endeavors.

Learning Outcomes

At the conclusion of the course, you should be able to

• Understand mobile design and the core design principles necessary for creating a successful mobile application.
• Learn the importance of a mobile design strategy and be familiar with advances in new mobile technology and how these features can be integrated into their application.
• Implement working prototypes of your designs.
• Learn the methods on how to explore new types of gestural touch – and gesture-based user interface that can extend the functionality of your app.
• Learn how mobile products can be rapidly developed and released to the market.

Topics Include

• Latest iOS and Android Material Design Human Interface Guidelines
• Multiple prototyping softwares and user research
• Design systems and frameworks
• Responsive Design and meaningful mobile experiences
• iOS and Android UI patterns
• Cross Device UX, Lean Mobile UX and design thinking/strategy
• Micro-interactions, flat design, and gesture experiences
• Form factor user interface
• Low and high fidelity mobile concepts
• Storytelling workflow
• Augmented reality, wearable devices, and virtual reality
• Design portfolio showcasing your app

Working knowledge of:

• Communication and collaboration tools such as Google Workspace, Microsoft Office, or LibreOffice
• Learning Management Systems (LMS) such as Canvas including navigation links, modules, etc.

Additional Information

Please review section notes to view the full schedule.