With hundreds of new apps entering the market every day, it may seem like just about any person or business can easily create one.
However, the differences between a good and a bad app are very obvious, once you come across one that is a nightmare to use. A good app should be user-friendly, effective, quick, and functional. If you are looking to create an application that meets all of those criteria or simply improve the usability of your existing app, here are some simple steps to take.
Simplicity is Key
Every app developer aims to create an interactive design, which means a lot of great functionality, with nice aesthetics, while the navigation remains highly intuitive and easy to use. There is a fine line between adding just enough and completely overdoing it, making the app feel crowded, inconsistent, and overall difficult to use.
Many businesses will acquire UI UX consulting services to assess the usability of their application and suggest changes for improvement. The key thing to do, however, is to strip any unnecessary features, keep the navigation as simple as possible and focus on the customer journey from the home page to the checkout is quick and seamless.
Error prevention and error handling
There is absolutely nothing more frustrating than an app that keeps crashing, lagging, or having constant error messages pop up. Modern customers require high levels of convenience from the apps they use, and so losing users over a few errors is an easy mistake to make. Therefore, you need to be at the top of your game when it comes to ensuring that your app design is error-free, the functionality is regularly monitored for potential issues and any errors that do happen are handled immediately.
Improving responsiveness
The lack of responsiveness in an app is yet another thing that can trigger your users to uninstall and unsubscribe from your services. Many businesses make the mistake of overcrowding their apps with unnecessary design choices and features, which leads to a slow-down of the whole program.
This could be as little as icons or pictures that need to be compressed or, in many other cases, app designs that have not been programmed with responsiveness in mind. If your app takes ages to load and it doesn’t feel smooth to use, you may want to start looking for a problem to fix.
Customer’s choice
A general rule of thumb is that the more choice for the consumer, the better. Allowing the flexibility for users to opt out of certain functions can improve their overall satisfaction with an app. For example, when leaving a rating for an app, forcing users to leave written feedback is unnecessary, whilst making it optional is preferable. Otherwise, users can become frustrated in trying to resist the function, figuring out a way around it when there isn’t one.
Don’t forget accessibility
The usability and accessibility of your application are two overlapping concepts. While the former is about ensuring that your app provides an efficient user experience in general, accessibility is about taking people with disabilities into account. This is concerned with making your app compatible with different devices, allowing for different font sizes for those with restricted eyesight, the use of colorblind-friendly palette, and compatibility with text-to-speech technology.
