The Appinop Blog

There is a famous quote by Ex-Apple CEO Steve Jobs:

 

“Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.”

 

Absolutely, mobile app designing is all about how well your mobile users can interact with the app for their daily tasks. Mobile app designing and development is not an easy job to do. You need to be creative, understand the purpose of app usage, skilled in the latest designing methodologies and lots more.

 

There are some Do’s and Don’ts while designing a mobile app. But in this article, we would be discussing some vital Do’s while designing a mobile app for your users.

 

 

1. Do some research work

 

Doing research is the first and foremost step in every job you do. First, do some research work on mobile user’s App usage and actually what your users are expecting. The goal is to create an experience that truly resonates with your target audience. So, make sure you do not jump directly into design and development work.

 

Design Tips to Follow

 

• Study your Competitor. Observe and Compare your App’s design with similar Apps that your competitor has designed. Think of redesigning it if required.

 

• Identify your target users. Understand your user’s needs and expectations. Know how users will interact with your App.

 

 

2. Give priority to the core feature

 

“More isn’t always better.”

 

Creating lots of features to your App does not make your App more alluring. First-time app users will be in dilemma with your App. The more you put your user in dilemma the lesser will be the user engagement rate. Instead, stick to the core feature of your app.

 

Design Tip to Follow

 

• Focus on the core features. Thoroughly understand the purpose behind the use of the app. Do proper Analysis of the core features of your app and refine the design that can solve the purpose of using the app by users.

 

 

3. Keep Simple & Clear

 

Clutter would not look good with Mobile devices where screen space is limited. It makes your screen too much complicated.

 

There is a famous saying “Perfection is achieved when there is nothing left to take away.” The same applies to mobile app design as well.

 

Design Tips to Follow

 

• Focus on content. Instead, focus on quality useful content as content is valuable for users and remove unnecessary design elements. Do not put too many decorative elements.

 

• Provide one action per screen. Try to avoid multiple calls to actions on one screen. Create one action per screen. This makes it easier to learn and easier to use. A few clear screens are worth than a single cluttered screen.

 

 

4. Create Finger-friendly App Icon

 

Target tap is one of the major user pain points in any mobile app design. If you design small tap targets while designing mobile apps for users then definitely you are giving pain and frustration to users. Finger-friendly tap is vital for any App design. While designing a custom mobile app, it is better to make the target tap big enough so that users can comfortably use it.

 

Design Tips to Follow

 

• Make a proper target tap size for interactive elements. Provide Target tap size of at least 8–10 mm so that the app user can easily tap with a finger for comfortable usage.

 

• Make appropriate spacing between target taps. Create proper spacing between the target taps is important to avoid overlapping.

 

 

5. Make Legible Text Font

 

If you are unable to read the app content, then there is no meaning to use it. Even if your content is well-written but your App text font is not proper then the content is of no use. So, text readability is paramount for user engagement of any app.

 

Design Tips to Follow

• Opt for a proper typeface to maintain text readability and usability in every size. For example, Apple uses the San Francisco family of typefaces to offer excellent reading experiences for various platforms whereas Google Android uses Roboto and Noto.

 

• Use a readable font size. Make sure the font size should be at least 11 points so that app users can easily read the content without zooming.

 

• Keep proper color contrast for text to visible. Make sure you use proper color contrast for text to get easily readable otherwise app-text will get mix up with background color.

 

 

6. Provide Visual Response on Each Human Action

 

In any case, acknowledgment is paramount for a second party to understand the result of the action made.

Say for example, when a mobile user clicks on an action button and if a user is no getting any visual response from the app then the user may be in a dilemma whether the App has processed the action or not. So to make your app interactive, provide a relevant visual response for every user action.

 

Design Tips to Follow

As per the UI element, designers can create different responsive elements. Say for example: when a user taps on any UI element, it should highlight or for any installation operation app should display progress indicators and pop up after completion of the operation and so on.

 

Closing Words

In the digital era, mobile apps are an integral part of people across the globe. Today, the user’s expectation for a mobile app is sky-high. A mobile app developer needs to do your hands dirty to match the expectation of users and make them happy by delivering user-friendly, responsive and alluring apps. Developing a custom mobile app is one thing and designing the app is another thing. Just developing an app won’t work for your users, you do need to put an interactive and appealing design to make a completely useful and successful mobile app for your users.

Keep the above vital pointers in mind while designing a mobile app. And designing is not a one-time process, you need to refine the design process periodically based on user’s feedback.

Hope you have found the article useful for designing a mobile app. Stay tuned for the second part of the article. We would be discussing some vital Don’ts while designing a mobile app in our next post.

Happy Designing!