The top practices for optimal Mobile UX Design Services
As the world progresses towards using the mobile app for every purpose, the design and development of the mobile app are of grave importance. The user experience gathered by customers from mobile apps shapes the usability of the apps. UX design and interface, therefore, play a vital role in the success of a mobile app.
In a highly competitive mobile app ecosystem, it is not enough to float an app in the market and leave it to the customers. The app has to create positive experiences for people who cannot find anywhere else. The UI/UX design services are pivoted towards creating positive experiences for customers through the virtual interface of an app.
The UI UX sphere has been evolving, and some standard industry practices maintain the UI UX elements’ integrity and impact. Every UI UX designer must follow these practices to maximize the end-user impact. Without adherence to these practices, a UI/UX design services company cannot extend any solid and effective results in terms of UI UX design.
Best UI UX design practices for UX designers
1. Gather demographic data before designing
When the idea and skeleton of an app are forming, the first step is to narrow down its target audience and define its demographics. A purposeful UI UX design interface needs to back the mobile UI UX design services with accurate demographic data for the target audience.
The thought that an app can be for anyone and everyone is a myth. The app’s user interface has to be sharpened with demographics and customer data. The design and other elements of the app should be in line with the audience’s thought process. The design should cater to a certain demographic section and appeal to them the most.
2. Blend utility and intuition
Making a smart and intelligent app for the market takes a balance between utility and intuition. The app and its design should resolve a problem and make things easy. The UX design should be so that the user can navigate the app easily and reach all the features with convenience. Instead of complicating the UI UX interface with massive chunks of tasks and commands, break them up into smaller, simpler tasks that anyone can do. This will improve the convenience factor of the app and create a positive experience for the user.
Moreover, put forth meaningful default services that offload the task load on the app interface. On the other hand, UI UX designers should also include an element that allows people to leave the app and re-engage with the interface again. This way, they can save the progress on the app and revisit it to complete the task. Otherwise, the user faces a lot of frustration in using the app. Instead of flooding the user with information, the app should organize the most relevant information.
3. Understand and incorporate gestures
The UI/UX design services should also focus on one step ahead of touch. Touch sensors are the basic ones in a mobile phone. However, more than touch, the designers should focus on users’ gestures. Designers can study the most common and easy gestures incorporated into the app.
The designer can choose different gestures and link the gestures with certain functions from single taps to double taps, swipes to zoom in. It is always better to link up the most used functions with easy gestures so that the accessibility and utility of the app are increased. The gestures should be so easy that the user switches to the app often.
4. Create heat roadmaps and study them
Before adding the touch sensors and controls to an app, the UI UX designer needs to create and read heat maps of screens. The heat maps help in the creation and improvement of touch controls. The study of heat maps can predict the right position for touch sensors and improvise the user experience to a great extent. For example, the sides and mid-screen spaces are commonly tapped spaces. The touch controls on commonly tapped spaces increase the convenience factor for users.
5. Use easily recognizable and simple icons
The use of icons is a must in the UI UX design interface. Icons help indicate the organization and use of features. The icons used should be easy to recognize and simple so that any user can easily interpret and use them. The icons should be fun, unique, and simple enough for utility purposes.
If the user fails to understand the icon and its purpose, there is no point in adding unnecessary ones. Another rule of mobile UI and UX design services is that the screen should not be flooded with icons. Less is more in this context. The aim is to help the user organize the app space with designs, not confuse the users.
6. Make a user interface simple, clean, and invisible
The user interface should be clean and invisible for the best app performance and user experience. The app interface should not have a cluttered look that makes no sense to the user. Today’s users have a high number of apps at their hands. Thus, the users obtained by an app are highly volatile if the user interface fails to deliver minimalism and organization. The app should not have design elements that do not support the app functions.
The removal of unnecessary design elements can optimize the app performance and decrease the size of the app too. Balance the content and icons with ample white space to deliver a sense of organization and cleanliness. The most popular app interfaces do not offer everything at once. The best way to hold customer attention is by extending the specialized set of features and limited but polished content on the app. The customer should not feel like he is wasting time on the app.
7. Test the app on different devices
Today, nearly everyone is digitally literate. Nearly everyone has access to a smart and intelligent device. However, the brand and scale of the device are not uniform all over. A medium-income person may be holding a budget smartphone, while a rich person holds a premium smartphone. There are multiple OS and screen sizes of mobile phones in today’s market.
Moreover, some people use tablets, while others use only desktops. A new space of smart devices is small-scale wearable like watches with apps. A company has to create apps that work on multiple devices and provide consistent performances for maximum profit.
Therefore, it is always better to test an app’s prototype on different scales and multiple OS devices. This will increase the range of the app and improve its use cases. The UI UX designer has to work consistently to create design elements that work across different platforms and maintain their integrity without much alteration. This will create a uniform user experience across multiple devices and systems for a broader range of audiences.
8. Build the app interface for one-handed use
Nowadays, everyone holds a mobile phone no matter where they are. A mobile phone is a constant companion for tech-savvy people from meeting rooms to toilets. People want to multi-task with a mobile phone. With multiple apps across different devices, people are searching for apps that are easy to use, even with one hand. There are even phones that support an exclusive one-handed navigation format. The apps in such phones should also be optimized to the one-handed navigation format.
Screens have been increasing, and 85 percent of users are more comfortable using the phone by one hand. Thus, the apps should also be optimized for mobile phones. The easiest way to do so is to put affirmative actions and commonly used functions on the green zone of the app. Moreover, the designer should also include destructive actions on the hard-to-reach areas of the app so that the user can take his time to do such actions.
9. Optimize the load speed
The present users of mobile apps are very impatient. With higher data speeds, people are used to the high loading speed of apps and websites. An average user does not like to wait for the app to load for more than a few seconds. The loading speed of the app layout and functions should therefore be optimized to the phone and data speeds.
This will help make the app faster and more popular among the users. On the other hand, slow speeds are sometimes unavoidable. For such cases, it is always better to go for certain design elements that make the waiting time interesting. Display the loading state and the loading time for the customer for a hint of transparency.
A UI UX design services company extends its services with the help of these practices and design points. A good UI UX designer team adheres to user experience and interface industry practices. These practices increase the efficiency and quality of app designs and app interfaces. Apart from these practices, there are many more things to consider when creating an industry-standard profitable app for mass use.
