Mobile App UI Design – Principles to Follow for Improved Usability

User Interface is perhaps the most significant aspect of any app’s success. Superior features, a unique idea, an assurance, etc., will fall short without an intuitive User Interface.

Today, UI is not just about eye-catching visuals. It is a much more comprehensive strategy than that.

A primary objective of UI is to influence the user’s visual focus by placing all the app elements on a specific point from where it gets noticed by the users. It is crucial as not all users or new visitors will go through each section of your screen.

There are 42% chances of app uninstallation when users discover your Mobile application UI trends are not up to the mark or not satisfactory.

But you can overcome it all by following fundamental design principles.

Design principles are loose guidelines that designers can follow to enhance the UI design quality and eventually boost the delivery time.

If you are seriously thinking of appealing to your targeted audience, you need to pay attention to the mobile navigation design principles we have mentioned below.

So, let’s start exploring.

Mobile UI Design Principles

For all User Interface types and users, various principles aid with effective interface design.

|1. Simplicity

A User Interface needs to be pretty simple and easy to understand. It means the effort required from end users to conclude a task should be minimal.

However, simplicity is arbitrary. Something right to some users may disturb others.

As a developer and designer, your focus should be on identifying what your target users find simple and creating an interface that delivers accordingly.

|2. Efficiency

Both efficiency and simplicity are in alliance. App’s UI should be efficient and user-friendly enough that users can finish their tasks in minimum steps.

To have an efficient User Interface means to avoid unnecessary design components.

For instance, there is no need to click two buttons consecutively to move to the next page or force users to add details twice.

|3. Consistency

An app UI should offer a consistent user experience. Consistency in the app UI navigation design indicates the same interface structure and style across the entire app.

As a developer, you will not create a UI that depends highly on menus in one portion and then interface-driven in another.

Irrespective of the particular app features/elements users access, there should be consistency in the UI experience.

|4. Feedback  

When users get involved in the app UI, they should receive feedback. It means the button click changes its colour or pop-up a message that displays “Processing. Please wait.”

Feedback needs to stay the same until the processes get finished. Do not leave the user confused by showing an empty screen or freezing at any screen.

If the app you developed takes longer to process a user request, display a status bar that can monitor the progress level.

|5. Accessibility

Each interface can be directly accessible to the users. It includes the selection of a layout, font size and colours, different styling components, etc., to make the UI easy to navigate for an extensive range of people.

The best interface lets the users navigate without accessing add-ons.

Essential Approaches to Mobile App UI Design

Most apps use one of three UI design approaches. Each outshines at addressing specific UI design principles.

|1. Menu-Driven Interface

This interface uses menus to facilitate users to navigate through the app functions. An ATM screen is one of the common examples.

The main screen displays various menus like Deposits, Withdrawals, Information, etc. Users can choose any option from the menu according to their needs.

Menu-driven interfaces are great at offering easily accessible interfaces. By allowing users to choose from menus instead of forcing them to go through lengthy forms, these interfaces mitigate the number of details on the screen.

|2. Natural Language Interface 

With a natural language, interface users interact with the app using human-like simple language.

For instance, advanced search engines enable users to add simple queries like “What is the capital of India?”. There is no need to add any configuration data or boolean operators in a query. Search engines predict input by processing natural language directly.

These interfaces provide consistency and efficiency. It is easy to customise the interface for different users. When integrated with tools like “Speech to Text”, these interfaces let the users add input using speech without a keyboard.

|3. Form-Based Interface

In a form-based interface, users add details in a form to guide the app about what to do. A form is either a literal that accepts text from the users or an interface that accepts set-up options with checkboxes and a drop-down menu.

Developers are more likely to work with form-based interfaces in software tools. With a form-based design,  users can easily send a bunch of information to the app using a single interface. It is preferable for applications that need to gather tons of data to conclude user requests.

Forms are the best choice when efficiency is a must and when you develop a highly complex app from the user’s point of view.  

In a Nutshell

Considering a broader view it is easy to acknowledge why UI design is so significant. It is the reason businesses either succeed or fail.

It is the way you interact with your audience, and they get to know your brand. It is one of the aspects you can not overlook or underestimate.

If you are a newbie and want to develop the best app UI design, get in touch with a professional now. Our designing professionals at Silicon would love to help.