Do’s and Don’ts of Mobile UX Design

For any mobile app, User Experience Design (UX) is the crucial element. When the Mobile UX design is prepared appealingly, considering all the requirements, it owns the capability to develop a mobile app to rank in the topmost rating. But when it is done appropriately, it can lead towards uninstallation of the mobile app.

Mobile UX design elements have the capability to instill memorable experience, but the significance of UX elements inside an app could also be perceived in a way that it is one of the rare measures that make sure a brand is exactly as per the intention. In addition to that, the odds of users leaving a task in between are extremely high whenever they are working on a particular app which is not optimized efficiently.

It is commonly observed that mobile ux design could be a tricky task and there are lots of aspects to take into account while developing a mobile app.  The Mobile app developers who are present all over the world will approve of the point that the user-friendly mobile applications’ development demands a lot of consideration. With the help of this vision, you may design mobile apps which can rank at a topmost position on their user experience. Below discussed are the do’s and don’ts that one should take into account while carrying out mobile app design. After you consider all such pointers, you can successfully entice the attention of mobile app users in multiple ways.

Do’s of Mobile UX Design:

1. Carry out a thorough research before design:

Whenever you begin working on a fresh mobile app project, is often alluring to jump directly to a drawing board and begin designing mockups. However, it is always recommended to prevent that lure because one should prevent the false-consensus effect. It is essential to carry out research initially and this will assist you to comprehend the needs of users. The objective behind conducting a thorough research before the design is that it would create a valuable experience that echoes with your target audience.

It is necessary to carry out the competitive analysis by finding apps that are identical to the one which you are already designing. There is a necessity to pay attention to the parts of the mobile apps that you like and dislike, along with the justifiable reasons. Research is required to be done in identifying your users. Build user personalities to comprehend the different ways in which users would intermingle with your mobile app.

2. List down the crucial mobile app characteristics:

After carrying out thorough research as discussed above, it is necessary to enlist the priority features. It is always recommended and excitement for app developers to incorporate several features into their apps. But, this blocks the fundamental purpose of a hassle-free user experience. It is necessary to decide and adhere to significant features that will influence your users effectively.

3. Prioritize features:

In order to make an app more appealing to users, several product designers attempt to incorporate features as much as they can. But, it is found that this rarely outcome in a good user experience. For first-time users, it is more confusing to have a mobile app loaded with lots of features. Today, the greatest successful mobile apps accessible on the market are extremely focused and offer only a limited collection of features. Therefore, it is recommended to restrict the features of your mobile app by prioritizing what features are significant.

In addition to that, the practical recommendation is to lay emphasis on refining the experience about your prime objectives. It is vital to know what the prime objective of your mobile app is. Moreover, explore which features of the app are used extensively and work effectively for creating that experience intuitive.

4. Manage unnecessary clutter:

It is true that excess information can mess up and confuse the overall user experience. Moreover, cluttering does more damage to mobiles with smaller screen space as compared to that of desktops having broader screens. The goal should be to stick to minimalism. Regarding content, it is recommended to incorporate the content which could influence your users positively.

The elements (text, unnecessary images, and buttons) that can negatively influence the mobile screen should be discarded. Messing a user interface would overload your user with the excess amount of information. It is true that inclusion of image, button, and line of text in excess would make the screen to appear more complicated. The same is unappealing on a desktop; however, it is worse on mobile devices in which users get limited screen space. Concentrate on the content which is useful for your users and discard needless elements. It is recommended to design each screen for a sole thing only, excluding unnecessary call-to-action.

5. The lesser the typing, the better it is:

If you are a mobile user, you would agree with the point that, it becomes tiresome to type on a mobile and it also generates errors. Therefore, it is a wise decision to keep the typing at the minimum level on a mobile screen. While considering UX design of a mobile app, removing needless fields would be a smart decision, in order to proceed in the direction of permitting users to provide the essential information.

6. Provide a flawless user experience across multiple devices:

It should not be always considered that mobile apps provide stand-alone experiences. Those users who manage many different devices like mobile phone, desktop, tablets, etc. would expects that the app must offer a flawless experience across multiple devices. 

7. Test your design carefully:

The real world implementation of the particular mobile app come up with lots of benefits and one of them is identifying unseen errors that were masked while the mobile app development is carried out. Therefore, it is best to first test your design using more than real users because by doing so, you can fix accordingly, based on their feedback. Moreover, their pointers will serve as a guide to come up with an effective mobile app.

Don’ts of Mobile UX Design:

1. Avoid trying to design the seamless experience from the first attempt:

Whenever you work on to design a mobile app, it is usually not possible to make a seamless design right the initial attempt itself. Even though your design meets the former requirements, it happens that you may get an all-new set of requirements post carrying out user testing. Therefore, it is best to adopt an iterative design approach and then work on to test as soon as possible. Furthermore, looking practically, it is best to an emphasis on prototyping and testing. Powerful prototyping methods like rapid prototyping could allow designers to iterate speedily.

2. Avoid using jargons:

The user interface which is intended without jargon can entice users. Whenever your mobile app begins a conversation with users in the language they are convenient with, it is certain that the interaction taking place between the users and the interface is simplified. Take care that you refrain from using words which are difficult to understand for users.

3. Complicated Sign up:

This is one of the troublesome task brands usually come up with. It is recommended to simplify the sign-up process. Include only those elements in the starting page that users find simple and understandable. Try not to direct users to other browsers. When your mobile app user depends on network speed, the task may seem to be awkward.

4. Refrain from asking for permissions right at the beginning:

You might have observed that the initial thing user see while launching a newly downloaded app is some dialog boxes, asking for permission request. For example, some app comes with a dialogue box asking for allowing the use of location. Usually, when a mobile app asks for permissions during the initial phase, users frequently deny such permissions requests. The reason is the user doesn’t have any proper perspective to jump to a decision. Also, they are unaware regarding the need for those permissions.

5. Don’t let users wait for content:

When the content is loading, a blank screen could make it look like the mobile app is frozen. This results in a feeling of confusion and disappointment among the users. It is recommended to always attempt to put the impression that the app is speedy and responsive. Focusing on the practical aspect, make use of skeletons (i.e., temporary containers) to instill a feeling of quick loading. Work on to display the screens instantly and also use placeholders to point out where content is not accessible yet. Also, substitute such placeholders with the actual content the moment it loads.

6. Avoid Dead End Pages:

The design flow should be kept in mind while considering user experience. The mobile app must be designed to successfully accomplish a goal. For that, avoid making dead-end app pages which can obstruct the user flow. The reason is these pages not just confuse users but they even lead to futile actions.

7. Don’t tag the web experience on apps:

The web browsers work with the help of links. On the other hand, the things that drive mobile experiences are the buttons. Considering users’ expectation with reference to interface elements as well as the interaction patterns into mobile apps, avoid the use of underlined links into mobile apps.

Concluding Note:

The appealing and easy-to-understand features of mobile UX design will help to entice more users to use it. For that, following the do’s and don’ts as described above helps a lot.