The Fundamentals

Designing for mobile

Key takeaways

1. Respect platform guidelines

● When designing for native platforms,consistently refer to the native iOS and
Android design guidelines first for maximum quality.
● Keep in mind that native platform guidelines constantly evolve.

2. Reduce the clutter

● To improve comprehension, get rid of anything that isn’t absolutely necessary and
keep only the actions and content you absolutely need.
● Every screen on mobile should have max one primary action for the user to do.

3. Respect touch target sizes

● It’s best to make your targets big enough so that they’re easy for users to tap.
● The recommended size is around 44px wide and 44px tall minimum.
● It’s preferable on mobile to have buttons instead of text links.
● Ensure that you give feedback when the user taps on the button.

4. Consider tap areas

● On mobile, thumb zones are areas that are easy-to-reach, others that are hard-to-
reach and some that are in-between.
● For right handed people, the easy to reach zones are the center and bottom left.
● The hard to reach zones are on the top left, where you’d have to give extra
energy to reach.
5. Give enough contrast
● You should design an interface that has a high contrast. Not only for outdoor uses,
but also for accessibility.
● Your product should work for people with disabilities like color blind, low vision, or
just unable to read with insufficient contrast.
● This contrast can be done through colors and size, bigger buttons, more
difference of colors between foreground and background, bigger font sizes, etc.

Assignment

Read guidelines & UI kits

● iOS human interface guidelines
● Apple UI Design Resources
● Android Material Design guidelines
● Android design downloads
● Android material design kit (unofficial)

Become a UI/UX Designer