Mobile UX Design: What Not To Do
Why do we use apps? To make our lives easier, for entertainment & for access to information?. But if the app does not deliver on these basic requirements, then it’s certain to fail and users will go elsewhere. Your app’s success is down to a combination of correct choices, but the overall mobile user experience tops them all. Great UX design is what separates the successful from the… well, failures.
User Interface design for multiple devices
Your apps user interface design plays a huge part in your apps overall user experience. As you plan your app design, remember to consider the differences between platforms, keep in mind each platform has a distinct set of conventions and subtle qualities, so don’t mimic UI elements from one platform to another.
Each platform has it own inputs, sliders, checkboxes and arrows which give it a native feel. Using these will help users quickly feel comfortable with your app.
Typeface also needs to comply with the standards of each platform: Android’s typeface is Roboto, while iOS uses San Francisco font family.
If you are going to customise your app, then do it subtly based on your brand, not because another app uses a particular element. Every platform provides a specific set of icons for common functions, so try to use these and remember to swap them if your app is cross platform.
Don’t bring the web to an app
Remember apps are apps, websites are websites and the interaction patterns are different for both. What is designed for the web is often not a great UX in an app.
A prime example is the underlined link. On the web is great to identify a clickable text link, in an app just looks strange. Apps use buttons not text links.
User Flow
Sometimes the web might throw a 404 page at you for a dead link. This would be amplified in an app because of how users navigate, so they must never hit a dead end. However if an app replies on a connection which can go down, you should help the user understand what happened and how to fix it.
Don’t send users to a browser
Users want to stay in the app. Switching between apps is not ideal unless you have to but navigating to a browser feels backwards and this all impacts on the UX.
If you have no other choice because your app lacks a particular feature then use an in-app browser rather than the default phones browser.
App no no’s
Yes! a user has downloaded your app. No! don’t ask them to rate it 2 minutes later, it’s not going to happen. Let’s use a little common sense here. If the effort that has gone into your app empowers the users ability to use it, they WILL love it and potentially leave a review. By all means prompt them, but give it time. It’s easy enough to trigger the prompt after a few openings of the app.
Final words
For such simple interfaces on the face of it. Designing a world class UI and UX requires dedication, skill, time and thought. The standards of app design and technology are getting higher all the time and users have come to expect a lot from their favourite apps. So falling short can mean failure. Take the time to consider and plan beforehand.