Master Tricks for Mobile Application Designers

Designing being one of the most critical aspects of an app from a users’ point of view, mobile application designers can uplift the development process by leveraging a few tips and tricks.

 

You’re late for a very important meeting. And what’s worse, your boss had dropped you numerous reminders. Your meeting is in five minutes and you need only a minute to park your car. That’s when it happens. An appalling parking schedule design, so complicated that it takes up the entire share of your five minutes. You hardly can decode any information out of it. Therein, lies the importance of a good design.

 

But what is a good design? A good design is not just meant to fulfill an aesthetic purpose but a utilitarian objective as well. Nowhere is this truer than in the world of mobile applications with several examples on either end of the spectrum. This makes designing an integral part of the app development process.

 

There are more ways than one to design a stunning application and sometimes, even creating friction to user actions can be deemed to be a good design. The key here is planning your design so that your app has the cleanest interface and features that would make it difficult for users to shift focus to another seemingly interesting element that their phone might have. While there is no specific way to define a good design, there are certain tricks to make it stand out in the pool of a million.

 

Clarity: iOS insists on clarity parameters such as text legibility and icon precision. iOS applications have a ‘functionality-first’ design, meaning the design must be motivated by functionality.

 

Deference: A limited use of bezels is perhaps one of the most distinctive features of stunning iOS applications. And even more so with Apple’s new design approach. While the content takes up the entire space of the display, it does not interrupt with the User Interface.

 

Depth: The typical iOS interface features transitions that provide a sense of depth with navigation. This gives the application a discoverability edge that adds to the User Experience.

 

Similarly, Android with its move towards material designs, states certain tips to fully integrate the features of material design in the app. Android applications are usually boldly designed with a focus on motion and transitional animation.

This is one of the most talked about design tips for mobile applications. It is extremely important for mobile application designers to have a graphic visualization of your application before you start developing the wireframes and designs. This is the stage where you understand the principle of your app and decide on the features that you would want it to have.

 

One of the greatest advantages of executing this trick is that it allows you to see the app from a user’s point of view. By extension, having your design on paper lets you easily identify and troubleshoot navigation obstacles, ensuring a seamless user experience.

Clever designs are appreciated for obvious reason and fetch stunning outcomes. However, mobile application designers often find it easy to get carried away and sacrifice on elements such as negative spaces within the app. A good design is one that does not make itself too obvious.

 

The design’s simplicity for a mobile application is, of course, governed by the nature of the app (leisure or utility) and the user base. It is a good practice to consider the utility of a particular element when adding it to your design. By implementing a simple design, you are also being data conscious with every element contributing to consumption of kilobytes. Having said this, oversimplification can make for a mundane interface. The answer lies in finding a sweet spot in between.

Colors speak volumes about a mobile application design. The color gamut can tell your users the nature of your app even before they have installed it on their device. For example, a yellow color mode symbolizes optimism and warmth, while red symbolizes excitement and boldness. Both the color modes, if used cleverly, prepare the users’ expectation of the app. Once you have decided on the mode, you can get down to deciding the color scheme.

 

A color scheme can be analogous, complementary, or monochromatic. Wisely used monochromatic schemes create a soft soothing experience while complementary colors can grab a user’s attention towards an important notification. With a majority of Android apps taking the minimal design road, muted or pastel shades are also a common sight. These shades give a sense of balance to the app while providing good separation of features.

Negative spaces are one of the most useful tools in a mobile application designer’s bag. Contrary to popular opinion, negative spaces are not necessarily white spaces. A negative space can also be a non-active color such as light grey. Used correctly, negative spaces have quite a few advantages:

 

Creates a Break: A negative space can be used to create a break in a space when there are too many elements or messages. The break allows the user to discover a call to action or the purpose of the page.

 

Emphasizes a Message: In case of text-heavy sections, negative spaces can be used effectively to increase the readability without the need to change the font style.

 

Highlights Visual Elements: One of the most common examples of this benefit is the optical illusion known as Rubin’s vase. The white space is used in a versatile manner and is open to interpretations. The way negative spaces are used can heavily influence the visual message.

 

Designing Made Easy with HokuApps Mobile Application Development Platform

The recent rapid advancements in technology have opened up opportunities to simplify mobile application design. Mobile Application Development is one such example. A MADP platform such as that provided by HokuApps provides mobile application designers a low-code platform. The HokuApps Mobile application development platform allows a designer to visually develop their app with a drag and drop feature, simplifying the designer's job with rapid speed on-demand business modules.

 

This MADP platform enables the development and design of apps that behave as native ones on iOS, Android, and Windows alike. The responsiveness of these apps is also a notable. Implementing a MADP solution lets mobile application designers reuse resources thereby, cutting down on the cost of development by a significant amount.

 

The UI/UX design aspect of a mobile application is perhaps the most important part of the application development process. This is mainly because it is the most obvious aspect that compels a user to install an app and spend time on time. It is the other way around, then these apps will be uninstalled by users. It is therefore of utmost importance to be able to understand the needs of the user! What remains then is just good design sense.

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