Mobile applications represent more than 50% of the time that users spend on digital media. The mobile app industry is growing at an alarming rate and is expected to exceed $77 billion in revenue by 2017 worldwide. With over 85% of users preferring mobile apps over mobile websites, it’s important to understand that there are a number of factors that drive mobile app sales, including the platform, marketing efforts, and design.
Whether you want to plan your fitness regimen, play games, listen to music, plan your schedule, boost your business, shop online, budget, or just about anything else, there’s a mobile app that can help. But this does not mean that all mobile applications are destined for success. The design of the application is very important. Here are some other things to consider during this process:
Do you really need a mobile app?
Before you start designing your app, you should ask yourself if you really need one. You need to know if there is a market for your app. Sometimes it can make more sense to create a mobile-optimized website. This will help target multiple platforms instead of just mobile clients like an app would.
Indie apps make sense if you know what your end goal is and the audience you’re trying to attract. Carefully consider the features that you will integrate into the application at this time.
Use of mobile applications
Before designing mobile applications, it is important to know the type of people who will use it, where it will be used and the target market. The design of the applications will depend to a large extent on what users expect. For example, an app that helps find restaurants in the area will need to have a GPS feature. An online shopping app will need to have a payment function.
User engagement and customer profile are also important in determining your reach. This will give you a good idea of what features to include in your mobile app and how you can improve its visibility. These aspects must be made clear in the pre-design stage itself. So do enough research before creating an app.
Mobile App Design Basics
Knowing the final purpose of an application is very important. This will help make it easier to select the right platform. Colors and shades must be carefully combined. Fonts must be understood correctly to ensure that the application is clean and uncluttered.
Consistency is key with a mobile app. Mobile phones have various resolutions, screen sizes, and pixel densities. The application needs to work with all of them with maximum consistency.
When designing an app, the clickable area and layout should be determined based on how different phones are held. Usability will greatly increase with apps having preferred options like swipe, pinch, etc.
So now that you know what to look for when designing your mobile app. What are you waiting for? It’s time for you to start designing your own.