Mobile apps are becoming increasingly popular among mobile users of all ages. While some of them are used for fun, others are built in order to make businesses more productive or more visible on the Internet market. No matter if you want to make an app just for fun or add it to your online business fleet, it needs to meet certain visual demands. Apps with imperfect design features will repel users.
If you pay attention to the following five design elements, your apps will both look great and attract more users.
1) Make your buttons big
A rule of thumb when it comes to smooth UI experience is that buttons on mobile apps need to be big enough to ensure smooth use and navigation. If you decide to shrink them to free space for other elements, the users of your app might have trouble using those icons.
You know that frustrating feeling when you open a non-responsive website on your phone and you have to zoom in to click on the buttons? The good thing about such websites is that you can at least use the zoom feature to access buttons and links.
Since apps don’t come with the zoom-in feature, keeping the buttons small will be even more frustrating even for regular users.[adsense]
And if you want your app to be used by older generations, the buttons need to be clearly visible and easily touched.
In line with that, go for simple font and color(s) on those buttons so that they don’t confuse the users.
2) More touching, less typing
User-friendly mobile apps include more touching and less typing. When a user has to constantly type something while using your app, it will start frustrating them pretty fast. As a result, your app can have a high bounce rate.
As opposed to that, touching the mobile screen ensures seamless user experience and quicker navigation. Hence, users have an opportunity to try different parts of your app, which increases your chances to sell them something or start a business collaboration with them.
Still, some parts can’t go without typing, like the search bar. When a user touches the search symbol, a keyboard will pop up. It’s important to make the app keyboard simple to use. Also, adjust its margins to properly fit the screen during the test phase.
3) Smooth navigation
Mobile users have certain expectations when it comes to app navigation. The two predominant mobile operating systems – iOS and Android –have different preferences, which affects the apps made for each of them.
For instance, Apple smartphones have no back button on the screen but users navigate through iOS apps by swiping. Also, there’s usually a back button inside the app, in the upper left corner.
Contrary to that, Android-powered mobiles have both the back button and the tab/screen button. However, with the new version of Android OS – Android Pie –Google is introducing some changes regarding on-screen navigation. These new solutions are getting closer to those used by Apple.
Therefore, it’s important to ensure that items in every app are arranged in a strict hierarchy so that users can know what to expect. What’s more, when you’re brainstorming ideas for your app, you need to decide which screens will be connected and accessible from others.[adsense]
For all these reasons, it would be wise to go through a few lessons related to mobile app navigation.
4) One app for all screens
The Jelly is an Android smartphone with a screen size of 2.5 inches. The Samsung Galaxy Note 9 is 6.4-in long. Tablets also come in different screen sizes and characteristics. It’s crucial to ensure that your app looks exactly the same on each of these devices and screens.
This is why your Android app has to meet certain demands of responsive design. As explained by these Houston web design experts, it has to adapt to every single screen that launches the app. Otherwise, some users will have better user experience, while others won’t be happy with what they see.
If you’re learning how to build an app all by yourself, you’ll find these code solutions for responsive design useful.
5) Avoid overstocking with visuals
If you want your app to be easily used and loaded, don’t overdo with visual elements. Apps that have too many details are difficult to use. More often than not, it takes more time to launch such apps, which is why users often abandon them after a few slow loads.
While adding too many buttons, tabs and sections will confuse the users, piling up a large number of images will cause the slowdown. However, you’ll probably have to include some photos to your app. This is why it’s important that you learn how to prepare images for smartphones. From cropping to resizing and shading, you can improve the pictures you have and make the entire app work much faster.
Conclusion
Today you can easily make a simple app using an online app builder. For more demanding apps, it’s better to talk to professionals and see what they can do to meet your needs. Either way, it’s important to know what you want and how to use the app to provide an additional value for its users once it’s launched. The design elements from this article will undoubtedly make your app a visually attractive and user-friendly solution.
Author Byline: Liam Collins is a tech pundit and Web enthusiast working at TuiSpace.com. He spends most of his time reading and writing about the current affairs in the world of information technology. When he isn’t working, he likes going for long bike rides and walks in nature.
