How to Design Great Ui for Mobile Apps

For your app to look fantastic, include graphics that are tailored to the screens of the specific devices. The best graphics ideally load at run time and amount to a pleasant user experience altogether.

You must know your users inside and out. Their needs and what are the problems they face in achieving their goals. It requires a great deal of empathy for the users and for that you need to go beyond the basic stats. Such insights will help you take right decisions about the usage of the interface amongst the users.

Note that user interface should be designed in such a manner that the app is fully usable on multiple devices and mobile operating systems.

Prefer to use subtle animations to transit between screens and implement UI control color differentiation to inform the state changes in application. Such an approach adds a professional touch to your mobile app. For instance, if a screen fades between activities, the screen transitions will not look very loud and if there is change in color of button control after click, it means a user action has been performed with a goal in mind.

Generally, each user interface such as a Button or Image View displays a rectangle of pixels on the screen, but it is not a hard- and- fast rule to be followed. You don’t have to always stick with the pointy cornered controls. It is better to soften the look of the interface by including round cornered controls, much like web style, comfortable with users. If you are employing drop shadows and other styling in your controls, be particular to have consistent lighting, that is, consistent orientation of the shadows on the screen. Same goes with gradients; exercise consistent values in your graphics editor so that you can have consistent gradient and textures.

What a big pain it is to your eyes when you receive a mail full of bizarre color fonts and backgrounds from a newbie who has a recently discovered the word art. Same is the reaction when you come across applications that are very difficult to read and navigate. To avoid such a scenario, decide on high-contrasting color schemes that makes design and content stark clear. It is always better to use color schemes given in the system resources and then when you gain confidence, start experimenting with color.

Use fonts that are readable and pleasing to the eyes. Font size is also something to be noted of. Use a font that is big and balanced well with the other elements of the screen. Fonts below 12pt are a big no-no.

Back button is an ultimate savior for the users. It must navigate the app user back on a consistent basis. If you are an Android app designer, then the native OS back button will do the needful. However, if you are making an iOS application, it is suggested that you place the back button on the top-left corner as this is where the users expect it to find. Abiding by the OS stated behavior and back button positioning; you can ideally create an app that rightfully meets users’ expectations.

There have been a plethora of icons that have occupied a comfort zone amongst the users from the past few decades. They are pretty used to the functions of these icons and thus they are very much present on several gadgets these days. So, if you want your UI to score higher, try placing these favorable icons in your mobile app to add an intuitive factor to it. For example, x is used to close a file; this is known to one and all. Nevertheless, if you are keen on introducing new icons, then make sure to mention its function along with the icon to add clarity.

The attractive quotient of an app’s UI relies on the target market. By following the set guidelines for user interface design, you can create a product that is easy to understand and high on usability ladder. As the world of app development continues to leap, you must learn to create an outstanding user interface that makes your mobile application amazing. Hope this post nailed all the tips required to raise the bar of excellence in user interface design.