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When building a mobile app, there will be one major principle that must be maintained from start to finish – UI/UX design. Without it, your mobile app will fail to meet the customer’s expectations and will never reach its full potential.
Simply put, UI/UX design is the heart and soul of your mobile app’s success. Therefore, you’ll need a developer that eats, sleeps, and breathes it.
As prominent as UI/UX design is to the mobile app development and maintenance process, there’s a growing amount of confusion surrounding this concept. It combines two of the main strategies involved in developing a quality mobile app. They are – user interface (UI) and user experience (UX).
Although most people will use these terms interchangeably, they are two completely different concepts and must be dealt with separately. A healthy investment into both will be exactly what your mobile app needs.
To help you better understand the principles behind UI/UX design, we’ll detail the difference between both user interface and user experience design, how to implement them in your project, and how to ensure your team is behind it as well.
What is user interface design?
As the name suggests, user interface design refers to your mobile app’s user interface’s look and style. The goal of user interface design is to create an appealing and attractive interface for the user. Otherwise, they will quickly lose interest in your app.
A quality user interface will balance what the brand’s trying to say/show and what the user wants to hear/see. You’ll want it to resemble and represent your brand well, but you also want to appeal to the user’s preferences.
In the digital world today, users are keener to a modern look and feel. They hate clutter, can’t stand busy apps, and want their information to be easy to find. Having a quality user interface that keeps the user’s attention will bring us to the other principle behind UI/UX design – the user experience.
What is user experience design?
User experience design is an umbrella term for the user’s overall experience when using the app. While the user interface is a crucial component of user experience, it’s far from being the only one.
A quality user experience will also require a simple and interactive menu, high-speed performance without bugs or errors, helpful customer service, and a wide range of useful features that keep the app exciting.
Failing to take user experience design seriously will only lead to unhappy users who will uninstall your app. Of course, user interface design will be the best way to get that relationship off to a great start.
UI/UX Design Is a Mindset, Not a Step
One of the biggest mistakes app owners and developers make with UI/UX design is they treat it like a step in the process. Rather than viewing it as a step, UI/UX design should be viewed as a mindset. You should keep it in the back of your mind throughout each step of the process.
Think about your mobile app as a restaurant. If you want your restaurant to succeed, you need to attract customers who will spend their time in your restaurant. You gain this attraction by placing an appealing sign out front, choosing the right lighting, decorations, flooring, and drapes throughout the restaurant. In this case, this would be your user interface.
Once you get the customers inside the restaurant, it’s the customer service and customer experience that ultimately leads to them spending money. And returning for another meal one day. This is done with amazing staff (or developers), delicious food (or features), quality bathrooms (or menu), etc.
Taking it a step further, you’ll need to keep in mind that UI/UX design will likely change depending on the user. This is what makes UI/UX design so difficult, but also what makes UI/UX developers so valuable.
Best Practices With UI/UX Design
Understanding the importance behind UI/UX design is an essential step in the right direction. Knowing how to implement it within your mobile app is an entirely different story.
As an app owner, there are several principles you’ll want to ensure your team understands before moving forward with the development of your app. These principles will help keep your app on track throughout the process and make sure the customer is constantly being considered.
Here’s our list of best practices to follow with UI/UX design:
- Simplicity and consistency are key to a quality user interface. The more difficult you make it for the user, the worse their experience will be.
- Colors do matter, and it’s a big reason modern apps follow a more minimalist style.
- An easy-to-find and easy-to-use navigation will go a long way in guiding the user through your mobile app.
- Make it easy for the user to communicate with you or your customer service team, especially if they’re having difficulties with the mobile app.
- Test your app before releasing it to ensure everything is functioning correctly. And always test in multiple environments and situations.
When you can find a healthy balance between user interface design and user experience design, you’ll own a sustainable app that continues to surprise users and reward investors – including yourself.
Does your developer practice UI/UX design?
We think it’s safe to say you’re well-versed in the importance of user interface design and user experience by now. However, you likely won’t be the only person involved in the design, development, and testing process.
It doesn’t matter who you hire, what position they’re filling, when you hire them, or how you hire them. You need to ensure they understand the importance of UI/UX design as much as you do. Better yet, you need to ensure they actively practice it with all of their work.
Before you bring anyone onto your team, you should always ask them what UI/UX means to them. In addition, ask them how they utilize it with every step of the app development process. This should be one of the first questions you ask them because it’s one of the most vital questions to your mobile app’s success.
If you have a mobile app idea and are looking for a UI/UX designer to bring it to life, contact us today. We can’t wait to help you and your app reach their full potential!
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