Today, a typical user installs an average of 55 applications on his IPhone, 35 if he owns a smartphone. We have definitely entered the era of mobile platforms that allow anyone, no matter where they are, to learn, to be entertained, to buy a product or service, to surf on social networks etc. So how to exist in this ultra-competitive market? How to achieve the best possible application and to sustain the use?
The applications that work the best share all the same characteristics: unique quality content, quick access to key information, simple ergonomics, fluid and readable. By playing with these elements, you can improve the user experience. As you get started in the realization of an application, it is essential to put at the same level the technical aspects and the graphic aspects. By involving your designer in the app design process (i.e. as soon as the developers have determined the storyboard), you will bring a balance between aesthetics and functionality. This will prevent you from falling into the complexity by wanting to develop too advanced functions. Sobriety and simplicity must prevail, especially on small screens. Here are some tips for designing your mobile application.
Take care of the details
Think about the most successful apps. What do they have in common? Beautiful typography, useful empty spaces, high-resolution images. Never underestimate the value that users give to details. These directly determine the overall visual appearance of your application and therefore the pleasure of using it. Thus, it is advisable to use sans serif fonts for your texts, not to choose more than 5 different colors, to privilege a plain and clear bottom of page with a dark typography … In the era of retina screens, it is It is also important to choose high quality images from the beginning of the creative process (you can always reduce them later).
Enhance your brand
Your application is an additional tool to convey your image. Take back the visual elements which you have and use them (your colors, your logo, the visual elements used on your site). Decline your graphic chart on your pictograms and your wallpaper, on your menus, it will allow you to better convey your image and to develop your notoriety. When Facebook bought Instagram, they kept the Instagram camera icon (immediately recognizable by the many), but changed the basic visual of the application by choosing the blue color of Facebook, the two marks therefore remained identifiable. From elegant media reviews this is the best deal.
Adapt to your customers
A common mistake is to consider that smartphones are small computers. These devices actually have very different functionalities and, as a result, user expectations diverge completely. So, do not succumb to the temptation to adapt your website into a mobile application. When designing the design of your app, you must start from scratch and represent the daily actions of your target. Analyze in detail what they want, what they think and what they do. It is essential to know and understand their uses in order to create a universe that blends with their habits. Anticipate also the potential errors of your customers in order to help them find the way during their navigation and to avoid any frustration on their part (clickable elements too small or too close together, the pages which do not make it possible to go back).