iOS • ANDROID • 0–1 APP LAUNCHES • DESIGN SYSTEMS • NEW MOBLE PRODUCTS
Academia Mobile Apps: Android & iOS
iOS • ANDROID • 0–1 APP LAUNCHES • DESIGN SYSTEMS • NEW MOBLE PRODUCTS
When I joined Academia, I advocated for mobile app development and mobile web enhancements given that Academia was primarily a desktop-only experience.
Within three years, we launched its first iOS and Android apps and upgraded the desktop for better mobile responsiveness. I led the design for these new mobile products and improved user experiences. My role involved:
Prioritizing which parts of the desktop experience could be redistilled into a mobile experience as guided by core user needs
Driving web-to-mobile installations
Strategies for retaining users, via notifications from our email/distribution system
Developing new products exclusive to mobile
Adapting desktop features for a native mobile experience
Unifying design language across mobile and extending it back web platforms, unifying Academia's design language
Team Composition
2 Android Engineers
2 iOS Engineers
1 Product Manager
1 Engineering Manager
1 Data Scientist
1 Product Designer
RESULTS
2 Million+ total installs
iOS MAU: 160k
Rating: 4.7 Stars
1K Ratings
Ranked #92 in education on the App Store
Android MAU: 240K
Rating: 4.8 Stars
94.3K Ratings
This is a general overview of some of the various designs in both the Android and iOS app experiences. If you'd like to view more story-driven case studies, please view my other projects such as the Mobile Article Page, Reader Tools, and the Academia Design System.
OVERVIEW OF projects for the mobile applICations
Web to mobile installation flows
Login & registration flows
Distillation of free & paid experiences into mobile
New surfaces & interactions to drive "digging" flows in the search journey
Typeahead search interactions
NewsFeed interactions
Zero States & Error prevention
Building entire apps from the ground up is hard. The re-distillation of desktop experiences into a mobile experiences requires thinking carefully about how user's expectations can happen from either platform.
Moreover, ensuring that you have a good design system at hand reduces confusion in the handoff for technical implementation.
If I were to do this project again, I'd:
Set up a a dedicated user testing group of users for more consistent user feedback
Stress the importance of having a working design system before starting a project like this, not after
Request having a user researcher to evaluate gaps in stories and interactions