Fortunately or unfortunately, mobile apps have become a lifeline! We can’t deny their importance in our personal and professional lives. From grocery shopping, to money transfers to booking doctors, we want everything at the click of a button. And it is all quite possible today.
However, the demand and supply game plays the trick and not all applications become great mobile apps.
There are thousands of mobile apps in the market and hundreds of developers. According to a research “The global mobile application market was valued at $208.5 billion in 2022, and is projected to reach $777.4 billion by 2032, growing at a CAGR of 14.4% from 2023 to 2032.” The classic dilemma of what to build for the customer exists and will not leave ever. Every business is striving hard to win the game of customer experience and retention by staying on top of the mobile app stickiness. But not all businesses succeed in it.
While designing a great mobile app is crucial for your business success, it is not as difficult as it may seem. All it requires is thoughtful planning and execution. With the help of an experienced developer, you can design and build apps that can engage users, boost brand loyalty, and drive revenue.
So, how to design a great mobile app? Read further for some easy tips and processes.
Define objectives and outcomes
Don’t launch just another app in the market, it is already too crowded. Define what problems you want to solve with your app. What features you want to provide to your users. Set your primary goals and don’t pack the app with too many features during launch. Start with core and important features and keep enhancing them as you get feedback from your users. For example, if you are launching an edtech app, release course details and the booking process before adding a social sharing feature to the app.
The best way to build your app is to listen to your user feedback and implement what they need.
Research, Research and Research
Your great idea and clear objectives will answer the ‘Why’ but to answer 'How’ to achieve your goals, you need to research A LOT. Analyze how your users interact with the existing apps, survey them to figure out their pain points. Understand how your competitors solve those problems, interview your users to find out the gaps that you can fill.
Understanding your target audience is the foundation of a great app design.
List down the features
Make sure, the app has features that can solve real problems. However, building and integrating all features in the app isn’t an easy task. List all important features down to create a wireframe and user flow. It will make your app development 5x easier. Brainstorm on all features to validate their use case. As I mentioned in the first point, don’t overpack the app with useless features.
You have to simplify app user experience and not complicate it.
Onboard an Intuitive UI/UX designer
In the digital world, the user interface and experience is the most important. No matter how big a problem you are solving for your customers, if they cannot use your platform smoothly, they will prefer living with the problem instead. Create wireframes and prototypes before development. Tools like Figma or Adobe XD allow you to visualize the design and test functionality early. And follow these key principles:
Simplicity: Ensure navigation is straightforward and clutter-free.
Consistency: Use a uniform color scheme, typography, and design patterns.
Responsiveness: Optimize for different screen sizes and orientations.
Feedback: Include subtle animations or notifications to acknowledge user actions.
A good user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) can make or break your app.
Focus on performance and speed
Imagine you want to urgently buy a pen and you can’t move out of the house at that moment. You get on your phone but the app you want to buy from takes ages to load the pen prices and variants. What will you feel? Frustrated of course and swear by not using that app again. Well, you sure don’t want your customers to feel the same about your app. Ensure your app is lightweight, with optimized code and minimal reliance on external APIs. Regularly test your app for bugs and crashes to deliver a smooth experience.
When it comes to apps, slow and steady will not win the race.
Personalize and Personalize
Don’t invade your customer’s personal space by bombarding them with offers every minute, but personalize their experiences on your app. Use data like user preferences, location, or usage history to tailor experiences. Show your customers what they want to see and not what you want to show them.
Personalizing is empathizing, do it strategically
Implement Accessibility Standards
Follow accessibility guidelines like ADA and WCAG, to make sure the app is usable for every one. Features such as voice commands, adjustable font sizes, and high-contrast modes can add significant value to users with different needs.
Inclusivity can make your app much more attractive
Encourage and Leverage for user feedback
Change is the only constant and making improvements is the key to success. Don’t get overjoyed after launching your app and making a bunch of customers download it. They won’t stick there for long if the app doesn’t evolve based on the user feedback. Use in app surveys to encourage them for reviews and ratings.
Prepare to hear bad reviews and learn to improve from them
Test, Test and Test again
Before launch, rigorously test your app for usability, performance, and security. Conduct beta testing with real users to identify flaws you might have missed during development.
Invest in experienced testers for finding performance gaps and flaws. It is crucial!
Improve and Evolve.
Comments