Rowena Boyd

2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

Compared to a website that can contain tons of features and content, the aim of a mobile app is usually to achieve simplicity. Simplicity does not mean easy to design. Instead, simplicity implies a greater complexity that has been thoughtfully reduced for ease of use. Find here how others do it. Therefore, designing for simplicity requires a good understanding of the complex whole. You have to know exactly what is needed for the app to serve its purpose. It is also knowing what should not be in there.
Always start with what your users want to achieve, which is something that you might have already picked up from doing web design. Many successful apps focus primarily on one single task that the user wishes to perform. Design your app around that one task and pick a few features that will be most used by your users to perform that task.

Designing for mobile apps can be a challenge for web designers wanting to cross over. The way we have been thinking about and designing for websites is generally quite static. We have beefed up the interaction part in recent years with Javascript and CSS3. Nonetheless, the essence of a website is not based upon motion and interaction.

Mobile app design, on the other hand, essentially falls under the realm of interaction design. This is where the complexity of simplicity hits us harder. Designing for interaction and micro-interactions is complex not only because it requires an understanding of the platform and the user, it has to be made to feel almost invisible.

If you are going from web to mobile app design, it is time to get rid of that static mindset. A good way to learn good interaction design is to observe and study in detail the most successful apps out there on different platforms. Have a look at our Top 5 Mobile Interaction Designs monthly series for a good start.
Another key issue to keep in mind while designing for mobile apps is ergonomics. Knowing how people use, hold and interact with their mobile devices will go a long way in helping you design for touch and voice.

2020-05-24 02:02:47, views: 70, Comments: 0