Nowadays, smart phones have become an indispensable object in people's lives. It stimulates the explosive of mobile App in all kinds of app stores. The functional Apps could not only simplifies the fast and hurry life, but also provides a great convenient for people.For designers, they are facing more opportunities and challenges. Every designer dreams of making the best app UI design, as well as the most user-friendly UX design to win this huge market.

The excellent mobile App interface design should have two characteristics: simple, and be easy to use. That is also the responsibility of designers to make such beautiful mobile Apps with great user experience design. The best App UI design should be simple and functional to provide enough information for users by the gorgeous interface design.Also, that’s a key factor to give an impressive visual effect to users and make them stay for it and download it. On the contrary, if the users feel puzzled and don’t understand the design concept, that could be a failed UI design.

To provide more inspirations for the great UI designers, here at Mockplus we listed 5 the best App UI design examples in 2017.

1. Natural Home

Highlights: minimalist style

Address: https://dribbble.com/shots/3135354-Natural-Home/at...

In the case of Minimalist style has been widely used in UI design. Under the precondition of function, many excellent design website and App are advocating to promote the simple design. The interface design of Natural Home is very simple, clear, and the user can understand each of the functional section of the panel, and will not feel incongruity.

2. City Intro Animatio

Highlights: Dynamic visual attraction

Address: https: //dribbble.com/shots/2041810-City-intro-animation

As we all know, UI is not limited to a fixed interface, many UI design has begun through the dynamic form to attract users. From the point of view of interface design, video or dynamic performance forms are more vivid than static images,that will give users more intuitive visual feedback.

3. Events Discover App

Highlights: professional color

Address: www.uplabs.com/posts/events-discover-app

To judge an App’s user interface is beautiful or not, that greatly determined by the color. The App UI design should be good in the visual effect, and comfortable on color, that can greatly optimize the visual experience. The appropriate color effect could produce a shocking visual impact to some degree. In this App, the right color provided users with an impressive visual experience.

4. Intimate

Highlights: Prototype design

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Address: http://doc.mockplus.com/?p=744

2017 is easier than ever to bring ideas into life, and the boundaries between UX and UI designers will continually getting blurred, despite the questions of UX is not UI, or UI not equals to UX, etc., are still existed. While the trend is more tending to integrate the design process of UX and UI design. Prototyping design will be a more indispensable part. The emergence of new prototyping tools such as Mockplus, Proto.io will greatly improve the designer's work-flow so that they can spend more time thinking about users than starting from scratch every time.

Despite this music app is made by prototyping tool but not the UI design tool. But we can see that more and more design tools are aware of the UX design and UI design at the same time.

5. Marline

Highlights: Clear typography

Address: https: //www.javiperez.net/#marline

Marline is an App with elegant interface design, and it has very comfortable visual effects. Smooth animations, soothing palettes, and crisp typography allow users to love it at first glance and want to choose it as a daily weather application.

6. Fitness App Chatbot

Highlights: Dialogue interface

Address: https://dribbble.com/shots/3850121-Fitness-app-cha...

Chatbot technology has been integrated into consumer applications for a long time,which helps to perform and handle common tasks and reduce the burden for users a lot. What makes FITSY different from all the other fitness apps is it's AI/Bot virtual assistant that can assist you in making decisions based on your stats, having all the nutrition and exercise calculations done for you no matter what your level and know how is, and most importantly keep you motivated just like a personal trainer to reach your fitness goals.

7. Weather App Interactions

Highlights: Cards

Address: https://dribbble.com/shots/3901223-Weather-App-Int...

Cards mode is not a new breakthrough in the app UI design. But for UI design, it’s a very functional design. With the success of mobile app UI design and its integration into Google's Material Design, cards have been prominent in web design. As a widely-used UI design method, it works on a variety of platforms, from smaller screen devices to larger ones. They are a great way to organize and display large amounts of data on the screen at the same time, allowing users to quickly filter available information and choose to view it. Facebook, Twitter, Netflix and Pinterest are all powerful digital platforms, all of them using the form of a card.

This app was made by Tubik Studio. Rain or shine, the day is fine: here's a new set of iPad interactions for a weather app concept. The data is organized in cards which react on scrolling imitating the physical perspective of close and distant objects.

8. Bullet Journal

Highlights: Micro interactions

Address: https://dribbble.com/shots/3268753-Bullet-Journal-...

Micro interactions play a crucial role in UI and UX design, especially on mobile devices and small screen devices. Smart designers make users happy by implementing functions in a funny way. From fun-loaded animations to sleek icon conversions, effective micro-interaction can both act as a catalyst for attracting and informing users.

Bullet Journaling is an analog task management and calendar system that makes it easy to to schedule tasks and mark progress. The simple gestures make it looks like for a digital version.

