Mobile UI design can sometimes be a very difficult task. But it can be transformed into an enjoyable project using a mobile-first approach. It’s true that mobile apps play an important role in our daily lives because users are now navigating directly on mobile devices or different activities such as managing finances, ordering items, or just for entertainment.
There are almost 10 million mobile apps distributed across many online stores such as the Apple App Store, the Google Play Store, and others. If various mobile apps already exist, how can a newly launched app differentiate itself from the crowd?
The mobile app represents a program designed to be used only on smartphones or tablets, offering a platform for buying different products or services. These mobile apps that directly installed on users’ phones and tablets, and provide immediate access to various information and even interactive experiences.
Mobile apps have become the standard in UI/UX design because various brands have their own app where they keep the target audience informed.
UI/UX designers have an important role in mobile app design because they need to create and develop mobile apps that have a user-friendly interface and are, at the same time, adaptable for different screen sizes and resolutions.
Because the mobile design process offers opportunities and challenges, it’s important for UI and UX designers to be up to date with all the latest trends and technologies to create mobile apps that are accessible and easy to use.
- Create a responsive design: it’s important to create and develop designs that can be used on different screen sizes and orientations. This ensures that users will be able to use your mobile application across all their mobile devices, whether it's a smartphone or tablet.
- Keep the design simple: keep in mind that cluttered designs will eventually confuse users. Maintain a minimalist design to keep users engaged and allow them to navigate without distractions. Try to prioritize only the essential elements and use a lot of white space to offer an easy-to-read UI design.
- Maintain the visual hierarchy: Visual hierarchy is crucial in mobile UI designs because it is able to guide users when navigating the app. Make sure that the colors and contrast used highlight the important elements and that the typography is well chosen to be easy to read and understand.
- Place the elements to be easily touched: it’s important not to forget that mobile apps are navigated using thumbs. So, it’s crucial to place the important elements somewhere thumb-friendly, especially for larger screens.
- Implement voice interaction: make sure that you create a voice interaction to allow users with different impairments to navigate and interact with your mobile app without issues.
- Think about how users will interact with your mobile app: make sure to think about how and when users will interact with your app. Maybe they are on the go or in low-light conditions. Including these and many other factors, the mobile app must have a design that is easily adaptable to its environment. Start with offering dark-mode support as well as offline functionality to keep users satisfied.
- Use consistent design elements: reuse different elements such as button designs, icons, colors, and typography to keep a consistent design throughout the interface. This way, users will understand quickly how the app works and will avoid eventual issues and misunderstandings.
- Optimize the app for excellent performance: even if the overall mobile app design is visually appealing, without good performance, users will not use it. When the app has unoptimized animations and heavy graphics, it usually experiences trouble when loading. Integrate into the UI mobile design compressed images and smooth transitions to ensure a fast and responsive app.
- Develop an easy sign-in process: In the first few minutes of interaction, users create their first impression of the brand and overall mobile experience. It’s important to create an easy sign-in process that doesn’t require additional efforts to maintain users engaged. Let’s be honest, neither of us wants to navigate through an app that requires 10 steps for authentication. Reduce the number of steps and keep them simple to make sure that all users will be interested in your app.
- Provide visual feedback: make sure to offer visual feedback for the user’s actions because it represents an important factor in user experience. Implement different transitions and animations that can help users understand the system’s responses. Usually, the loading indicators along with progress bars are the most used because they can significantly improve the navigation experience.
The design process of a mobile app can truly be overwhelming and difficult sometimes. But it shouldn’t be!
Compared with website design, mobile apps require more effort from designers and developers because they need to fulfill additional desires and needs. Follow these recommendations and practices to make sure that your mobile app can be fully operational and optimized for different users.
Check out our article on Mobile First Design if you want to explore more about creating products with a focus on the smaller screens.
We at uinkits understand the importance of great user experiences and creating amazing UI designs. That’s why we’ve developed a Figma UI Kit with design components that include these essential UI elements that enable you to design intuitive and user-friendly interfaces effortlessly.
“You press the button, we do the rest.” – Kodak.
Inspired by this iconic tagline from Kodak, we believe in simplifying the design process for you. Our Figma UI Kit, uinkits, is a complete design system with UI components that allows you, as a UI UX designer, to create your products as quickly as pressing a button.
Our design system includes UI components, icons, variables, cards, buttons and everything you need for your design process. All you have to do is take your UI design component needed, and you’re ready to use it in your designs!
