Mobile App Design Do’s and Don’ts

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Mobile app design may seem easy, but it’s not. An inexperienced or overconfident developer may think they can cobble together the mobile UI at the last minute. But that results in a clunky and unintuitive mobile app that only offers a frustrating and poor user experience. That’s why many of the best app developers have at least one UI/UX designer on the team that focuses exclusively on design.

But what if you’re an appreneur or startup that’s new to mobile app development? Perhaps, you haven’t had the time or funding to hire an experienced UI/UX designer. Or you possess some design skills of your own but don’t quite know how to apply these to your mobile apps. Please don’t fret, as we’re about to reveal several handy tips to help you out!

Mobile App Design Must Do’s

Your app’s success largely depends on how well you go about creating a fantastic user experience. Therefore, it’s crucial to be detail-oriented and have a checklist of the following must-do tasks. 

1. Study The App Market And Latest Mobile UI Trends

The app market is very dynamic and changes constantly. And what was popular two years ago may no longer appeal to today’s audience. That’s why you should study the top trending apps in the marketplace carefully and consistently.

Start by using the storefronts themselves, and see what apps appear in the top spots. Google Play makes things even easier for you, as it shows an estimation of downloads of every app.

Then, download and try out several of the most successful apps to see what makes them tick. More importantly, pay close attention to their mobile UI to determine whether they offer a satisfactory user experience. And study all their UI elements, such as the app bar, checkboxes, buttons, menus, and other interactive touch targets. 

Spend time spotting notable design trends in all of these. See if they’re using rounded or square corners on checkboxes and menus. Moreover, see if they use flat shading, glass effects, gradients, shadows, or 3D UI elements. And take inspiration from any impressive mobile UI animations, motion design, and other visual effects.

2. Keep Your Mobile UI Clean And Functional

Given that the mobile app market is incredibly competitive, you may want to outdo your rivals. Perhaps, you’re developing a music-making app and plan to offer more features than BandLab or FL Studio Mobile. But the reason these apps are so successful is due to their ease-of-use and clean, uncluttered mobile UI.

And if we take a deeper look at FL Studio Mobile, we’ll find that it’s a significantly stripped-down iteration of the desktop version. The desktop version is a professional suite used by producers behind many hit songs. It’s also a fairly complex tool with a bit of a learning curve, especially for newcomers to digital music production. Furthermore, its UI may seem overwhelming to many and have them searching through the manual.

The developers behind FL Studio knew that this comprehensive production suite would never work on mobile. So they created a simple, inviting, and colorful UI without the bells and whistles found in the desktop version. 

Therefore, instead of offering users everything but the kitchen sink, give them only the bare essentials. A clean, minimalist mobile UI that allows users to quickly and intuitively create professional-sounding songs will win the day. You can always add more features later, specifically when users ask for these.

3. Reward User Input With The Appropriate Feedback

Your mobile app design should focus squarely on what users want. And nowadays, users prefer snappy and responsive apps that look visually stunning. They also need apps to immediately register their actions and provide visual cues that this has happened successfully. That’s why it’s crucial to have a well-implemented input and feedback mechanism with every app you ship.

So how do you about creating such a mechanism? Firstly, you should make your app as tap-friendly as possible. Ensure that all buttons and other touch targets on the screen are easily identifiable. The last thing you want is users repeatedly tapping on a checkbox or menu that doesn’t register their taps because it’s too small, not positioned correctly, or incorrectly conveys its intended use. 

And secondly, implement mobile UI animations and transition effects to show that the app has registered the tap. A button may display a blink effect soon after a finger tap, or a menu item may quickly slide sideways and fade after a swipe. And if you work with a UI/UX designer or an experienced app developer such as NS804, they’ll come up with many more imaginative ways to enhance your input and feedback mechanism.

Mobile App Design Don’ts

Creating amazing apps that will keep users engaged is very difficult but rewarding work. Yet even the most experienced developers can ship substandard apps if they make the following mistakes.

1. Implementing Poor User Flow 

There’s nothing worse than users trying out an app and then quickly giving up in frustration and subsequently uninstalling it from their phones.

So why is this such a common occurrence, and why are so many appreneurs and developers getting it wrong? A primary reason why this happens is due to poor user flow. Either most developers didn’t correctly map out the sequence of events that users will take after running the app for the first time, or they didn’t consider user flow at all.

Whether you’re developing an m-commerce store, mobile game, or social media app, you’ll need to create a frictionless user experience. Start by mapping out the user flow from the welcome screen through to every page users will access. You may use flow charts to create an intuitive user flow that won’t drive users to a dead page or take actions that will frustrate them.

2. Interrupting And Annoying Users

Don’t ever take your users for granted just because they seem to be enjoying your app. It’s all too easy to lose users the minute you interrupt them when there’s no reason to do so. The last thing that users want is to respond to a feedback survey when they’ve only been using your app for a short period or while trying to complete a task.

