Mobile UX Design: The Beginner's Guide
How This Course Will Help Your Career
Mobile is everywhere—over 80% of the world’s population owns a smartphone. Half of the globe’s internet traffic comes from mobile. In fact, in Q2 of 2022, that number climbed to 58%.
The user experience is different on mobile. A user’s comprehension drops by 50% when they move from desktop to mobile. To overcome this, your content, visual design, navigation, etc. needs to be twice as intuitive.
Mobile is ubiquitous and inescapable, and it needs good user experience—that’s where you come in.
Mobile UX design skills are now an essential part of any UX designer’s skill set. This course will provide you with the foundations of mobile UX so that you can break into this extensive market.
What You Will Learn
The key design considerations when designing for mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets.
Different mobile design approaches, like adaptive and responsive design, and how to choose the best approach for your project.
What context of use is and why it’s so important in the mobile environment.
A human-centered process for designing mobile experiences.
How to differentiate your mobile UX strategy.
The entire lifecycle of mobile UX design from research to launch.
A mobile-specific approach and heuristics to evaluate your mobile interfaces.
The importance of designing for inclusion and a framework to challenge your design decisions.
In the “Build Your Portfolio” project, you’ll find a series of practical exercises that will give you first-hand experience with the methods we cover. You will build on your project in each lesson so once you have completed the course you will have a thorough case study for your portfolio.
Mobile User Experience Design: Introduction, has been built on evidence-based research and practice. It is taught by the CEO of ExperienceDynamics.com, Frank Spillers, author, speaker and internationally respected Senior Usability practitioner.
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Is This Course Right for You?
This course is an introduction to mobile UX, so it’s suitable for both newcomers and experienced practitioners.
It’s not just those who are concerned with the design that can benefit from learning how to design mobile user experiences. We believe that in order for organizations to deliver the best user experiences and related business functions, they should have a strong understanding of the user experience and how it can be developed in a mobile environment.
In particular, this course will benefit:
UX, UI and Web Designers—whether beginners or professionals—looking for industry-led expertise to supplement their knowledge and advance their careers.
Marketing Teams and Management looking to leverage the mobile environment for brand-building.
Web and App Developers looking to improve the usability of their products and to communicate better with designers and product managers.
UX Team Leaders and Product Managers looking to build a better product roadmap based on sound human-centered processes.
Operations Managers and/or anyone working with mobile experiences (web and app) and looking to improve the product performance for users and business stakeholders.
Learn and Work with a Global Team of Designers
You’ll join a global community and work together to improve your skills and career opportunities. Connect with helpful peers and make friends with like-minded individuals as you push deeper into the exciting and booming industry of design.
Lessons in This Course
- Each week, one lesson becomes available.
- There’s no time limit to finish a course. Lessons have no deadlines.
- Estimated learning time: 13 hours 20 mins spread over 6 weeks .
Lesson 0: Welcome and Introduction
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0.1: Welcome to Mobile UX Design: The Beginner’s Guide (13 mins)
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0.2: Build Your Portfolio (2 mins)
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0.3: Let Our Community Help You (1 min)
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0.4: How to Earn Your Course Certificate (16 mins)
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0.5: Expand Your Network and Grow Your Skills in Our Online Forums (5 mins)
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0.6: Meet and learn from design professionals in your area (1 min)
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0.7: Gain Timeless Knowledge Through Courses From the Interaction Design Foundation (21 mins)
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0.8: Mandatory vs. Optional Lesson Items (7 mins)
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0.9: A Mix Between Video-Based and Text-Based Lesson Content (6 mins)
Lesson 1: Learn the Basics of Mobile User Experience
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1.1: Welcome and Introduction (11 mins)
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1.2: How to Optimize Your Designs for Smartphones vs Tablets (19 mins)
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1.3: 3 Key Parameters to Design and Evaluate the Mobile User Experience (46 mins)
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1.4: Simple Guidelines When You Design for Mobile (18 mins)
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1.5: How to Design for Micro-Moments (20 mins)
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1.6: 8 Goals of Mobile UX (40 mins)
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1.7: How to Ethically Design for Inclusivity (17 mins)
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1.8: Discussion: Challenge the Assumptions of “Swipe Left”Design (8 mins)
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1.9: Build Your Portfolio: Evaluate an App with the 8 Goals of Mobile UX (9 mins)
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1.10: Congratulations and Recap (7 mins)
Lesson 2: How to Kick Start Your Mobile User Experience Design
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2.1: Welcome and Introduction (2 mins)
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2.2: Native, Web or Hybrid App: Which One is Better? (1 hour 10 mins)
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2.3: Context of Use for Mobile (25 mins)
