What do you understand by User Experience or UX? User experience, in simple words, is the behavior and attitude of an individual towards using a product or service.
Maybe you have already put your best foot forward for a completely outstanding mobile app. But, your app may still only come out as failure without a promising UX design. It may catch you by surprise as it is the UX design which decides the success or failure of an app before anything else.
In order to ensure that yours stands out from the crowd, be sure to provide an ultimate user experience design to it. This means that your app must be easy to use, smooth to navigate, and come packed with a number of benefits. For each element your app carried, your UX design should be no less than perfect.
What happens in case of an app that’s not up to scratch?
If you fail to watch your step for any single aspect, you may be unintentionally encouraging the users of your app to switch to another similar app. There is no dearth of options in the app market. Agree?
So, what must a designer keep in mind to ensure that the mobile UX design is just up to the mark? Well! To answer this essential question, we have listed below 8 best practices that are sure to result in a wonderful and unique mobile UX design.
1. Adhere strictly to Apple and Google Guidelines
Undeniably, Apple iOS and Google Android are rulers of the market when it comes to exceptional mobile operating systems. Together, they hold no less than 95% of market share. In such a scenario, what better can you think of except conforming with Apple iOS Human Interface Guidelines as well as with those for Google Material Design for Android?
If you remain stuck to using your own know-how about a UX design, you may unknowingly ruin your whole effort of developing an app. It is suggested that you remain in sync with the guidelines available for a beautiful user experience design.
2. Keep the approach very clear
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Before anything, you build a strategy for the way your business would run. Right? Why not in case of an app? To be precise, your app is eventually a part of your business. Don’t forget to frame a very clear business approach for it after properly analyzing the market scenario, and target audience. Once you get familiar with what your rivals have on offer, it becomes easier for you to decide what you can offer in addition to that to your potential customers.
3. Keep an eye on the On-boarding Experience
How your app will be in future can better be decided with a perfect on-boarding experience. It is imperative to remember one thing that your app users will be your returning users only if they are able to get what they are looking for in a quick manner. Users must have a clear idea what they are going to get from your app and what all they can do without any issues. Thus, Progressive On-boarding is the best choice, which comes with directions for users to follow within the app. You must ensure that the on-boarding process is friendly and simple.
A successful app usually has:
- A simple login method
- A clear idea of where it will take users to
- Excellent color scheme that ensures easy navigation
- Only relevant elements
4. For User Interface, Screen Size Should Be No Bar
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Deciding the ratio of elements for a particular screen on an app can be a bit challenging for many designers. Nevertheless, a good understanding of the same for different screen sizes and devices can prove to be miraculous. Recapitulating on the initial design is the best option until you reach the point where the UX design is just perfect for multiple screens. Coding can always be altered, and there is no shame in it. If you feel the need for the same, go for it without hesitation. What’s more important is to ensure flexibility in your design. Some of the UX elements that become a challenge are text fields and action buttons.
5. Let One UX Build Two Platforms
It is better to have a common UX for two different platforms, which surely doesn’t mean that you have to use one design for different platforms. But, it means that one design should act as the base for the other. Over heading to creating your own guidelines or techniques to build a common UX, it is better again to follow the pre-defined iOS or Android guidelines. Not only will it save you time, but is sure to bring you wonderful design results as well. And not to mention, client satisfaction is a must.
6. Use Eye-Catching Typography
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iOS and Android use Helvetica Neue and Robototype fonts. Usually, it is difficult to alter such fonts during the beginning of an app development. Also, standard typography doesn’t sync with custom options. Thus, experts recommend focusing on typography during UX designing. Start with deciding a particular font for different sections, including lists, header, titles, text, and so on. Set kerning, thereafter, followed by tracking and leading.
7. Incorporate Gestures
Have you heard about gestures? Well, these are the new rage in the mobile app world. Touch has gone outdated. Now, swiping or pinching is looked forward to. Swipe lets users delete or share something in a flash. The gesture functions of users’ interest can bring them immense pleasure while using the app. Do your research and find out what other such functions users already like in other apps.
Many iPhone users are taking pleasure in using the 3D touch technology, provided by Apple in iOS9. Can you imagine how many shortcuts users will be able to use with this advanced technology? Just for an instance, users would love to see the menu expanded with a little extra push, enabling them to navigate easily. Or, they would be fans of a tap on camera icon that allows them to switch to the selfie mode. The iPhone 6s and 6s plus users will be on cloud nine due to having the benefit of saving a hell lot of time with 3D touch technology. This is the reason why app makers are focusing on this cutting-edge technology these days.
8. Use Modern UX Analytics for Profound Data
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Rather than using the archaic analytics, which allows for information and data on some users and their engagement alone, along with user retention and geographical analysis, it is better to go for modern analytics tools. Switching from the traditional to the modern tool will mean shifting from quantitative data to valuable, qualitative information. Modern analytics pave a way for deeper understanding of user experience.
Recommended is App User Experience (UX) Analytics, which to your surprise, allows you to gauge user behavior and attitude in more detail, thereby guiding you to polish the UX accordingly. With App UX Analytics, you get to know which areas your app users are encountering issues in.
Keeping a record of the touch gestures of users can help you create a visual “touch heatmap” for yourself. With this strategy, you can learn what is attracting users the most. This way, you can easily choose to eliminate any features that are not in use at all, or are in least functioning. It also becomes possible to discern which gestures are of no use. As a result, you can enhance them or replace them completely to better your UX design.
Final Words
By now, you are very well aware how a mobile UX design is paramount for your mobile app to go lucrative and thriving down the road. We are sure you will take into consideration the above practices and implement these without fail. Though, the practices may see an improvement with time, the basic sense and awareness of these is still going to help you ensure that users keep coming back to your app.