Keep in mind that most users are still evaluating your app during those initial hours of usage. Thus, you want to make a good impression by ditching annoying popups and surveys during this critical stage. Instead, give your users enough time to make a proper assessment of your app before asking for feedback, ratings, and reviews.

3. Using Complex Words And Terms Unnecessarily 

Most mobile app users are not computer scientists or programmers, so avoid using complex words and terms they don’t understand. For example, your latest app may have impressive artificial learning (AI) algorithms that track down hard-to-find ebooks. You may want users to know about these algorithms by adding their names somewhere within the app or mobile UI, but that’s unnecessary.

It’s better to allow these algorithms to do their work behind the scenes. Users will realize that you’ve created a great app by how well it tracks those ebooks. After all, they don’t care about the inner workings of your app or want to memorize technical terminology. If anything, you’ll likely lower user engagement or even lose users if your wording is too technical or if you rely on marketing catchphrases.

The Bottom Line

Most of the best apps closely follow solid mobile app design fundamentals. Much work goes into creating a mobile UI that not only looks great but is clean and intuitive. But it’s also crucial to follow the latest design trends that will make even the most renowned UI/UX designer look on in envy. Contact NS804 to learn how we’ll help you develop phenomenal apps that look and feel great!

6 Interaction Design Tips For Your Mobile App

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It’s easy to establish the quality and functionality of mobile apps. A clear sign of professional design work is when the usage is effortless and smooth that users don’t think twice when using it. But, if there are interactivity issues or problems, users will automatically recognize and won’t be pleased.

Mobile apps should be clear and smooth to be effectively used anywhere and anytime. The designer’s task is to create an intuitive and engaging interface that guides users within the app, helping them operate it without navigation or interactivity issues.

Below we look at essential interaction design tips for mobile apps:

1. Provide Simple Navigation

Simple navigation provides an obvious way to move between screens and find the desired items since users must navigate back and forth in the same window. App navigation design is like a GPS or a map that helps us navigate across places, and identify the specific features we’re looking for. A great navigation design makes you feel you are in control of where you’re going, letting you know where you’re headed and where you are at all times.

2. A Large Touch Surface

Ensure to create control areas or surfaces that are easier to touch by the thumb. Providing smaller touch areas may potentially annoy the user when s/he uses the app. The finger-friendly design provides ease of use, making it possible for users to hit their desired target icons with precision.

3. Eliminate Clutter

It’s unnecessary to display every icon and information on the app’s interface. Arrange and structure your content in a way that provides users with a comprehensive understanding of the features. Reduce clutter by keeping minimum content on the screen to enhance visibility and readability.

4. Display Large Texts

As a developer, keep in mind the small size of mobile screens and keep your app’s texts large and readable. One advantage of texting in the modern digital era is immediacy. Composing and conveying a text is easy and replying to a text is even easier. So, apps with large display texts provide convenience and easy readability.

5. Leverage Touch Controls

There’s no doubt that there are a lot of mobile app controls available in design. So, there’s no need to use web controls as they’re difficult to operate on mobile. Designers must keep interfaces sleek, smooth, and easy to use with mobile touch controls.

6. Leverage Simple Forms

Provide simpler forms where users can input details and information with ease and precision. Use form controls where there’s minimum typing. A simpler form saves users time, enables users to achieve easier navigation, and helps users to manage their information with ease.

Other interaction design tips for your mobile app include:

  • Take care of thumb position
  • Provide consistent user experience
  • Lead users towards the next step
  • Match interactions to your platform
  • Use clear simple icons
  • Apply recognition patterns
  • Add game mechanisms
  • Consider multiple holds

Luckily, with outsourced mobile app development, you can enjoy interactive designs for all your mobile app development projects. You can always contact NS804 for interactive mobile app design solutions.

What Will Make The Users Happy? Five Key Elements Of Great UX Design

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There’s no doubt that the sole motive behind a good user experience UX is to make users feel good about your product. Designers and programmers must keep their users in mind; that’s the only way to create truly innovative and rewarding solutions.

Steve Krug’s book “Don’t Make Me Think” details a common-sense approach to user experience. When asked what makes a website or an application interactive and easy to use, Krug answers, “don’t let the users think.”

To make your site interactive and attractive, you need to master the art of solving usability problems. Usability means ensuring that something works well and that users of average ability can use the product for their intended purposes without getting frustrated.

Below we look at five key elements of a superior user experience design:

1. Information Architecture

Information architecture denotes the model of organizing and labeling applications, software, and websites to ensure usability, easy tracking of information, and faster completion of tasks. Information architecture provides a structure that integrates content with the overall functionality of the platform.

In its simplest form, information architecture is how we arrange parts of something to make them understandable. In most cases, businesses avoid restructuring their websites because it demands additional resources and efforts – and may seem like a better deal to copy the structure of other sites.

Either way, you’re losing out a lot.

