A Good App Design Practice

What is app design?

App design or application design is a process that combines the user interface (UI) design and user experience (UX) design. While UI design focuses on the overall style of the app (including the colours, fonts, and general look of the app), UX design focuses on the actual functioning and usability of the app.

A large number of users give up using an app after using it for the first time. Since users are faced with a myriad of apps while choosing, you need to make sure that your app is the one that users always go for. The better the design of the app, the more the user will engage with it and keep using it. 

Why a good app design practice?

According to Statista, only 32% of smartphone users return to an application 11 times or more. This means that the remaining 68% of users do not use an app frequently. For those who are designing the app, it becomes imperative to understand what it is that makes a good app. They need to ask questions like, what if my app has great functionality but the users are unable to exploit the navigation options? What if the user interface of the home screen is so boring or complicated that the users are not able to navigate to reach their required features? Such questions will lead designers to delve deeper into better designing their apps. 

App design is as important as its functionality. The two may be said to be interdependent. Good app design goes a long way towards facilitating user retention. A good app design will provide a seamless view of the app and eradicate confusion for the users. They can, in turn, explore the app to its fullest potential. There is no ideal process for integrating a flawless mobile UX design or creating amazing user experiences. Designers need to create a detailed tactical overview of the UX design process. In 2019, the app user retention rate was 32% while in 2018 it was 38%.

What is a good app design practice?

Let us now talk about some good app design practices to follow:

Scrutinizing others’ work: 

All great works are inspired. However, examining and plagiarising are two very different things. Perusing through other artists’ work will give you a clear idea as to how to go about designing your app. Learn from their work, do not just scan through. Apps like Dribble and Pinterest provide striking examples of great UI and UX design. You are free to take notes and jot down points that draw your attention. Add your creative inputs and recreate what you observe. A little inspiration can go a long way to ensure your app stands out.

Take notes:

It is very important to take notes while observing. Going old school while designing your app is the best way to go. Make sketches, and then erase them and make them again. This will give you more clarity in designing your app. Drawing your logo, wireframe, design, or prototype by hand will give you more artistic freedom. The ideas will flow more smoothly.

Read up on designing: 

Sometimes, a good book can provide you with the best inspiration. Start from scratch. Read books that teach basic designing. It is very important to study before you decide to pursue it. Starting with an online course may not always be the best option to start with, since it can become quite overwhelming. You may start with reading Human Interface Guidelines, which contain substantial and prominent advice on UI and UX controls, especially for iOS apps. The same process can be applied to android apps as well.

Be consistent: 

Consistency should become your motto. You need to be consistent if you want your work to stand out among others. Some leading designers in the market refer to a lack of consistency as a lack of vision. It is crucial to maintain consistency throughout an app. This eliminates any confusion for the users. It is also necessary to be uniform throughout with your app design:

To maintain visual consistency, ensure that your buttons, fonts, and labels are similar throughout the app. This will make your app more visually appealing to your users. 

To maintain operational consistency, the interactive aspects of your app must function uniformly.

To maintain external consistency, your app design should be similar throughout multiple interfaces, like websites, web apps, or mobile apps.

Design for everyone: 

A good app is accessible to everyone. You need to design your app even for the layman and foresee all possible use cases in your design. The best app designs provide an easy layout with the important interface elements easily visible even to novice smartphone users. Make sure the buttons and navigation options are placed in the centre of your app screen to be easily visible to users.

Ease of reversal of actions: 

There may be instances where a user makes a mistake while using your app, for example, while filling out his profile information. In such cases, a reversal of such actions must be simple. If they make a mistake in their address, they should be able to reverse it without again starting from scratch. Users need not be anxious if they know that their errors can easily be reversed. Moreover, this will allow them to explore more aspects of the app that they were previously unfamiliar with.

Efficient onboarding: 

The primary purpose of onboarding is to show your users how effective and efficient your app is. Users need to know how they can browse through your app more smoothly and efficiently. In other words, onboarding is the first screen that your users will see when they open your app. A smooth onboarding process is the simplest way to increase the user retention rate of your app. According to Localytics, the user retention rate decreases to 25% after the first week of downloading the app. On the other hand, Localytics also observed a 50% increase in user retention rate when the onboarding process goes smoothly. However, sometimes, it can be difficult to strike a perfect balance between creating a good first impression and facilitating a perfect onboarding experience. You may refer to onboarding tutorials available online, to ease the process of onboarding for your users.

Focus on users’ perspective: 

When a company or a business comes out with a new product, it makes sure to always cater to the needs and whims of its customers. Similarly, when you decide to develop an app, you need to focus solely on your users. It is obvious that since it is you who has designed the app, you will know how to navigate it perfectly. However, this is not necessarily applicable to your users. Their needs will differ from your own. If you’re designing an app for Android, there is a certain way that Android users are accustomed to using their mobile apps. The same goes for iPhone and iPad users as well. Similarly, when you design your app for the big screen of a desktop, the website has to be user-friendly. You may hire the services of a competent web developer for this purpose if needed, to make web development more efficient. A meticulous beta testing process will be required here.

Creating emphasis: 

All the elements on the screen of your app may not be important. Some may be more important than others. In such cases, it is important to filter out the more important ones, so that they are visually appealing to your users. You may also add more weight to an element with font weight, size, and colour. For example, when designing a social media app, the details of a user’s profile must be easily visible under profile information.

Attractive images: 

Who wouldn’t want to see beautiful pictures when they open your app. There are certain key aspects you must keep in mind while adding images, namely, aspect ratio, size, image resolution and image architecture. A good app design practice encompasses the addition of clear and attractive images. The aspect ratio should be following the screen size of mobile devices, design elements, animation effects, etc. The size of the image should be small so that the app content can load even when the speed of the internet connection is slow. The resolution must be clear so that the image doesn’t look blurred or distorted.

These are some of the major practices that you must follow when developing and designing your app. However, there are many more app development or software development ideas you can follow, and consequently, incorporate into your app.

ErisnTech App Design

IT and software company ErisnTech believes in imparting the most nonpareil, and exceptionally great services for their clients with whom they work hand in hand, assisting their clients with their services at each step of their business. They provide android app development services, iOS app development services as well as hybrid app development services.

Through mobile app development, some of the industries they have served include education, healthcare, eCommerce, hospitality, media, food service, travel, and fitness.  The team at ErisnTech possesses the required technical and creative skillset to deliver top-quality services. Their prime focus is on quality assurance. The team constantly thrives on providing the best mobile app development services. They provide world-class services to their clients by testing the developed apps. Based on the result of the tests, errors are fixed to ensure that the app can provide the best user experience. You may visit their website if you wish to find out more.