UX design is not the first step in the mobile app development process, but that doesn’t mean it’s less important than any other step. The way your app works and looks can be a determining factor in customers’ purchasing decisions.
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Today’s high churn rate (the number of people who abandon an app after using it a few times) keeps many app owners awake. One of the main reasons for the renunciation of mobile apps is a non-intuitive design with an unattractive or unreadable user interface.
The rule of thumb is simple: The less time customers spend in your app on the work they want, the more likely they will use it again.
In this article, you will find information about some of the issues related to the work and skills of UX design.
What is Mobile User Experience (UX) Design?
Mobile UX designers are designing the user experience for portable and wearable devices. Designers create specific solutions (usually apps) to meet of unique requirements and constraints of mobile users. UX designers focus on accessibility, discoverability, and efficiency to optimize the interactive experience along the way.
Serving moving users
Mobile UX design started growing in importance in 2014. Designers focused on desktop users as the current audience, but mobile users have suddenly become the majority on the Internet.
Well, these users have unique needs. They don’t have the tiny capabilities of desktops or any of the benefits that desktop users enjoy. Therefore, designers must create designs that make the best use of small screens and consider a person’s physical limitations, such as the size of the fingertips. UX designers are also adapting the experience to mobile environments.
Short attention spans are characteristic of mobile UX. All users want results quickly, with minimal effort and zero friction. They are often distracted. Signal and power loss are common problems.
Those users often go around leafing through devices in potentially dangerous conditions – for example, to explain that they will be late for work from the train station.
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In general, mobile users appear in three scenarios:
- Micro-task – they use the devices in short, intense spurts – for example, to buy tickets.
- Local – they use their devices to see what’s happening around them.
- Bored – for example, looking at news feed links while waiting.
How do you optimize the experience for users on the go?
When you develop designs for mobile devices, you must first decide whether to create a single design that adapts to laptops and mobile devices or multiple versions adapted to different screen sizes.
The first type is responsive design.
The second is adaptive design.
A UX designer usually designs for the smallest device, working upwards (from smartphones to tablets, etc.). The designer must follow web standards (W3C’s) and support as many browser types as possible. Context orientation, convenience, brevity, and consistency are significant.
The UX designer should take a “less is more” approach. Therefore, every designer must carefully choose which features are vital for this project. The UX designer must then decide how best to present them. Customers should be able to find what they need in any situation, including assurance that the brand in question is what they expect.
“Perfection is achieved when there is nothing left to take away.”
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, writer and aviator
That means that UX Designer should:
Minimize Content
Project with a minimum page load time (less than three seconds) and cognitive load. In addition, up to 94% of mobile device users use portrait mode, which means less width for work.
What should UX designers do with this knowledge?
- Keep the number of images (including embedded images) to a minimum and make them small.
- Have a clear visual hierarchy.
- Use color and contrast for maximum clarity.
- Make the text 11 points or larger.
- Beware of clutter – every element must have meaning. Compress information into icons as needed.
- Lighten up the pages and complement, frame the content with white space.
- Include card-style design templates to display actionable content easily.
- Make sure that all devices can support the content.
- Save short page descriptions for bookmarks.
Simplify Navigation
Most users use one hand, so the design needs to rely on large finger size. Thus UX designers need to:
- Aspire to easy-to-use, easy-to-learn, or obvious navigation. Consider progressive disclosure.
- Create buttons and tabs that are 30×30 pixels or 7-10 mm (minimum).
- Use full-screen nav menus, minimum navigation levels, and accurate labeling, including tabs, icons, and graphics.
- Prioritize the most frequently used items at the top. Take into account how far users can comfortably reach.
- Provide access to functions with shortcut keys.
- Don’t mix navigation patterns.
- Display the links. Indicate when the user activated them.
- Allow one main action on the screen.
Restrict User Inputs
Users get frustrated when they have to push buttons all the time. So, design for maximum impact with minimal interaction and effort.
- Keep URLs short.
- Use pre-fill or minimize the entry of necessary data in the forms.
- Enable alternative input mechanisms (e.g., voice-activated).
- Allow a permanent sign-in.
- Provide minimal, one-directional scrolling.
- To save data in case of a connection failure.
- Offer easy-to-use search functions (such as a magnifying glass).
- Use skeleton screens to make sure that the system is performing background actions.
Ensure Continuity and Consistency
Allow users to pick up where they left off, so they can easily switch between mobiles and desktops.
- Keep the content consistent across screens. If you are developing separate versions, don’t undermine user trust with subtle changes.
- Maintain continuity; let users track orders easily on desktops and cell phones.
- If you are designing separate versions, allow users the freedom to switch from mobile to desktop formats.
What skills does a UX designer need?
As a rule, UX designers use technical and on-the-job skills in their design work. Several of these skills are specific to the UX world, while others are more general. Most likely, you already have skills that will be useful in a career as a UX designer.
UX designer technical skills
- Prototyping, wireframing, user flows, and mockups.
- Visual design and design software
- User research and usability testing
- Agile
- Information Architecture
- Application development
UX designer workplace skills
- Collaboration
- Communication and presentation
- Prioritization and time management
UX designer courses for beginners:
- Coursera (https://www.coursera.org/learn/user-experience-design)
- Google UX Certificate (https://grow.google/certificates/ux-design)
- Udemy (https://www.udemy.com/course/user-experience-design-fundamentals/)
- UX Academy (https://myuxacademy.com/beginner-ux-design-course/)
- Skillshare (https://www.skillshare.com/classes/Intro-to-UX-Fundamentals-of-Usability/538580770?via=browse-rating-ux-design-layout-grid)
We engage with the designed user experience every day. User experience, or UX, refers to how a person interacts with digital and physical products. In mobile app design, the success of an app depends in part on how the user perceives the end product. So, expectations for mobile interaction are rising, and in response to this, UX design has become an essential component of the development process.
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In this article, you found information and examples about some issues related to UX design work and skills. If you want to pursue a career in UX design, you can find online courses and make your dreams come true right now. Are you ready?
