Mobile UI Design: Android and iOS Specifics
Designing a mobile app is not the same as shrinking a desktop screen. Each platform has patterns users have internalized over years of daily use.
Platform conventions and when to follow them
iOS and Android have different navigation patterns, gesture vocabularies, and component behaviors. A bottom sheet works differently on each. Tab bars sit at the bottom on iOS and sometimes at the top on Android. Deviating from these conventions is a decision that needs a reason, not a default.
Hands-on tools
We use Figma throughout the course, with platform-specific UI kits for iOS 17 and Material Design 3. You design the same screen for both platforms and learn to spot the differences that matter to users versus the ones that are cosmetic.
Touch and gesture design
Minimum tap target size, thumb zones, swipe gestures, and long-press interactions. These are not guidelines to memorize — they are problems that show up in user testing when you get them wrong.
Density and context
Mobile screens are used in motion, in poor lighting, with one hand. Screen density, font sizes, and contrast requirements for mobile contexts are covered with before-and-after examples from real app redesigns.
What you produce
A 10-screen mobile app design for a given brief, delivered in both iOS and Android versions. You also record a 5-minute walkthrough video explaining your design decisions — a format commonly used in mobile design job applications.
This course does not cover React Native or any mobile development frameworks. It is a design-only program.Learning Program
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Week 1 — Platform fundamentals
iOS Human Interface Guidelines and Material Design 3 overview. Key differences that affect layout and interaction.
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Week 2 — Navigation patterns
Tab bars, bottom navigation, drawers, back navigation. How context determines which pattern fits.
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Week 3 — Touch interaction design
Tap targets, swipe zones, gestures. Designing for thumb reach across common screen sizes.
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Week 4 — Mobile typography and layout
Dynamic type on iOS, scalable text on Android. Grid systems adapted for small screens.
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Week 5 — Forms and data entry on mobile
Keyboard types, input constraints, validation patterns. Reducing friction in mobile form design.
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Week 6 — Animations and transitions
Micro-interactions, screen transitions, loading states. Communicating state changes without adding noise.
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Week 7 — Final project
Full 10-screen app design for both platforms plus video walkthrough and peer critique session.