Level up your mobile app design skills at ADC next weekLevel up your mobile app design skills at ADC next week

GDC sister event App Developers Conference begins next week, and attendees will learn to step up their app design skills in such talks as: Jason Mark's spontaneous app design critique session, 'Designing for Engagement' with UX strategist Jaimee Newberry, and Universal Mind's Joe Johnston on contextual design. From the creators of the largest and longest-running game professional-focused Game Developers Conference (GDC), the brand new App Developers Conference (ADC) offers professionals a venue to share their knowledge about building, designing, marketing, and selling their apps. ADC will run next week, November 5th-7th at the Los Angeles Convention Center and will be co-located with GDC Next. UX strategy and design consultant Jaimee Newberry, who co-owns SwingSet, Inc. and who has worked with Zappos, Black Pixel, and eatdrink, will present 'Designing for Engagement' as part of the Design and UI discipline. Newberry will share important tips for on-boarding, designing, and copywriting to help apps become more fun and emotionally engaging experiences. In the spontaneous app critique session 'Lightning Critiques - What Makes Great Design?', Gravity Switch (FastWeather) co-founder Jason Mark will scrutinize over a dozen apps and icons submitted by conference attendees, so that everyone will walk away with at least three things they can do immediately to improve the visual design of their apps. Also, in 'Contextual Design: Creating the Anytime Everywhere Experience,' Universal Mind UX lead Joe Johnston will explain what contextual design is and why it was important for iBrainstorm and Jimi Hendrix: Complete Experience (pictured). He will also cover how "contextual clues" contribute to designing for context and how companies are already using this kind of design. These sessions join a number of previously announced talks by Netflix, Tumblr, and more -- all of which are now available on our expanding interactive Session Scheduler. Recent session highlights on the app business include App Annie with data from 250,000 case studies on app store trends, GamesAnalytics on day-one data-tracking designs for F2P apps, and Mindgrub CEO and maker of over 75 apps Todd Marks on 'six ingredients for mobile app success.' Also of note, ADC organizers have shared survey results from over 250 app developers on issues they face currently, including piracy and discoverability on app stores. Those interested in the study can view all of the results for free. Onsite registration for ADC and the co-located GDC Next begins November 5th, with pricing for both events now available. For all the latest news on ADC, subscribe for updates via Facebook, Twitter, or RSS. Also, check out GDC Next's latest highlights, which include Disruptor Beam on their social and soon-to-be mobile Game of Thrones: Ascent, KIXEYE on user retention and monetization, and Visa's PlaySpan and Frank N. Magid Associates on alternative payment methods. Gamasutra, GDC and ADC are sibling organizations under parent UBM Tech.