Let's say you have developed a useful mobile application that can add value to people's lives, yet, its popularity remains drastically low. Can you guess why? Well, chances are that it is not convenient to use. In other words, the app's mobile UX design is not up to the mark.
Creating great mobile user experiences should be the top priority for all app designers and developers. If your mobile app features intricate navigation, complicated design, or poor usability, it will fail to gather a sizable user base. Additionally, potential clients will switch to competitors.
Top 10 Mobile UX Design Principles
1. One Screen = One Action
The smartphone screen is quite small in size. Consequently, adding too many items or elements on a single screen is not a good idea. It can overwhelm the users with too much information, leaving them confused. Avoid placing more than one possible function or action on a single screen. It is better to split it into several steps if you are incorporating a process.
This is one of the most crucial mobile UX design principles that also inform the users what is required of them. This way, they can quickly decide whether to proceed or go back.
2. Ensure Intuitive Navigation
Your app's navigation should be simple and intuitive. And for this, the learnability of your design is critical. Users must be able to go from one screen to another or even retreat to the home screen without any problems.
Users lack the patience to try and get through a series of complicated steps to get what they want. If it takes too much effort or time to complete an action, users will bounce off the app.
Make sure to create a logical structure or hierarchy within your app. It will serve as an invisible guiding hand to take the users to the next step.
To ensure seamless navigation, make sure to follow the below-mentioned tips:
- Use familiar navigation elements and patterns.
- Provide clarity on the current location.
- Add universal navigation bars on every screen.
3. Provide User Control
This essential mobile UX design principle ensures a good user experience. Most people like to feel that they are in control of their actions. This is what you must give them with your app’s design.
Your app users should be able to make their own decisions and personalize their journey on the app. Let them control notifications, change settings, or even block actions as they deem fit. Your app can offer the necessary feedback without disrupting the user’s work. This will empower the users with a sense of transparency and freedom.
4. Make the Text Legible
The typography you choose for your mobile app plays a vital role in ensuring a good UX. It hugely impacts how users interpret your language. It can also enhance or subdue the messages.
The key to mobile app typography is readability. If your app users cannot read your content, there is no point in providing it in the first place. So, every designer must be very careful while selecting the typography. It should convey the message effortlessly.
The best way to ensure ideal typography is to strike a balance between readability and space conservation. Typically, any text that is smaller than 16 pixels is difficult to read on a mobile screen. Conversely, an enormous font size results in unwanted hyphenation that may irritate the users.
Selecting a font size that is easy to read without any magnification is important. Also, it is better to avoid needlessly fancy fonts and stick to the basics. You can use typefaces such as Roboto and standard Helvetica Neue. The right font will ensure both functionality and aesthetics.
5. Follow the Minimum Input Rule
This is one of the key UI/UX principles that go a long way in creating great mobile user experiences. With mobile apps, there is barely any space for extended paragraph typing. Also, the less you bother your users to strain their fingers over the keypad, the happier you will make them with your mobile app.
To make your app less stressful and more user-friendly, you can follow these tips:
- Use autocomplete features to offer smart suggestions.
- Use a field check feature that shows colors or special characters to help users identify which field they missed.
- Provide keyboard customization functionality that lets users quickly respond to the query with the required type of keypad. For instance, a numeric value should automatically open up a number pad instead of the entire keyboard.
Also, Read: Mobile UX Design Trends: Top 27 Biggest Trends
6. Create a Seamless Experience across devices
Whether the user is accessing your content on a mobile app, mobile browser, or desktop, the transition and experience on all these devices must be seamless. All the design elements used on one platform must match the others. For instance, the designer should not use yellow for the website and green for the app.
Synchronization across different devices is vital for creating seamless experiences. It makes the users feel ‘right’ about using an app. This, in turn, builds their trust in the brand.
7. Opt for Personalization
Personalization is the backbone of good mobile UX design principles. Personalization pushes users toward content that is relevant to them and away from content that holds no value. Adequate personalization can also eliminate unnecessary distractions. It can streamline aspects such as the purchase process.
It is crucial to understand the level of personalization required for your users. It is not uncommon for websites to display advertisements for something users were only thinking about and did not even search for. Sure it is just the advanced nature of predictive analytics, but often, such a level of personalization can leave the users feeling dazed and apprehensive.
8. Hand Position Controls
The movement of your fingers really matters when it comes to mobile apps. As per research, 49% of users rely on one thumb while operating mobile apps. Therefore, the position of hands should be kept in mind while placing controls in the app on a mobile screen.
The most commonly used features must be placed in a way that makes navigation simpler. Additionally, you can use established gestures that most people already use on their devices. This includes swiping or pinching the screen to zoom in or out. Lastly, it is crucial to consider right and left-handedness while incorporating design elements.
9. Use White Space
Using white space in your mobile app is a must. And the most classic example of this is the Google homepage. Several designers fail to consider white space a crucial part of their overall design. However, this is not the right approach.
In mobile apps, white space generally serves two purposes. One, it creates a look of clarity and clearness, and second, it guides the users toward the right places to click. This, in turn, makes the user’s journey more pleasurable. Using white space in the correct way is a critical mobile UX best practice that one must never overlook.
10. Test your Design
Regularly testing and optimizing your mobile app helps ensure its long-term success. Before you launch your app, make sure to test all its features and layouts rigorously. Try making variations to see what works best. You must also perform usability testing to get a fair idea of how easy it is to navigate the mobile app and take the desired actions.
Opt for a user-centric approach while testing your app. It is a good idea to conduct a round of testing with real users. This will help you identify newer ways of meeting users' expectations and fixing the UI/UX problems early on.
Conclusion
This is our roundup of the top 10 mobile UI/UX principles that will help you create a user-friendly app. With so many new apps coming up every day, great mobile designs are becoming more common. The UI/UX design standards have been raised, especially in terms of user expectations. Thus, the app’s UI and UX can no longer be considered an afterthought. One must give it the time, resources, and effort required to build an easy-to-use successful app.
