App Design and Development Process – Prototyping

When designing for apps, you have to have a deep knowledge of different devices.

New device categories like smartwatches force us as designers to learn new paradigms.

Challenge the way you think 

Change the way you work

Lean UX cycles

Think, make, check

Sketching on paper allows designers such as ourselves, to think less of design and to think more on the actual function and flow. This is without distractions by design details such as colors, size, and fonts.

The term “mobile-first” simply means starting with the smaller screen, even if your app will run on both smartphones and tablets, beginning by design for the smaller phone is more effective adapting a larger design to a smaller one. 

The design process starts with mobile than a tablet than a laptop than a desktop.

Understand development

The success of the app depends on the designer and developer working well together to achieve a shared goal. 

Use a variety of operating systems

When designing a mobile app, if your target is the global mobile market you have to have access to at least Android, iOS and Windows phone devices and be familiar with the operating systems.

A useful exercise to understand patterns on operating systems is to download the same app on all operating systems and analyze their distinctions and similarities.

Prototype everything 

Prototypes help us to evaluate file user testing and apps usability, ideally, you don’t have to wait long until you build your prototype. 

What you see is not always what you get 

With apps, you have to test on a mobile device to see how a user interface will look and function.

Apps are never finished 

It is a digital product that evolves. If there is a problem with the app, the user is always right, detecting problems is an opportunity on how to learn and correct our work, thereby improving it and building an easy to use the app.

What did I learn

I learned that designing apps requires a new way of thinking, I now understand that tablets, smartphones, and watches are separate and distinct devices. Sarah said that sketching on paper allows designers to think less of design and to think more about the actual functions and flow of the app and I think that’s really valuable advice and a helpful approach to learn and take for my future designs.