The following three elements need to be integrated into the overall UX design and web functionality to create the best user experience. Information architecture broadly captures users, context, and content. Information architecture is the core of a digital product that ramps up SEO efforts and cultivates better sitemaps.

  • Users. This is the target audience looking for specific information or products on your site. To begin with, you can design the user experience of your minimum viable product MVP for actionable insights.
  • Context. This captures the information or content and its relevance to the target audience. Ensure the message you convey is clear and loud.
  • Content. It’s crucial to ensure that every element of your content, that’s: images, icons, text, and illustrations, all work in a unified way to engage the target audience at every touch.

The above three elements are crucial ingredients for a powerful UX design process.

2. Interaction Oriented Design

The main objective of interaction-oriented design is the interaction between the design and its users in terms of sound, feel, and aesthetics. Interactive design centers on user behavior and personalizing user experiences.

Four elements define a good interaction design:

  • Words. Every design captures call-to-action buttons. The words used for these icons and buttons should be understandable, actionable, and simple.
  • Visual presentation. Visual presentation denotes the use of imagery and icons that depict the intent of the words accompanying this imagery.
  • Designing for touchpoints. The design must be valid across different platforms. Whether a person uses a smartphone, tablet, laptop, or desktop computer, the user experience must adapt to the needs of several endpoints and platforms.
  • Response. Response refers to how quickly a user’s request or action gets approved or acknowledged. If a user clicks on an icon, the intended outcome must reflect without delays.

There’s no doubt that interaction-oriented design transforms usability in unique and powerful ways!

3. Usability Aligned Design

Usability is a central component of UX that enables users to attain their goals without confusing these end goals. One critical element of a great user experience design is to achieve the user’s goals and needs without confusing them in any way.

A classic example is Netflix, a video streaming platform that takes the backseat when it comes to usability. Netflix autoplay feature has a usability issue since the slightest hovering on the thumbnail triggers “play” mode. Although the autoplay feature highlights new content, dark UX design patterns attract unsatisfactory user experiences.

To design a superior UX design, you should implement the KISS principle: keep it simple and stupid. The objective of this design is to create an interface simple enough to be understood. A well-designed website ensures that users can understand the design, and interact with it instantly.

4. Visually Appealing Design

Visual design is a central factor in the UX design process as it determines the users’ first impressions. According to Taylor and Francis, users often have 50 milliseconds to make a great first impression.

The visual design transforms and reshapes the user experience through layouts, graphics, images, videos, and spacing. These UX design elements not only add to the aesthetic appeal; they make the digital space interactive.

By keeping the latest UX trends in mind, ensure to restrain from designing an overcrowded interface. Below is a summary of the elements to consider and the principles to follow when creating a visually appealing design:

Key elements:

  • Line
  • Space
  • Texture
  • Color
  • Volume
  • Value
  • Negative space

Principles to follow:

  • Unity
  • Balance
  • Hierarchy
  • Dominance
  • Contrast
  • Scale
  • Gestalt

5. Planned User Research

A superior user experience starts and ends with users. When approaching the UX design process, it’s crucial to understand user preferences, user behavior, and user mindset. This understanding ensures that the final design resonates with the intended needs.

User research inquires how your product or service will work in the real world. User research concerns validating and discovering the users’ needs to structure your UX design. There are usually three categories of metrics for user design you can consider when closing in on your UX design process;

Type of research Focus General claims Typical methods
Descriptive Describes a set of events or a situation Describes a set of events or a situation Field surveys, observations, interviews, and focus groups
Relational Identify relationships among variables Identify relationships among variables Field studies, observation, surveys
Experimental Identify causes of an event or a set of events Identify causes of an event Controlled experiments

 

Below are additional metrics that can help you make informed decisions based on users’ needs and requirements.

Evaluating Success

Measuring the design success and outcomes is the final stage of any UX design process. To ensure that the design meets the expected needs and satisfies the set requirements, a thorough assessment is critical.

So, there are two approaches to measuring the success of a UX design – qualitative and quantitative.

  • Qualitative methods involve analyzing the ability and easiness of users to navigate the site effortlessly and to finish tasks faster. Qualitative methods add authenticity and create credibility to your website or mobile application.
  • Quantitative methods include: examining conversion tracking, analyzing click-through rates, and using other analytical metrics to assess UX performance. Quantitative methods add credibility and authenticity to your research.

Note that it’s advisable to combine qualitative and quantitative methods when measuring UX design success.

NS804 – Streamlining Your UX Design Process

Superior UX design is about making your product (website or mobile app) predictable, adaptable, and easy to use. It’s about offering a design that doesn’t confuse users when they initiate their intended actions. Working towards a superior UX design drives traffic, revenues, and appreciation for your business. The goal of any UX design process is to make every moment of the user-interaction memorable and reminiscing. Far and above, your UX design and overall presentation are the salient ambassadors of your digital brand.

Contact NS804 for inquiries about UX design solutions.