UX Design for Mobile Developers

Mobile developers ultimately care for the users. If we want to build apps that cater to users’ needs, then it makes sense to design our apps for them. UX Design for Mobile Developers by Google at Udacity is a course targeted to us developers to help us build our next 5-star app.

##LESSON 1 - UI IS NOT UX

• UI is for designers (refers to visual representations). UX is for everyone (refers to overall experience)
• Don’t think too detailed immediately.
• Create a low res wireframe first that sums up the ultimate experience of the user (ex: pizza app: from hungry to satisfied)

##LESSON 2 - USE PERSONAS TO AVOID BIASES

• Personas and their characteristics are determined by UX researchers or by the target market
• Sample Persona: Dorm Room Debbie
• Sample Characteristics: lives in a dorm, doesn’t have a car, lives in a budget
• Create use cases for all the personas
• Use cases must be consistent with personas
• Derive feature list from use cases and personas made

##LESSON 3 - CONSIDER MOBILE CONSTRAINTS ON DESIGNS

1. Battery and network limit - power and connectivity are precious resources
   • Conserve battery
   • Decide on what to sync or cache
   • Make decisions based on network connection
2. Small screen - most mobile devices are small
   • Avoid imbalances, excessive white spaces, and very long texts which are unnatural to be read.
   • Some solutions:
     • Two pane layouts: Master detail views
     • Macro reflows: alternate layout for independent components (eg. image above text in portrait mode to image beside text in landscape mode)
     • Micro reflows: alternate representation; list in portrait mode to grid in landscape
3. Handedness- consider the natural finger reach when using mobile phones
   • Touch areas must be big enough for fingers to press.
   • Decide on an experience which can be:
     • one-handed (thumb only)
     • two-handed (like when texting or sending chat messages)
     • two-handed assisted (using one hand to hold the phone and another hand to touch and scroll as in web browsing)
4. Divided user attention - users have short attention spans
   • Deliver concise and straight to the point content
   • Make relevant commands available
   • Consider using notifications so that the user doesn’t always need to open the app

##LESSON 4 - MAKE APPS CONTEXT-AWARE

If context can be deduced, use it as much as possible. Use Google APIs such as the Location API or built-in sensors such as proximity to know about the context of the app usage