How can a UI designer enhance his own value and become an excellent mobile UI designer?

Everyone knows that UI design is very popular at present, and many people want to learn UI design and get a well-paid job. For people engaged in the UI design industry, they are thinking about how to improve their skills and get higher salaries. The article that Bian Xiao wants to share with you today is about mobile UI designers, teaching you how to improve your value and become an excellent mobile UI designer. Let's take a look together ~

\ tThe UI design of mobile terminal has its unique design rules and constraints. The continuous addition of new technologies has promoted the rapid growth of mobile platforms, and the UI design of mobile terminals is not quite the same as the traditional flat poster/webpage design. So, what skills do you need to master to become a qualified mobile UI designer, and what kind of practice can you achieve?

\tPart 1 challenges and limitations

\ tEvery media has its limitations. Even on the mobile platform full of opportunities, freedom and creativity, there are many problems to be solved urgently and inevitable limitations.

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\t\t 1, fragmented mobile terminal

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\t Nowadays, there are countless smart phones circulating in the market. Different smart terminals not only have different sizes, but also have different screen pixels per inch due to different resolutions. After careful consideration, the input mechanism, screen ratio and screen direction of these terminals will affect the UI design of mobile terminals.

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\ tWeb page design on the mobile side can ensure browsing experience under different screens with the help of responsive design, while APP design on the mobile side is relatively lack of liquidity. Therefore, as a mobile UI designer, you still need to consider the differences in layout design and user experience caused by screen differences.

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\t\t2。 Separate operating system platform

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\ tAt present, the three mainstream mobile phone operating systems are iOS, Android and _ _ indowsPhone (with a small market share and basically marginalized in China). Each operating system has its own set of design specifications, interaction methods and program interfaces, and these things also have their own changes with the update of the operating system version.

\ t The most typical example is the version split of Android operating system, and the program compatibility problem caused by the split has not been bridged so far, which involves the difference of operating system version and the strange compatibility problem caused by vendor customization (Android developers have been crying in the toilet for countless times).

\tiOS has also gone through a long transition period with the big version upgraded from 6.0 to 7.0. So far, the design style and compatibility problems of the two major versions still affect the developers. How painful it is to upgrade WindowsPhone from 7 to 8, so I won't go into details here. I really don't want to recall those terrible past events and the scene of Microsoft executives drowning in saliva.

\t Even though the interactive design of the three platforms is highly unified in their respective platforms, the impact of system version split, operating system differences and vendor customization cannot be ignored by developers and designers.

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\t\t3。 perform

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\ tThe way an application is designed and built will directly affect its performance. In other words, if the programs installed in your mobile phone are well designed, your mobile phone can stand by for a day and a half. If one of the programs is not well designed, you need to bring an extra mobile power supply when you go out.

\ tSome unnecessary transition animations may make your CPU perform intensive operations for it, and a problematic JS code may make your browser consume several times more power than usual. Maybe GalaxyS5 just launched this year can run an application smoothly, but Galaxy_exus two years ago may get stuck as soon as it opens the application.

\ tGenerally speaking, the design and development will affect the performance of the APP, even the battery life of the mobile phone (some domestic mobile phone users and developers cry in the toilet together).

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\t\t4。 Development and cost control

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\ tThere are many applications that are cool and novel from the beginning, but that doesn't mean they can be easily implemented. The design and development of an application will directly determine whether it can be realized before the deadline. If the development cost of an application cannot be clearly understood, the burden borne by the developer will be doubled, which will also lay a curse for the subsequent development of the application.

\ t The second part gives up the mentality.

\t When we first started to learn design and development, the digital age was just beginning, and our understanding of new things was not mature. The "time lag" between school education and actual design and development makes many designers' cognition of digital Internet slightly "static", and even forms some kind of thinking customization, and they know little about mobile Internet.

In this era of information explosion, the mobile Internet catalyzed by fierce competition is evolving and advancing at a frightening speed, which makes designers need to keep up with the pace of development and update their understanding of the Internet at any time.

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\t\t 1。 The mobile terminal is not a canvas.

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\ tThere are great differences between mobile design and graphic design. It is no longer a flat canvas. I doubt whether PS and AI are enough to help designers complete the transition from flat to mobile Internet, although PS and AI have helped designers accomplish countless feats in the past 20 years. At present, we still need them to draw more UI and icons with different screen sizes, but we need more other software to show the different side of mobile terminals, such as using AE to draw dynamic effects.

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\t\t2。 From conceiving screen layout to considering interface conversion.

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\ tWhat is needed is that in the design of mobile UI, it is not enough to only consider the screen layout. High-quality mobile apps such as Facebook _aper, Yahoo Weather, WeatherChannl, etc. are just like we have proved how the transition animation between interfaces makes a UI interface tense.

\ tMaterials used in newly launched Android_.

The design hides a series of excessive effects that make you want to stop behind the seemingly ordinary static interface.

\ tThe dynamic effect between interface transitions used to be just to win a smile, but now it is becoming the mainstream and the core of mobile user experience. It is becoming an important element of interaction and interface, giving the interface rhythm and vitality. Dynamic effect not only shows the process of movement, but also shows the space, level and change, which brings users a completely different experience in the basic interface structure.

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\t\t3。 Throw away your "designer style".

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\t You don't need to make the interface unique or original, especially if you redesign all interfaces to be unique, and then put the whole product at risk to be unique. Many times, adhering to native UI elements and patterns is an important guarantee for timely delivery of applications. It is often more appropriate to create a simple and efficient interactive interface and create real brand value than to forcibly promote unique and original designs.