9. QiangChang Music App

Highlights: Paper Design

Address: https://dribbble.com/shots/3938033-Qianchang-Music

At present, many excellent apps or web design take advantage of the minimalist effect of paper design: Reasonable sense of hierarchy and appropriate segmentation, as well as the selection of dynamic and so on. At the same time, paper design also has a close link with the often used card design.

With the simple and clear paper design interface, the design concept of this music app displays a thinking of only music concerned, and no any other disturbing for users. And with the clear and traditional Chinese style background, it’s very popular by this kind of minority and simplify design.

10. Monthly Data Reports

Highlights: Flat design

Address: https://dribbble.com/shots/3576176-Monthly-Data-Re...

Graphic design aligns with the viewer's emotions and feelings by adjusting shapes, shades, brush strokes and alphabetical spacing of fonts. As the current trend of design, flat design, is also has the same characteristics. In our daily life, the flat design has become the mainstream design direction in web and app UI design, and can even affect the daily decisions in our lives and has the potential to solve problems.

This data report app combined with the elegant flat design and sports data. That brings a fresh feeling to users after sporting to check the data.

The above are the 10 best App UI design examples I collected for UI designers’ inspiration. Now the App UI design technology is constantly improving, all kinds of trends competing. The pursuit of flat design, minimalist style, the pursuit of animation, which are now the most popular UI design trends. However, the most amazing or prototyping design, Mockplus prototyping design is not just to meet the low fidelity, stunning and meticulous high degree of fidelity will make people very unexpected.

Originally posted at: 

10 Best APP UI Design for Your Inspiration in 2017

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What is a Full Stack Designer in 2017? Will You Be One?

Compared to the Full Stack Designer, we seem to be more familiar with the Full Stack Developers. So what is full stack designer exactly? Can we simply think he/she is a versatile designer?

In the past, designers and developers have a clear role assignment. They rarely do the both at the same time. While with the changes in product design and the evolution of team collaboration, many web designers are able to manage web developing and UX design at present.

So there comes a question: what’s the character of the so-called full stack designer? He/She is only a designer? Also coding while being a designer? Or he/she is a designer as well as a web developer?

What is a Full Stack Designer?

In fact, the concept of Full Stack Developer came out earlier than the Full Stack Designer. But full stack does not mean to do all. Specifically, it refers to a person who masters muti-skills and he can use them to independently complete a design or product development.

That means that a truly full stack designer can build a basic conception of a project, and complete the whole design and development related works. Such as the wireframes/prototypes design, visual design, and the front coding, JS / jQuery, etc.

The Emergence

The come out of the full stack designer is not accidental according to the current situation. With the outbreak of mobile Apps and the arrival of the entrepreneurship tide, there are many small development teams who cannot set full positions. That forced the team members to play multiple characters in one position. You can always see the developers not only coding but also build prototypes with the prototyping tools (Mockplus,Axure, Proto.io)

The Advantages

Comprehensive thinking is the biggest advantage of the full stack designers. A designer who is familiar with the product development and design process, he knows the limitation of product design. So that he can clearly control the expectation of the product design. Familiarity with the process can make the team more convenient to understand the development, marketing, and user experience details. This will make cooperation more seamless, reduce rework and unexpected situations.

The Importance

The full stack designer can analyze and customize his own "skill tree" according to his own situation. He can clearly know the structure of the product, the progress of design and development process. He is a multi-skill person who can use user experience, design patterns, techniques, and tools to complete the product development. And then, the whole progress will be more systematically, and the product will be better.

Focusing on the whole program, that is the most obvious difference between the normal designers and the full stack designer. If you are one of them, it will undoubtedly add a great value to your team. And if you are a freelance designer, it is necessary to be a full stack designer.

What Makes a Great Full Stack Designer?

However, it’s not a requirement for full stack designers to master anything perfectly. Taking the web design as an example, you will understand well about their roles:

Assist the product manager

Complete the pre-concept for the entire project, brainstorming, mood boards, basic planning

Prototype design

Wireframes, visual draft, low/high fidelity prototypes

User research

User experience

Test

Front-end development

HTML, CSS, JS, etc.

The handover with the programmer

Understand the interface and the development of the deep demand, how the front-end code will be more matching backend and the program.

Conclusion

To become a good full stack designer, you are destined to keep learning and enrich your skill-tree. But please note that you should choose a right industry and direction to follow up the design trend and technology, new pattern, and new tools.

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Landing Your First Job as an UX Designer

Last week, I met with one of my best friends who was offered a full-time position as an UX designer at Google. We pulled together some possible tips for you to confidently set off your next episode into the workforce. Whether you’re a freelancer who just decides to pin on a position or a graduate student who is a little nervous to join the real world, we believe our advice will help a lot.

