mobile first: a future friendly approach to ux design

a future-friendly approach to experience design

asher godfrey blumberg mobile UX designer // stumbleupon @ashergodfrey

1961 the first computer interface

1984 the apple macintosh computer

2007 iPhone

2009 kinect

2011 siri

2011 nest

2013 oculus rift

2015 apple watch

2015 amazon echo

the future ?

future-friendly strategies will allow our designs to work and look the best on devices that haven’t even been invented yet.

we have such an intimate relationship with our mobile devices, we expect them to be extensions of ourselves.

~brad frost

photo credit: brad frost

reconciling iOS & android paradigms

a common design language

Create a design language that incorporates Apple’s “flat” iOS features and Google’s Material Design so as to feel native, yet unique enough that users realize they’re in a distinctly branded app

Play by the rules (in the beginning.) Read the iOS Human Interface & Material Design Guidelines

photo from ebli rumbaugh

iconography

One method is to style icons for their respective platforms, sticking to thin-stroked, hollow icons on iOS and going bolder on Android.

Alternatively, create custom icons that can live across both iOS & Android.

Stick with colors specified in your branding guide. This will help with consistency in the future when working across platforms.

colors

stumbleupon live style guide

google material design

above & beyond the guidelines

Be intentional and back it up by good reasoning when you take liberties with the guidelines.

Adapt your designs to varying contexts and blend different styles to create an authentic and meaningful UI.

photo from material design

pro tips

Use good naming conventions. When exporting assets for development, stick to layer names that match your naming conventions.

Use text styles for headlines and other repeating text types

Create symbols for repeating patterns or UI elements.

Take advantage of artboards for a multi-screen view so you can quickly see your flows and product depth. Doing this will help you stay focused on the big picture.

developer friendly specs

Ask the engineer what they are looking for in a spec. Some engineers might want flawless specs to achieve pixel perfection. Other engineers might not need super extensive markup, depends on the needs of the project.

Scope of Work, Project requirements (Target Audience, Goals, etc.), client design assets

friendly folder structures

research

Completed user research as well as research that still needs to be done

discovery inspiration

Anything you find that inspires you from pinterest, dribbble, behance, awwwards, designer news, etc..

User journeys, personas, scenarios, flows, Information Architecture, white boarding

friendly folder structures

visual design

Hi-fidelity mockups, Iconography, visual explorations

UX prototypes

InVision, Pixate, Origami, Keynote AfterEffects Framer, Hype Tumult, etc

best practices

value aesthetic integrity

Aesthetic integrity represents how well an app’s appearance and behavior integrates with its function to create a coherent dialogue

Take cues from classic designs and you may end up creating a timeless design.

photo via shutterstock

transform the noise into the signal

The noise can become the signal, meaning the interface should be part of the goal.

Create worthwhile experiences that value users’ attention spans.

Tools like StumbleUpon, Pocket, Readability, Feedly, Flipboard and Facebook offer users an escape from the bombardment of obnoxious distractions, i.e. animated ads, popups, blogrolls, while seamlessly delivering content.


concise & contextual

Mobile mediums require vary in context of use so your method should be tailored with this in mind

Describe functionality in your app on a ‘need to know’ basis

Get rid of redundancy

Trim copy to be as short as possible


photo from artstechnica.com

http://artstechnica.com

design for affordance

An affordance in an interface is the interaction possibility of an element based on it’s size, shape and weight that intuitively implies its functionality and use.

Animation serves as an affordance. Animations can suggest that the current UI came from somewhere, and that the previous one went somewhere. Good transitions take advantage of this by enabling that affordance.

aibnb.com

gestures are the new tap

More apps are relying on gestures beyond the tap for their primary interactions.

The number of gesture interfaces on today's screens is growing. Pinch, zoom, a long press, force touch, swipe menus, pull-to-refresh, flingable cards, edge swipes, and draggable side menus are now the norm.

Takeaways: enforce more consistency, align with natural actions, include clear cues

photo from hbr.org

http://hbr.org

rotate

paul flavius fechita via dribbble

pull/unfold

cuberto via dribbble

clear

swipe/drag

rise

cover to reveal

peek

understanding #trends

mobile first wins

Think mobile first: scale up from mobile to tablet to desktop

Create a product that looks and functions well on mobile first given the many restraints that you face

Since you’ve already synthesized your product to it’s most vital elements you get to decide how to make it even more robust, instead of deciding of what to cut or water down

“Mobile first” is becoming less of a buzzword, it’s more of a requirement now.

responsive design

Responsive design is a technique. It boils down to creating experiences meant to look and function beautifully to fit any screen size or device

Responsive design involves fluid layouts, flexible images (and media objects), and media queries

design by Q42, Fabrique for The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam

why flat design?

Flat design limits visual elements, exposing only essential functionality

Flat design reduce the resource load on smaller devices

Flat design make it easier to convey meaning with animation and focus on the micro-interactions

Simple designs are easier to scan

frankchimero.com

post flat

flat design is just the beginning. the real trend is towards simplicity and immediacy, and we expect that to go further than ever in 2015.

~Jowita Ziobro

photo credit: ebli rumbaugh

experiential minimalism

Experiencing and learning a design with the minimal viable artistic elements communicating its concept.

The goal of minimalist design is to simplify technology by developing a story that people can understand.

A design is successful when it’s use case is clearly communicated

design by sebastien gabriel

pushing boundaries

The only way we can push forward and innovate is by taking creative risks. New and inspiring work gives others a spark to push their boundaries.

Even if you’re compelled to follow a layout or style trend, add a touch of creativity to make it unique.


the best interface is no interface

~golden krishna

photo credit: piyatat hemmatat

the Sproutling

photo from peter sweeney

less interface = better interface

Minimal interfaces perform better.

We should strive to design interfaces that can fluidly interact with the complexities of the real world.

The interfaces we design may effectively become invisible over time, but that will only happen if we design them to be legible, readable, understandable and to foreground culture over technology.


~ben watson, herman miller

photo credit: pixabay

as everything becomes available everywhere—in the physical and virtual world—more and more people will respond to designs that offer a mutable framework for personalization, individual expression, and adaptability.