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\t\t4。 The real APP is no worse than the designer's conceptual design.

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\ tMany designers like to get inspiration from websites such as Behance and Dribbble. Although there are some dynamic high-quality design works, if you are not an experienced mobile UI designer, you may be misled by these works. Many of these designs are just high-fidelity demonstrations that have never been realized. When you are planning to design an interface, some may affect your thinking.

\ tTherefore, learn from those successful applications that have been launched. You will learn rich nutrition from it and see the booming design trend. These cases verified by the market and users will make you understand what a design is worth learning.

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\ t Part 3 Learning New Skills

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\t\t 1。 Understand the platform.

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\ tJust as a web designer needs to know HTML/CSS, as a mobile UI designer, you should know the architecture of mobile APP. First of all, the language developed by the mobile terminal is different from the web design. Different platforms have their own programming languages and interfaces, and the composition of interfaces cannot be realized by CSS and tags.

\t You need to read the official development documents to understand the composition, compilation method, release method and design rules of the APP. These things are not only related to your application development, but also affect the stability and battery life of the system. As a mobile UI designer, it is not enough to know the design. Of course, in the long run, it is also good for your career.

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\t\t2。 Understand the technical composition of mobile terminals.

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\ tIt is not enough to understand the basic functions of the platform. Next, you need to know its related technical components: location services (wifi, GPS, etc. ), Bluetooth (low power Bluetooth technology), signals, front and rear cameras, microphones, gyroscopes, position sensors, acceleration sensors, fingerprint scanners (iPhone5s), eye tracking technology, voice recognition, face recognition and so on.

\ tEvery new technology means more possibilities for applications, interaction design, user experience and even business models.

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\t\t3。 Explore the development potential of local UI components.

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\ tThere are always a large number of local UI components in each mobile phone operating system, and there is a lot of freedom for you to customize. You need to know their characteristics (size, size, function) accurately, and you can save a lot of working time for the developers you cooperate with.

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\t\t4。 Understand the workflow of mobile terminal.

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\ tInstall and run SDK to learn about mobile development frameworks such as TubyMotion, Xamarin and Titanium. Familiar with the integrated development environment, because it contains all aspects needed for mobile development.

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\t\t5。 Understand the interface mode of mobile terminal.

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\ tThere are similarities among the three major mobile platforms, but if we deeply explore their interaction design, we will find that their concepts are quite different. As a designer, you need to understand these differences and how they are reflected in actual cases.

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\ tDon't just focus on a single platform. All three platforms need in-depth experience, and you should play at least once a day for at least half a year. In this process, experience the differences and keep the screenshots that you think are important, representative and worth keeping records. As an avid fan of a single platform, you can't be a mobile UI designer.

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\t\t6。 Record and explain your UI design.

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\ tConsidering that screen capture is not enough to show all the features of UI, you need to learn to record different states, transition process, transition animation and other information of the interface, and learn to record the feedback of the interface for different situations.

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\t\t7。 Practice lean UX design in the design stage.

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\ tModern designers should be designers with strategic vision. Your goal can't be limited to making beautiful interfaces. You should combine your design with teamwork to meet the needs of the project. Insight into the deep-seated needs of users, and can quickly feedback to the design. Save the design works and attach detailed instructions to ensure that all designs meet the core concepts and user needs.

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\t\t8, adopt agile UX design in the development stage.

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\ tYou can't just give the high-fidelity model to the developers, because new requirements will be put forward constantly during the development process. There will always be situations that have not been fully considered before, which need to be supplemented and improved in the development stage, and designers need to respond quickly. Therefore, at this stage, designers really need to sit next to developers and deal with emergencies. Ensure that developers don't have to supplement the details of UX themselves or come to the designer to meet new requirements.

\ t Part 4 Tips for Designing Mobile Web Pages

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\t\t 1, responsive design

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\ tOn the mobile side, responsive design is not a universal solution. Sometimes it fits, sometimes it doesn't. It is your responsibility to consider when to adopt special solutions and when to do responsive design, and use CSS and JS carefully.

\ tIndeed, CSS animation, gradient and shadow are excellent and easy to realize. The parallax web page looks cool, too, and many designers are interested in it. However, these elements are very resource-consuming, which will generate a great load on the mobile phone browser, and then affect the battery life. It is necessary to properly control CSS special effects and JS dynamic special effects. Even if the browser on a low-performance mobile phone can support the CSS3 selector well, the performance bottleneck will make the overall experience poor.

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\t\t2。 Use the right tools to do the right thing.

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\ tThis is not a very accurate list, but you can find many good tools to help you accomplish different tasks. Some are free, and some are on the Mac platform.

\ tAll these things are out of date?

This is true, but it is also wrong. At present, the development of mobile terminals is very rapid, the design trend is constantly changing, the era of smart home appliances and Internet of Things is coming, and the corresponding sensor technology and mobile applications will also bring more challenges. As a mobile UI designer, we have too much to learn, and accordingly, the opportunity has come.

\t The above is an article shared by Bian Xiao today about how to improve his value and become an excellent mobile UI designer. I hope this article is helpful to you who are studying UI design or engaged in mobile UI design. I hope everyone can become an excellent UI designer. Want to know more about UI design, remember to pay attention to UI design training of Jade Bird in official website and Peking University.

\ tArticle source: #/article/0G2LHQBa

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