1. No one is born to be experienced

You may have been intimidated when you checked out the job descriptions on your laptop. In fact, your self-doubt is unnecessary because most new grads don’t have much experience. Now if you calm down to rethink about it, you’ll find that it is enthusiasm and talent that the big companies really value. They like to hear that you are a fast learner with an open mind to grow with the team. And your experience such as designing a logo for your friend and making a website for fun will all be counted as excellent experience.

2. Expand your social network

You need to make best of Twitter, Quora, Medium, etc. to expand your social network as quickly as possible. At the same time, offline activities like Startup Weekend, Major League Hacking, XX+UX, MeetUp may bring you unexpected connections.

3. Chose your starting point

Think deeply over Startup, Agencies, Freelance and large-sized companies before you make your final decision. If you are just a confused student who has no idea what to do, the most important thing is that the job really fit you. Ask yourself what kind of person you are going to be 5 years later. Have a talk with your seniors but do not forget your initial determination.

4. Show your passion

Enthusiasm might be the most valuable assets that a new designer can show to his/her potential employers.Companies need to test the way you approach problems and how you understand design. Use prototyping tool like Mockplus to demonstrate your idea in the interviewing process Your independent idea is extremely important. Be confident and stay encouraged. The companies are not only looking for hard skills but healthy attitude and creativity.

5. Be yourself

When you gradually narrow down your options, all you need is to make a successful interview. There is a common mistake that you may overdo the practice because of the strain. It may make you look sophisticated though practicing will help you talk clearly and thoughtfully. If you get hired because of a rehearsed version of yourself, you are likely to find later that the job is not your type.

Here are some great organizations, blogs, and classes:

Mockplus blog and Designers Guild are active online design communities to keep up with the latest trends as well as get feedback on your work

Startup Weekend and Major League Hacking are a great way to get involved in Hackathons

Meetup and Eventbrite to find design events like Dribbble and XX+UX — Women in UX meetups in your area

Skillshare, Lynda, Udacity, Codecademy, Coursera all offer tons of classes related to UX, motion, coding, etc.

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7 Best Design Tools Worth Checking Out for UI/UX Designers

The development of design tools is advancing with the times. A good tool gives designer efficient and convenient experience and also stimulates high quality output. There are some practical design tools summarized on this list. Hope it be helpful.

1. Sketch Shortcuts

Sketch is a fast and easy design tool, lots of UI designers turn to Sketch from Photoshop. Because it not only support for Web and App UI, but also give strong backing to high fidelity prototyping or interaction design.



Website: http://sketchshortcuts.com/

2. Type-scale to help on proper font size


Are you still getting entangled with font size of your title and text? Follow the type-scale to customize your font size!

Type-scale is an online tool allows users to scale text size. Users can change the various built-in scale ratios through the Scale option. Besides, you can preview the examples on the right side to choose the proper one, simple and convenient.



Website: http://type-scale.com/

3. Google Resizer -- responsive web sizer


To display web pages on multiple platforms is prevailed nowadays, you can friendly browse your pages on PC, mobile phone, and tablet. How to design interface correctly for clients, that’s a big challenge for web designers today.

Resizer is a Google responsive web sizer, it can assist designers and front-end developers to product responsive webs.



Website: http://design.google.com/resizer/

4. UIgradients

UIgradients is a share website based on color gradient, hundreds of gradient color schemes are included. Designers can choose colors directly according to their own styles. Moreover, the corresponding gradient color CSS code also can be directly obtained, very convenient, but beware that your browser needs to be compatible with CSS3.



Website: http://uigradients.com/#Moor

5. Stylify Me - online web style guide tool
 
It’s a little bit cumbersome to make site style guide, but it is useful. Stylify Me allows team members to clearly define the project design specifications. Like a manual, just open to check it out when you forgot the details.

If you have no style guide, then take a look at today's style guide recommendation. Just enter the URL, it will help you quickly gain an overview of the style guide of a site, including colors, fonts, sizing and spacing. Also, you can download the PDF site style guide.

This tool allows the designer to research sites efficiently without the need to inspect each element, in order to be aware of current design trends and inform their own design decisions.



Website: http://stylifyme.com

6. Mockplus - rapid prototyping tool

In order to design a great app or website, the first step for designers always be prototyping. Too many tools to name in the prototyping field, because the tools are spring up like mushrooms, Mockplus is just one of them.

Rapid prototyping is more preferred among clients, so the designers have to keep paces with their respect customers and complete their requirements. Mockplus is a right and perfect choice on this and also good at interactive prototype.


Website: http://www.mockplus.com/

7. Call to idea - solve components & elements problems on web design
 
During the web design progress, designers always need to design some component elements, such as registration forms, buttons, tab, site navigation, and so on. Despite there are all small elements, but sometimes you just don’t know how to layout and design. It does not matter, this small tool can help you with exquisite and beautiful widget collections.


Website: http://calltoidea.com/

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