More Reasons for UX Designers to focus on mobile
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More Reasons for UX Designers to focus on mobile

  • Published on
by Jennifer Smith
More Reasons for UX Designers to focus on mobile

Those involved in the field of user experience design will want to take note of the continued trend of declining PC sales, including both desktop and notebook computers. Research firm Gartner indicated that PC shipments fell more than nine percent in the most recent quarter. A similar trend was announced by research firm IDC which indicated the drop was closer to 11 percent. Regardless of which number is accurate, both show a trend of declining sales, and are projecting drops for the entire year as well. The annual rate is expected to be slightly lower, but the future almost certainly holds continued declines in desktop and notebook computer sales. While PC sales are declining, tablet and mobile sales are climbing.  App makers are shifting more development resources to creating new apps for tablets and phones. This leaves Windows and MacOS as a secondary consideration for many app developers, and creates a need for UX designers who understand mobile and tablet user experience design. App developers are focusing more of their efforts on mobile and tablet, fueling a need for developers and designers to learn UX design skills for mobile.

Some analysts attribute the slowdown in PC sales to businesses that may be waiting for the release of Windows 10. Any rebound in PC growth that may be ignited by the launch of Windows 10 will benefit UX designers that are familiar with mobile user experience design. This is because Windows 10 offers both a desktop and mobile UX, and is designed to be touch-centric on both the desktop and mobile. Mobile design skills will be applicable to creating Windows 10 UX designs.

In addition to understanding where future jobs for UX designers will be most plentiful, understanding the types of devices being used is also important for UX designers in crafting scenarios and personas. Knowing that more users are accessing apps and the web on mobile and touch-enabled devices allows designers to craft user experiences for these scenarios.

About the author

 is a user experience designer, educator and author based in Boston. She has worked in the field of user experience design for more than 15 years. She has designed websites, ecommerce sites, apps, and embedded systems. Jennifer designs solutions for mobile, desktop, and iOT devices. Jennifer holds a Master of Science (MS) degree in Human Factors in Information Design, a Bachelors degree with a concentration in Commercial Art. When not teaching at American Graphics Institute, Jennifer Smith is an adjunct professor at Boston University.

Jennifer delivers UX training and UX consulting for large Fortune 100 companies, small start-ups, and independent software vendors.She has served as a Designer in Residence at Microsoft, assisting third-party app developers to improve their design solutions and create successful user experiences. She has been hired by Adobe and Microsoft to deliver training workshops to their staff, and has traveled to Asia, Europe, India, the Middle East, and across the U.S. to deliver courses and assist on UX design projects. She has extensive knowledge of modern UX Design, and worked closely with major tech companies to create educational material and deliver UX workshops to key partners globally. Jennifer works with a wide range of prototyping tools including XD, Sketch, Balsamiq, Fireworks, Photoshop, Illustrator, and Blend for Visual Studio. She also works extensively in the fields of presentation design and visual design.

Jennifer is also an expert on Photoshop, digital image editing, and photo manipulation. Having written 10 books on Photoshop, and having consulted and provided training to major media companies and businesses around the globe.

Jennifer is the author of more than 20 books on design tools and processes, including Adobe Creative Cloud for Dummies, Adobe Creative Cloud Digital Classroom, and Photoshop Digital Classroom. She has been awarded a Microsoft MVP three times for her work with user experience design in creating apps for touch, desktop, and mobile devices. Jennifer holds the CPUX-F certification from the User Experience Qualification Board and assists others in attaining this designation in leading a UX certification course at American Graphics Institute.