User experience, Customer experience or Customer satisfaction! There are some synonyms that have become extremely common in the past few years. The customer of today has zero tolerance for any mistake. With mobile usage increasing drastically, the mobile world is also no longer untouched with this demand of smooth user experience. For anyone who is interested in customer retention, mobile app is as important as any other campaign. You offer your users a smooth experience or they will soon churn!
Following are some best practices for mobile app designing, implementing which can give your users a smooth experience around your app and will make them come back.
Tip 1: It’s all about grid and white spaces
Gridding is the basis of mobile app designing. On every surface of mobile app, you will find an invisible grid. Although you won’t be able to see it, but trust us guys, this is going to guide you through.
Similarly, the second you place a dot, word or even line on the display, the margins and paddings are defined. With every stroke, you clearly define the space where you are going to work. Having said that, always keep in mind to maintain some consistent heights and widths along with the padding and margins.
Tip 2: Create hierarchy with colors
Did you know every color value denotes a purpose and can affect your user behavior in a certain way? For e.g., let’s talk about Black and gray-scale color. Let’s say you have made one button as black, the next one as dark gray and the next to it as light gray, it will indication ‘the first one is the most crucial to the visitor, second one is less and third one is the least’. Hope you got the drift!
Additionally, make sure to avoid using same color for buttons as you have used for app as this will make your buttons look lost. Instead go for contrasting color. Also, experts recommend to avoid using bright red color for buttons as in US, it indicates STOP. Often the users won’t click on it, thinking something suspicious.
Tip 3: Choose colors that reflect your brand not you
Now that you know how big role colors play in user experience, another thing you need to understand is that these color scheme settling should be defined based on the target market you are focusing. These colors should reflect your BRAND, not YOU! You can see many case studies on how even a minor change in the color led to huge boost in conversions. Also try to understand the color psychology. It’s best to go through the meaning and impact of every color before settling for any. Your brand has a specific purpose for your target audience and choosing the right colors is the best way to convey this relationship.
Tip 4: A great logo might not help you, but a poor one will definitely spoil you.
We all know, a brand and a customer, both are incomplete without each other. Logo is the quickest way to bring out your brand among a huge audience. Although investing in an extremely costly professional logo might not seem right to you, but settling with a poor one can really ruin your reputation. And the same thing applies in your mobile app too.
Unlike what people say, logo is not timeless. As the logo is a design and no design is timeless, how can a logo be? With time, most of the big names in the industry have modified their logo to match their modern audience. So make sure to update your logo time to time. Although if you are on tight budget, you can easily look for free online logo designer tools and get it done without spending fortune.
Tip 5: Using Outdated design or elements is a strict NO NO
No matter you are designing for desktop or mobile, one thing you have to constantly ensure is that your design is up to latest trends. If you are still stuck with those old school design trends, your customers won’t hesitate in shifting towards your competitors.
Customers today love modernity. They want everything updated and more in-sync with their personality. One such example is the huge shift towards flat designs. These days, flat designs have totally replaced Skeumorphic induced designs. And if any of the app is still holding anything but flat design, its audience will soon turn their backs to it.
The key here is to be totally aware of your users’ expectations, likes and dislikes. You err.. And they won’t spare you from judging. If you are modern, they will love that, if you are old school, they will note that.
Tip 6: Don’t throw sign up on their face as soon as they land on your app
Imagine your visitor has just landed up on your app and you slap one big ‘Sign-up’ button on their face, what are they going to do? You guessed it right, finding you creepy, they will simply press the Back button.
So guys, first wait for the users to browse your app and make some engagement such as liking a product or adding it to the cart. Another way here is to add Social Login. For those who are not aware of it, social login allows your users to sign in using their existing social media accounts such as Google+, Facebook, Twitter, etc. This will save them from the trouble of going through a long registration form that is asking him to create another username and password, he is going to forget as soon as his task is done.
Tip 7: Lastly, don’t forget to follow the visual guidelines
Although most people are not aware, even the UI world comes with certain guidelines. So while you are experimenting with user interaction or navigation, you must keep standards in mind. Try to focus on core features of the app instead of minor ones. If you want your app to be listed on the app store, you must optimize your website based on their criteria. Android, iOS, Windows, everyone has their certain guidelines around styling and other details. Avoiding them can create issues for you in future.
Finally, the best way to build an awesome app is to make your audience priority. Think how they think, design how they behave and you can never go wrong.
About the Author
Prince Kapoor is a Freelance Marketing Analyst and Blogger. While not working, you can find him in gym or giving random health advises to his colleagues which no one agrees on :). If you too want some of his advises [on health or on marketing], reach out to him at @imprincekapur
