UX Mobile App Design: Which Strategies Will Work and Why
The success of an app depends on a combination of factors, and obviously, the mobile experience (UX) is the main one. Apps that stand out from other developments tend to have good UX. There are many components that, when combined optimally, will make the experience an unforgettable experience.
In developing mobile UX, it is important to rely on best practices that are already applied in a specific industry. After all, it is better to use something that users are already familiar with.
However, the lack of a clear understanding of the psychological and philosophical basis of these approaches is fraught with undesirable consequences and extremely imperfect UX.
This note provides a description of the strategies for UX success and the reasons why these strategies should be employed.
User Interface (UI) Design
It allows you to maximize UX quality. As you know, an interface can involve of many dissimilar features – be it different screen sizes or virtual keyboards that appear on demand.
As if in response to public calls, the two largest platforms – iOS and Android – are releasing updates that radically change the UI design, ultimately affecting the way users interact with the app. Developers are closely monitoring all these changes, trying to create applications that would successfully implement new features. This increases the competitiveness of a particular idea in the ever-growing mobile app landscape.
The Choice of Color from The Point of View of Psychology
Certain colors provoke certain emotions, sensations and actions. The same psychological technique is used to optimize conversions.
Take red and green for example. They are widely used for CTA buttons. In China, having vibrant colors in any application is a must. And there are reasons for that. Red is ubiquitous on Chinese websites, mainly because it symbolizes happiness in the Chinese tradition.
Minimalist Interface Design
This is one of the trends in recent years. After all, a mobile application should be functional, and not just have an attractive look. Minimalism improves overall design and fits in a number of other processes (in-app purchases or registration).
The main principle of this design direction is to provide the user with access only to the most necessary elements. This is one of the most appropriate ways to introduce the user to the application. The information load is reduced – there is less information that needs to be memorized.
Walmart also has a minimalist design for the checkout process. A lot of information is not required from the user. You only need to enter the data that is needed to complete the purchase.
Purchases in the Walmart app are possible without registration. Among other things, there is a lot of white space and CTA buttons, bright and large. Therefore, conversion rates are high.
It is always worth considering what is in the best interest of the consumer. And asking a client how much he is willing to spend on a monthly basis is not very appropriate. This is interesting only to you, not to the client who is going to part with money that he does not easily earn. Therefore, it never hurts to look at things from the client’s point of view.
Minimalist interfaces are also suitable for registration screens, when it is important to collect user data without unnecessary text. This design helped to increase subscriptions and minimize bounce rates.
Quora developers use a hybrid approach when it comes to registration (registration via email and social media account).
Onboarding or Attracting New Users
It is believed that it is the first impression that forms the perception, leaving an indelible impression in the memory. In the context of mobile UX, the onboarding process is the foundation of customer acquisition and retention. Consider the process for introducing users to the application as the first exit onto the main highway. Different screens are like a landscape outside a car window on such a journey.
The essence of onboarding is to convince the user that the application has undeniable benefits by demonstrating how effectively it copes with its functions. At this stage, a wide variety of strategies are available to maximize mobile UX.
One of these is progressive onboarding. It is an interactive process in which instructions are given to people while they actually use the application.
If the sequence of actions performed in the application is interactive, if there are many sections, hidden functionality and control through gestures; in this case, progressive onboarding is the best possible option.
Twitter’s Birdhous app organizes onboarding so that users are provided with everything they need to get to the next stage.
From Customization to Personalization
In the pre-mobile era (remember?), Desktop sites used a variety of screen customization technologies based on user preferences and browsing history. All this was done using an HTTP cookie. This kind of customization has migrated to mobile devices as well. (But there were some difficulties due to the wide variety of screen sizes, especially among Android devices).
Use personalization if the data on past visits is recorded and saved by the application. In the age of big data technology, there are countless ways to improve mobile UX.
For example, some of the users have a habit of buying something for their child at the beginning of each month. In such a case, a special offer for this product may follow from the personalized application. Personalized recommendations increase app profitability.
Another example is push notifications, which are used by many popular retailers. There is little doubt that Starbucks’ personalization strategy is one of the best.
The Starbucks mobile app has a dual purpose. The first is to increase the level of engagement. The second is to offer promotions through personalized notifications.
Personalization is a tried and tested strategy that can generate an endless stream of financial revenues if done correctly.
Netflix and ThredUP use push notifications to improve the customer experience.
Big data technology brings tangible benefits to personalization. And it allows brands to create the right portrait of the consumer, understand his way of thinking, with the help of a winning combination of psychological techniques, data and the right timing.
Gestures
Swiping or swiping, scrolling, etc. – here are examples of device control using gestures. In the past, UI capabilities were limited to just a few gestures (swipe, zoom). Designers now pay more attention to gestures. For example, the swipe gesture performs functions such as sharing content or deleting.
It is also important not to lose sight of the market situation and pay attention to other applications that the target audience can use. After all, often certain functional features are borrowed from applications of competing mobile application developers. This makes it possible to optimize the interface based on the behavior of the target market. And, among other things, users will be more comfortable and convenient with the already familiar functionality. Hence the higher engagement rates.
The Gmail and Facebook apps have a sidebar to save space. The appearance of this option is explained by one psychological nuance: when it is necessary to free the desk from all that is superfluous, a person simply rakes the objects on it to the side. The side menu performs roughly the same function.
Developers of mobile applications have to constantly monitor technological innovations, as the functionality of touchscreen systems is constantly expanding.
So, 3D touch technology has already been implemented in many applications, and in the foreseeable future there will be even more of them, which, of course, is in the interests of iPhone 6s and 6s plus owners: this reduces the time it takes to perform the most common actions. And in today’s mobile world, every second counts.
Mobile UX Metrics: The Power of Quality Data
UX must be monitored from the very first day of an application’s life – analytics tools provide insight into what drives key metrics and quantitative data.
Heatmap, user activity monitoring and other tools subject the interaction experience to scrutiny. In addition, against the background of the results of these tools, the main disadvantages of traditional mobile analytics become noticeable. Google Analytics and others mainly highlight abstract numbers, rather than specific reasons behind user actions.
User insights gained from UX analytics can improve the smallest details of the application. And take a big step forward towards its optimization.
Let’s say there is a drop in registration statistics on the registration screen. You managed to find out. Perfectly. But what are the reasons for this? On the recording of the user session, which is posted below, it can be seen that a user who tried to register using his Facebook account was never able to do so due to technical problems, which was (notified) using a pop-up message. This is an opportunity to find out why users close registration screens, as well as the main disadvantages of the application in terms of UX.
