User Interface Design for Real Apps
Master the art of creating intuitive, beautiful, and functional digital experiences. From psychological principles to professional prototyping, learn how to build interfaces that users love and developers can actually build.
Like Duolingo, but for User Interface Design for Real Apps. Tomo turns the whole topic into a game you play five minutes a day, until it actually sticks.
76 levels across 8 sections, about 152 minutes end to end, roughly 30 days at five minutes a day. It moves through The Designer's Eye, Understanding the Human User, The Skeleton of the Screen, Visual Language and Style, Interaction and Feedback, The Prototyping Workflow, Testing and Refinement, and Professional Practice. It starts from scratch.
Free forever · No credit card · iPhone & Android
Key ideas in User Interface Design for Real Apps
- Affordances are inherent properties
- Signifiers highlight affordances
- Button shape suggests use
- Importance of signifiers
- Affordances exist without labels
- Affordance vs Signifier relationship
- Identifying affordances
- Distinguishing signifiers
- Feedback must be immediate to be effective
- Mapping is the spatial relationship between a control and the thing it controls
- Affordances are the inherent properties of a UI element
- Feedback bridges the gap between a user's action and the system's reaction
- Controls should mimic the physical layout of the objects they affect
- Distinguishing between an affordance and the signifier that highlights it
- A lack of feedback leads users to repeat actions unnecessarily
- Good mapping reduces the mental effort needed to operate an interface
You've tried the other tabs
Thirty open tabs. Four facts you actually kept.
You watched. You nodded. By Sunday it was gone.
One answer, then back to scrolling.
Eight weeks. You meant to finish. You didn't.
Tomo gives User Interface Design for Real Apps the Duolingo treatment: levels, streaks, and quick quizzes that test what you just learned. That game loop is what the tabs above never had, so it's the one you actually finish.
Here's what playing it feels like
A real question from this course. Take your best guess.
When a designer adds a small icon to a button, what is that visual mark called?
Get it right to open this lesson and 75 more in the app.
How to learn User Interface Design for Real Apps, step by step
Go in order. 76 short levels across 8 sections, about 2 hours 32 minutes in all, five minutes a day.
- 1
The Designer's Eye
- Seeing the Invisible Interface
- The 'Don't Make Me Think' Mindset
- 2
Understanding the Human User
- Empathy and User Research
- Mapping the User Journey
- 3
The Skeleton of the Screen
- Layout and Grids
- Visual Hierarchy
- 4
Visual Language and Style
- Typography for Screens
- Color Theory and Application
- Iconography and Imagery
- 5
Interaction and Feedback
- Navigation Patterns
- Forms and Data Entry
- Motion and Micro-interactions
- 6
The Prototyping Workflow
- From Sketch to Wireframe
- High-Fidelity Prototyping
- 7
Testing and Refinement
- Usability Testing
- Heuristic Evaluation
- 8
Professional Practice
- Accessibility and Inclusion
- Design Systems and Handoff
- Ethics and Dark Patterns
8 sections · 19 units · 76 levels. Built to play, not to enroll.
Questions about User Interface Design for Real Apps
How do I learn User Interface Design for Real Apps?
Go in order: start with The Designer's Eye, then Understanding the Human User, then The Skeleton of the Screen, then Visual Language and Style, and 4 more sections after that. On Tomo that's 76 short levels, about 2 hours 32 minutes in all, played five minutes a day. Start free and play the first level in under a minute.
Is there a Duolingo-style app for User Interface Design for Real Apps?
Yes. Tomo works like Duolingo: short daily lessons, streaks and quick quizzes. User Interface Design for Real Apps is one of its free courses, and you can type any other topic to get a course of your own.
Is the User Interface Design for Real Apps course free?
Yes. User Interface Design for Real Apps is playable on Tomo's free plan, which doesn't expire. No credit card, no waitlist. Download the app and start your first lesson.
How long does it take to learn User Interface Design for Real Apps?
76 levels across 8 sections, about 2 hours 32 minutes of play in total. It's built for five minutes a day, so you finish it a little at a time instead of all at once.
Do I need any background to start User Interface Design for Real Apps?
No. It's pitched at a beginner level, so it starts where you are and builds up. If you can tap a phone, you can start.
Tomo is in ChatGPT
Tomo is also a ChatGPT plugin: the same playable courses, built and played inside your chat.
Add Tomo to ChatGPT- What to ask
- “Make me a Tomo course on black holes.” “Turn this chat into a Tomo course.”
- What you get
- Quick questions with instant feedback, hearts and stars, ready to play in about a minute.
- Where it goes
- No sign-up to start. Connect your Tomo account and your streak carries on in the app.
You pick the voice
User Interface Design for Real Apps is taught in the Professor style: clear, structured, thorough. Want a different feel? In the app you can spin up the same topic in any of Tomo's teaching styles. Same facts, totally different vibe.
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Start User Interface Design for Real Apps today.
Download Tomo, search User Interface Design for Real Apps, and play your first lesson in under a minute.