How to start in Mobile apps design?

This post is just a hint for who needs to start in mobile apps design. A lot of people asked me how to start, so in this post I'll focus on the process through a list of resources.

1 — Operating Systems Guidelines: First, you have to learn and read the platform guidelines — Android Design Guidelines, iOS Human Interface Guidelines, Windows Phone, and BlackBerry. Knowing the conventions for each OS is non-negotiable.

2 — Sketching: Before starting your design, create sketches for your app on paper, or use a Sketchpad. Useful tools: POP's Sketchpad, interfacesketch.com, and Smashing Magazine's free printable sketching/wireframing PDF templates.

3 — Wireframing: Read about wireframing — I recommend the UXPin Guide to Wireframing as a starting point.

4 — Visual Design: There are tons of tutorials on Udemy and YouTube — just search "mobile app design tutorial". You can start from scratch or use a UI kit (a collection of UI elements and screens). Good kit sources: ui8.net, ui-cloud.com, uielements.net, webuikits.com. Use Photoshop, Sketch or Adobe Illustrator to build your designs.

Inspiration: Behance, Dribbble, Pinterest, Pttrns, UI Parade, Mobile Patterns, Inspired UI, UI Movement, Collect UI, and inspirationde.com/ui-ux. For icons: Flaticon, Noun Project and iconfinder.com.

Prototyping: After your UI is ready, build a prototype with InVision, Marvel, or Axure.

Conclusion: 1) Know the OS you're designing for and read its guidelines. 2) Sketch first. 3) Convert sketches to wireframes. 4) Build the UI in your tool of choice (I recommend Sketch). Thanks for reading — I hope it's useful.