6 tips for app designing that you must definitely not miss

In this mobile driven era, apps have become a huge marketing platform for every business. But when you talk about developing an app, most of us miss out on one core element, ie. app design. Your business app development strategies may help you create an app that works fine, but it won’t last long if it doesn’t have a great design.

Apps entertain and provide benefits like banking and grocery shopping which makes the consumer’ life easy. As for the business, it helps to create brand awareness, engage more consumers and to generate revenues and high ROI.

But all this won’t be possible if the design of app is not user-friendly, appealing and informative. A good design can make or break your app and thus it is crucial to keep these tips in mind that will help you or your designer in creating an interactive, useful and appealing app.

Always use these designing tips:

1. Don’t mess with the basics

Being creative and innovative with your app is a great idea, but re-inventing it completely is something you should absolutely avoid. All the apps available in the market have some common features like touch gestures (dragging two fingers apart zooms in the screen etc.) and specific images (like an envelope for a mail service), research these features and include them as it is in your app too.

Don’t mess with them by using some other methods as it will create confusion in the user’s mind, and it will take them longer to understand your app. This confusion can even make the user quit the application which means huge losses for the company.

2. Using grid is a strict yes

Grids are invisible, but a great guide for your app as it helps define the space you have to work on. It aids the designer in keeping the app’s layout organized and clean, which is crucial for an attractive design. Using grids means that the entire text will be aligned, and no image will overlap each other. For a great look, you also need to specify the height and width of the grid so nothing overlaps each other.

3. Color hierarchy should be used

Every color has a different feel and meaning, and this should be kept in mind while using them for icons and buttons. Color hierarchy is a concept in which a single color is used for representing something specific in a different variation. Let’s understand this using this example:

If your designer designed three buttons- one is green, other dark green and the third one light green. Then, it will stand for most important, less important and least important respectively. This is a valuable concept and must be incorporated into your app too.

Also, the colors used in the app must be the same that you have used in your branding via the color palette. Never use red as it means stop in many regions, and button and backgrounds must have different colors or else they will merge.

4. Design and place the logo in the app

A logo is the most important element of your brand identity, and it’s crucial that you put it in your app. The logo should be uniquely designed, but simple, don’t over-complicate it or spend too much on it. You can create your own logo for free with tools like Canva. Just make sure that it resembles the business and connects with the audience.

5. Defining and repeating the elements

This point highlights the importance of consistency, if you are working on a certain page and the color of the button is blue, then make sure that every button throughout the app is blue. This is defining the element and repeating it throughout, and it is crucial as it shows uniformity in the app and doesn’t let the user get confused.

6. Design a simple app so that it loads faster

The loading speed of the app is crucial if you want the user to stay on it and use it. If the design of the app is overly-complex, it will slow down the app and loading time will increase. This, in turn, will make the app hang more and the user will abandon it. So, to provide an efficient user-experience to the customers, make a simple design.

7. Fancy font is a big no

Use a stylish but simple font that is readable. Don’t use a too fancy font and keep it consistent throughout the app. You can use a different font for heading and subheading, but otherwise, it should be the same.

These were some of the basic tips that you need to remember while designing your app. Also, read through the guidelines of IOS and Android development as every platform has some different instructions and if your app doesn’t follow that, it may not get listed in the app/play store.

Guest article written by: Prince Kapoor