Mobile phones, and the apps that we install on them, have revolutionized our lives. From fitness to business, from communication to entertainment, these apps have ingrained themselves in every aspect of our modern lives.
There is a reason that “there is an app for that” is such a cultural marker.
If you are a budding app developer who wants to take your app to join the roster of those deemed “download-worthy,” then you need to ensure you are building a genuinely engaging app interface.
Here are six characteristics to keep in mind when designing your app.
- Responsive Design & En Vogue Interface
Implementing responsive design into your app is crucial, as it needs to be compatible with a wide variety of devices.
Keep in mind that design also goes through trend cycles and currently, flat design — a minimalist user interface — is en vogue. Use this style of design to ensure your app is keeping up with the industry standards. Additional components such as thumb placement, orientation and posture can also significantly affect the usability of your app.
Colors can also be “in” or “out” and is the single-most appealing characteristic of an app’s design. The colors you choose instantly provide a user with an interpretation of what the vibe of the app is and how it is going to make them feel.
Colors engage our emotions, and you want to confirm that you are invoking the suitable sentiments.
- Security
In addition to having an en vogue interface, the design of your app must also adhere to security and 508 compliance. To do this, have frequent conversations with your back-end team to guarantee that all data is being bestowed and gathered in a suitable manner.
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- Social Media Integration
In this day and age, this seems like it should be a given! But in order to build a truly engaging app interface, you want to provide users with the option to sign up for/register for your app via their social media accounts.
This simple option makes it a lot easier for them, as they don’t have to spend the time creating an account (we can be quite lazy animals!) and don’t have to remember yet another password.
Forcing users to log in with a new account specifically for your app is a sure-fire way to see dwindling numbers of sign-ups.
- Simplicity
Because there are so many different avenues that app design can go down, it is understandable to want to load your project up with features. However, adding too many features to your app is an easy way to guarantee it looks cluttered and unstylish — not to mention that it may drain all of a user’s battery.
Stick to your clear, singular purpose and then optimize that in the most spectacular way possible. Keep referring back to your app’s mission statement and checking that focused declaration against any new content or features that you want to add.
The worst thing you can do is to design an app that perplexes a first-time user, prompting them to put their phone down — this is the opposite of building a truly engaging app interface.
- Keep the User in Mind
A personalized UX is what every user prefers. How you personalize the app is going to depend on what your specific app is, but make sure your team is continuously brainstorming ways to involve the user.
Building an interactive app will help you provide a better visitor experience.
When it comes to evaluating the design of your app, in the early stages of its development, involve real users who can point out glitches and suggest improvements. This is an essential part of the development process as these prospective customers help reduce the chance that you put buttons in the wrong place or have a color scheme that makes users flee. The earlier you can receive this feedback, the better!
No matter what niche your app falls into, the rules of engagement will apply.
Users:
- Learn by having things shown to them
- Continue to perform tasks when incentivized (either through rewards, punishments, etc.)
- Long for things to be easy
- Enjoy personalization
- Want to be social
Again, how you choose to implement these rules of engagement depends on the purpose of your app. But people are people, and these sentiments remain accurate across the board.
To the success of your app!