This item was originally written by Jay Clark. <\/b><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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App designers understand that attentive design is important\u201a but sometimes we forget just how important it is. With people using a multitude of apps throughout their daily lives to complete various tasks\u201a ensuring that they flow\u201a respond and react seamlessly is more important than ever. The way the app looks and feels is also important. Today’s devices allow app designers to create more visually appealing apps which help attract users. They also allow for limitless potential of extremely usable interfaces. However\u201a with these possibilities also come challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We don\u2019t like to admit it\u201a but due to human instinct we all judge people\u201a businesses and interfaces by their appearance\u201a and to a certain extent\u201a when it comes to apps and websites that\u2019s a good thing. With so many options and possibilities to choose from when it comes to apps and websites\u201a being able to filter them out automatically by your initial thoughts of their appearance is something that saves us time and is usually a good indicator of whether or not the interface is going to be well thought out\u201a pleasurable to interact with and do the job that you want it to do. Although obviously this isn\u2019t always the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The increase in people using apps and interacting with smart devices has made people more design savvy. I think this is because now people have mastered interacting with their devices and have got used to using well-designed apps\u201a when something doesn\u2019t work well it stands out like a sore thumb. People use the majority of apps to get jobs done and make their lives easier\u201a so if your app makes this difficult to achieve or the learnability of your app is slow and confusing\u201a then people are going to look to your competitors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
When you ask people what it is they like about Apple products they don\u2019t really know how to answer\u201a they just say something like\u201a \u2018It just makes sense.\u2019 This is because Apple does not do anything out of the ordinary\u201a they just find simple solutions for problems that all users have and execute them in a way that puts the user first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Apps such as Facebook\u201a Twitter\u201a Evernote and Soundcloud to name just a few are all constantly updating the look and feel of their mobile apps. This is because people enjoy using apps that look\u201a animate and function well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
People in the UK\u201a who use their smartphones regularly\u201a spend an average of around 2 hours a day looking at their phone screens. This number is very high and is only getting higher as time goes by\u201a so having an aesthetically pleasing app is becoming more and more fundamental\u201a because nobody wants to be looking at an ugly screen for a large portion of their day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As time goes on\u201a the usage of smart devices is only going to grow. To have a successful website or app\u201a companies are going to have to realise the importance of how the app not only functions\u201a but also looks. There are currently around 1.3 million apps in both Google\u2019s and Apple\u2019s app stores\u201a so competition is extremely high. Companies with iOS apps cant afford to take too long to update their apps to the latest operating system\u201a or only update their apps once every three years. With things moving at the pace that they are\u201a apps need to be getting updated regularly or they will get outdated\u201a and users will notice this and find alternatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s a lot of aspects that need to be considered by app designers to ensure that their design goes above and beyond. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Users are using a wide range of different devices in which they are running their apps on\u201a whether it be an iPad or an iPhone 6. This means that the strengths and weaknesses of each screen size need to be considered. For example\u201a twitters iPad app is laid out differently to the app for the iPhone. This is to make use of the additional space and added potential that arises with a larger screen. Another consideration to make is how the content is going to shift when the device is held horizontally. Various elements will switch from being on top of each other to being next to each other. Making this switch seamless and logical will result in the user understanding the interface rather than being frustrated by it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fitt\u2019s law\u201a in layman\u2019s terms states that if objects are bigger and closer to us then they are easier to select. This is true when designing apps. Apple recommends that the smallest tappable element should be 40×40 points. This is to ensure that the user isn\u2019t selecting buttons that they don\u2019t want to select as this is annoying\u201a especially if it happens often. Facilitating touch interaction is fundamental when designing apps. Users want to have a high success rate when it comes to tapping icons and text so that they can complete their interaction as quickly and as effortlessly as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Along with the sizes of the icons and how the app will look on various devices\u201a it\u2019s also important to ensure that we design a usable layout. Although the new iPhone 6+ has a 5.5 inch screen\u201a the devices we are designing our apps for in general have size constraints. This means that we need to make sure that what we are designing is streamlined and as minimalistic as possible. Antoine de saint-Exup\u00e9ry famously once said\u201a \u2018It seems that perfection is attained not when there is nothing more to add\u201a but when there is nothing more to remove\u2019. Thinking about how the user can get a job done in the most intuitive way and removing useless information and icons is key to minimising user error. App Designers also need to remember the importance of grid layouts. Grid layouts help to lead the user on a journey and also ensure that the design looks aesthetically pleasing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This item was originally written by Jay Clark. App designers understand that attentive design is important\u201a but sometimes we forget just how important it is. With people using a multitude of apps throughout their daily lives to complete various tasks\u201a ensuring that they flow\u201a respond and react seamlessly is more important than ever. The way […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3083,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[153],"tags":[142],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n