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2.4: Responsive Design: Best Practices (17 mins)
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2.5: Adaptive Design: Deliver a Powerful User Experience (55 mins)
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2.6: Should You Choose between Responsive and Adaptive Design? (12 mins)
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2.7: Usability vs Desirability in Mobile UX (16 mins)
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2.8: Build Your Portfolio: Adapt to the User’s Context (8 mins)
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2.9: Congratulations and Recap (7 mins)
Lesson 3: Understand the Mobile User Experience Design Process
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3.1: Welcome and Introduction (2 mins)
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3.2: 5 Steps for Human-Centered Mobile Design (19 mins)
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3.3: UX Design for Mobile: Step 1—Assess the Current Situation (10 mins)
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3.4: UX Design for Mobile: Step 2—Understand Your User Needs (32 mins)
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3.5: UX Design for Mobile: Step 3—Define Your Value Proposition and Emotional Value (19 mins)
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3.6: UX Design for Mobile: Step 4—Differentiate Your Mobile UX Strategy (58 mins)
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3.7: UX Design for Mobile: Step 5—Sketch, Review and Refine (19 mins)
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3.8: How Does Sociability Impact Mobile User Experience? (33 mins)
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3.9: Discussion Exercise: Put UX Strategy into Practice (8 mins)
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3.10: The Mobile UX Lifecycle (15 mins)
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3.11: Build Your Portfolio: Differentiate your Mobile UX Strategy (8 mins)
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3.12: Congratulations and Recap (9 mins)
Lesson 4: Use Heuristics to Validate Your Mobile UX Designs
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4.1: Welcome and Introduction (2 mins)
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4.2: How to Apply Nielsen’s 10 Usability Heuristics to Mobile Design (35 mins)
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4.3: Use These Mobile-Specific Heuristics to Evaluate UX (13 mins)
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4.4: How to Apply the USE Scorecard to Evaluate Mobile UX (44 mins)
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4.5: Build Your Portfolio: Put Your Heuristic Evaluation Skills into Practice (11 mins)
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4.6: Congratulations and Recap (6 mins)
Lesson 5: Course Certificate, Final Networking, and Course Wrap-up
Learning Paths
This course is part of 5 learning paths:
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UX Designer Learning PathBecome a UX Designer through 21 courses in 4 parts -
Interaction Designer Learning PathBecome a Interaction Designer through 18 courses in 4 parts
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UI Designer Learning PathBecome a UI Designer through 15 courses in 4 parts
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Product Manager Learning PathBecome a Product Manager through 16 courses in 4 parts
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Marketer Learning PathBecome a Marketer through 11 courses in 3 parts
How It Works
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Control your learning.
Lessons are self-paced so you’ll never be late for class or miss a deadline. Learning and life, hand in hand.
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Earn Course Certificates.
Your answers are graded by experts, not machines. Get an industry-recognized Course Certificate to show you’ve put in the work.
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Advance your career.
Grow your professional knowledge by watching Master Classes, networking within our UX community, and more.
Start Advancing Your Career Now
Join us to take “Mobile UX Design: The Beginner's Guide”. Take other courses at no additional cost. Make a concrete step forward in your career path today.
Advance my career nowFrequently Asked Questions
When I finish a course, do I have to pay extra to get my certificate?
Can I take more than one course at a time?
With a Student membership, you can take a maximum of two courses at the same time. You can still take as many courses as you would like – free of extra charges – just as long as you finish or drop them so that you don’t have more than two ongoing courses.
I missed the enrollment, and now the course is closed. What can I do?
Don't worry if you missed the course. We will re-run it shortly. One of the reasons we continually open and close courses is in order to control the classroom size.
Networking is a large part of our value proposition, so we want just the right number of people inside the courses. That is also why we display the "XX % percent booked" on our course icons.
Do I have to be online at an exact time to study?
No. You can set your own study schedule. There are no "live sessions" since we have members from all timezones around the world. We are a truly global community.
Thus, once you are enrolled, you can take all the time to complete a given course. Every "classroom" in each course will never close, so you’ll have permanent access to your classmates and your course material (as well as your own answers).
Will I receive a Course Certificate?
Yes. You will get a digital industry-recognized course certificate every time you complete a course. Certificates never expire and can be saved as a .jpg file, so it's easy to be shared. Also, there is no limit to how many certificates you can earn during your membership.
You can see an example of a Course Certificate at the bottom of the Course Catalogue.
I have answered questions in a lesson; when will they be marked/graded?
I have updated my name, but my course certificate is not updated — how can I change it?
Don't worry; once you change your name, your certificate will be updated automatically in the next 48 hours.
