Mobile App Design Roundup

App development is more than just writing code – design is just as important. Here’s a collection of links to some recent articles on mobile design, most of which date from this year (mobile’s such a moving target that design articles on the topic tend to date rather quickly). Enjoy!

• An Insider’s View of Mobile-First Design: Don’t Make These Mistakes – Luke Wroblewski, CEO and co-founder of Input Factory, and creator of the iOS app Polar, reminds us that the tried-and-true rules of design for the desktop don’t necessarily apply to mobile.
• Smashing Magazine’s collection of guidelines for mobile development – A couple dozen of their articles on mobile design. Most concern themselves with mobile web app development, but a lot of that is just as applicable to native mobile apps as well.
• Designing a Mobile App? Don’t Make These 10 Mistakes – Ryan Matzner, lead strategist as Fueled, reminds us to “think through what your users are trying to achieve and let that inform your designs”.
• 6 Things You Should Do When Designing for Mobile – Moment’s John Payne talks with Forbes’ Diane Mehta about taking a clinical app running on feature phones and turning it into a commercial app for smartphones and the lessons learned along the way.
• Tale of a Top-10 App, Part 1: Idea and Design covers the idea and design behind Jeremy Olson’s translation app, Languages. Also worth reading is the follow-up article: Tale of a Top-10 App, Part 2: Marketing and Launch.

• 11 Tips for Developing a Mobile App That Users Will Love – Scott Gerber talks about practices for developing mobile apps that you, the mobile app developer and designer, shouldn’t ignore.
• 90% of Mobile Apps Have Inadequate Help – Michael Mace, Mobile Strategist at UserTesting.com, brings up a problem that a lot of app developers seem to have ignored: help accessible on every screen, that’s context-sensitive and searchable.
• Want a Better Mobile App? Use Wireframing and Flowcharts – I’ve used some apps that are visually beautiful, but workflow-wise, pretty scrambled. here’s a quick reminder that you can’t ignore the basics.
• Use of Flat Design in Mobile App Interfaces, Best Examples – The “flattening” of mobile UIs, what with Windows Phone, Android, and now iOS, is in full swing. If you’re looking for inspiration for the UI for your next app, these examples are great places to start.
• Designing for Mobile: Responsive Design vs. Mobilized Sites vs. Mobile App – A basic consideration when starting out: which should you go with?
• How to Design a Mobile App – Good guidelines for mobile app designers, starting with conception all the way to follow-up.
• 5 Pillars of Successful Mobile Design – General principles you should embrace.
• 7 Usability Guidelines for Websites on Mobile Devices – Equally applicable to native apps.
• Mobile Website Design: 30 Pro Tips – Things to think about when designing your app.