I have started my course later than the specified date, are my answers still going to be marked?
Sure! We will be marking all your answers for as long as you are an active member.
How are courses graded?
For how long will I have access to the course materials?
You will have access to the course materials for the entire duration of your membership. So, if you pay for a one-year membership, you will have access for one year. Renewing your membership for a second year means you will have access to one more year, and so on.
New lessons are starting before I have completed the previous lesson(s). Am I going to be locked out of these unfinished lessons?
No, you will not be locked out of any lesson or course. You will have access to all course materials throughout your membership, so there is no pressure to keep at the same pace as the specified lesson release dates.
All we recommend is that you try to stick to the same schedule as other participants. The reason is they may have moved on to other lessons, thereby meaning you could miss out on the social aspects of the course(s).
Do I have a specific date to award my certificates?
No, you can generate your certificate as soon as you score at least 70% of the total course points.
When will I receive my Course Certificate?
Course certificates will be given to participants when they have scored more than 70% or more of the total course points. For example, if a course contains ten lessons each with ten questions, you will receive a course certificate when the instructor has awarded you at least 70 points (70% of the total course points).
There is no specified time that certificates will be awarded — instead, they are given to participants as and when they have answered all questions, even if this is long after the official end date.
How do I add my Certificate to my LinkedIn profile?
Below is a step-by-step guide on how to add your Interaction Design Foundation course(s) to your LinkedIn profile:
Log in to your LinkedIn account, then go to your profile.
Below your profile description, click on the button Add profile section, choose Recommended and then select Add license or certification.
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3. In the following fields add:
Name – Course name
Issuing organization – The Interaction Design Foundation
Check the field “This credential does not expire”
Issue date - Input the date written on your certificate (e.g., May 2021)
Credential ID – Your membership ID number – it's written on your certificate. (For non-members, you can leave this field blank or, if you prefer, insert the certificate ID, which can be extracted from the certificate link. This ID will begin with "mcc_" and be followed by a string of numbers and letters.")
Credential URL: Input the certificate URL provided on your course page
4. Click the Save button.
Congratulate yourself! Earning the certificate is a great accomplishment and now you can share it with the world!
How do I add the Interaction Design Foundation Membership Certificate to my LinkedIn Profile?
Below is a step-by-step guide on how to add your Interaction Design Foundation course(s) to your LinkedIn profile:
Log in to your LinkedIn account, then go to your profile.
Below your profile description, click on the button Add profile section, choose Recommended and then select Add license or certification.
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3. In the following fields add:
Name – Membership Certificate
Issuing organization – The Interaction Design Foundation
Check the field “This credential does not expire”
Issue date - Input the date when you joined our community (e.g., May 2019)
Credential ID – Your membership ID number (it's written on your certificate)
Credential URL: Input the certificate URL provided on your profile page
4. Click the Save button.
It is as simple as that. Now, anyone who visits your profile can see your certificate!
How much will I have to pay for the courses?
After you pay for your membership, you can take as many courses as you want with no additional costs. There are no further charges on top of the membership fee.
Do you provide mostly beginners' or more advanced courses?
How long does it take to complete a course?
You will need approximately 5-8 hours to complete one lesson. Each course has between 3 and 16 lessons.
Once enrolled in a course, you will gain access to a new lesson each week, which you are free to complete without any deadlines and no end date, either.
I scored less than 70% in a course, so I didn't qualify for a certificate. Can I try again?
Yes! Everyone's learning journey looks different, and we'd never stop our members from trying again. To retake a course, just follow these steps:
1. Go to your profile and click on the relevant course you'd like to retake.
2. Underneath your progress bar, you'll see a phrase "UX Courses" with an arrow (>) pointing to a clickable landing page of that course. Click on that link.
3. Once on the landing page, scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page. You'll see a red button, which you can simply click to drop the course.
4. Head back to our main list of UX Courses, and re-enroll yourself in the course. You'll all set to try again!
Please note that when you drop a course, you will lose any answers and progress you submitted. We advise that you screenshot or save any answers you'd like to reuse.
In some cases, we can open up lessons for members who are retaking a course, so that they don't have to wait for familiar lessons to unlock each week. If you'd like us to do this for you, please get in touch with our support team at hello@interaction-design.org, and we can help you out.
How do I drop a course?
To drop a course, the following should be done:
1. Visit your profile page and click the 'continue lesson...' button for the course you want to drop.
2. Click the course name link breadcrumb near the top of the page that opens (this only appears in unlocked lessons, not upcoming lessons)
3. Click the red 'drop my course now' button at the bottom of the page that opens
