Talking about app design
App design is a visual design that includes creating a structure based on the logic of user behavior. In simple words, application design isn’t only about appearance, but also about usability.
Mobile app design plays an essential role in creating a service. Functionality and usefulness are the main things for users. Still, if the design does not attract or even complicates the work with the application, it’ll be deleted immediately. To avoid this result, you need to think carefully about app design. Moreover, you need to consider the fact that nowadays, any application should not only look beautiful but also must be functional. You should work hard on this if you want to achieve a fantastic result.
On various websites dedicated to design, you can find a considerable amount of information about mobile applications’ design. This text is about basic principles, trends, fresh ideas, and much more. But all this becomes useless information if you do not have a clear structure and understanding in which order and what you need to do to achieve the desired result.
Only non-professionals believe that design for a mobile application is, in fact, not so important. Functionality, code quality, and general architecture in the project and other technical nuances are essential, and design is not so important in the end, it’s just the appearance of the application. But this is not so.
Design influences, if not all, then many other aspects of the application, which ultimately affects the quality of the product being developed. You should pay special attention to this item. And in this article, you will understand what exactly you should focus on.
The functionality of your application
What do you think, why do we even use mobile applications? Simple questions can be confusing. But let’s try to find the answer. Nevertheless, the majority will say that they use mobile apps because they need any functions that are available in the application. None of us would use an app that would be utterly useless to us. How would a design determine functionality? All application features should be described in requirements or specifications. But there is something to think about.
Let’s not rush and look at it from the other side. Suppose the application has some excellent functionality, but you cannot find the application section to use this functionality. But after all, those features of the application that the user did not find in the app are, in fact, opportunities that are not in this application for this user. But what if there is more than one such user? Thus, some of the features of your application that your team worked on will be ineffective. And it all depends on the app design.
Now you understand that your application’s functionality depends on app design no less than the work you did while creating the application. Remember that app design is much more important than it might seem.
Application architecture
Do you think application architecture is essential? Most people who participate in the development process, in one way or another, agree that it is crucial to think over the application architecture correctly. This architecture will be the foundation that will help to predict and prevent some problems during development. Of course, not all errors can be avoided in this way. Still, nevertheless, good architecture does not become less important from this, do you agree?
The architecture of the application is related to design. This must be remembered, because only with this in mind can you create a stunning application. When working in a team, do not forget that it will be useful for the person responsible for the design of the architecture to know what will be shown to the user in which sections. And of course, it would be better for him to see the whole design immediately and may even appreciate the clickable layout. Otherwise, some little things could provoke an explosion of emotions and the need for significant edits in an almost ready-made architecture. Thus, by this moment, you should already have understood that app design is a vast concept that indirectly includes many areas. If you are managing a project, you need to have a unique ability to look at the project from different perspectives. It can be challenging, but it also depends on what your app design will become.
App design trends
It’s time to talk about app design trends. It may inspire you, or it may help you see unexpected errors in your project. Reading such articles makes you experience, and experience turns a
beginner into a professional.
These app design trends were selected by our experienced team for you, based on our work and the work of the most successful design agencies. If you want to receive more detailed information, send us an email, and we will contact you.
Dark mode
Well, of course, the dark topic is one of the trends this year. Dark mode needs no introduction. Everyone who has ever tried to read something from the screen of their phone, waking up in the middle of the night, will agree with this. The dark mode protects your eyes when using your smartphone in conditions when the ambient lighting is not bright enough. One of the significant advantages of the dark mode is battery saving because the smartphone consumes much less energy when displaying dark colors. Dark mode has many benefits, but the most obvious advantage is that dark fashion looks stylish.
Dark mode last year showed that a broad audience loved him. This year, this audience is only getting bigger.
Minimalism
The next trend is minimalistic pages. This trend is due to the need for quick page loading. Because search engines reward sites for fast-loading pages with the best positions in the search ranking, this is a big plus for many SEO-oriented companies. Remember, a picture is not always worth a thousand words, especially if it increases the page load time.
Minimalism has long gained many fans. Minimalism in design is an excellent union of form and function. Its strength lies in simplicity: straight lines, a lot of space, a minimum of graphics, all this simplifies even the most complex objects. Of course, all of this will work only with proper use.
The minimalist design must be clear, clean, and consistent to be effective. Your interaction system should be aimed at solving user problems through clear visual communication. That’s why a beautiful minimalistic application, combined with its usefulness, is so impressive: simple, easy to use, it becomes an excellent way to interact and communicate with the user.
Bold fonts
Does your designer use bold fonts? How often? Over the past few years, minimalistic and handwritten fonts have lost their popularity in design, especially among major brands. And it becomes visible. Bold fonts this year will be used more often, thanks to which bold fonts become the app design trend.
The bold font gives your design a modern look. There are already many examples of successful use of bold fonts on the Internet. It looks stylish and contemporary. Bold will make short phrases more powerful. The main thing is not to abuse it in design. The main property of a bold font is to highlight the main thing, so remember this property when you use it in your projects.
Highly personalized experience
This will increase the popularity of the application this year. Users like it when they consider their actions and react to them. For example, you communicate with a specific person more often than with others. You expect that when you enter a message, the application displays its name as the intended recipient. If you use the app to view news and tend to read about technology and politics, then expect more news related to these categories. Thus, the highly personalized experience can be considered a new trend.
Instant apps
What is it? These are applications that do not need to be downloaded to run. When downloading apps, there is often a problem with free space in the phone’s memory. And now this problem is solved. Previously, you had to choose whether to delete some data or refuse to download. Instant apps provide access to a stripped-down version of the application: only the section that the user needs at a particular moment is opened. Also, the Instant Apps size is smaller than usual, which speeds up page loading and reduces the bounce rate.
Instant apps are what become a trend this year. Do you think this has little to do with app design trends 2020? Then reread the beginning of the article. After all, the design is not only what the application looks like, but also the approach chosen for its implementation, ease of use, and much more.
Voice design
Voice interfaces are likely to dominate this year’s competition. This trend includes the development of speech recognition technology and the advent of applications and plug-ins that can read written texts aloud.
In the future, user experience associated with applications will be completely transformed in line with future non-visual UX trends.
It is predicted that voice user interfaces will be widely developed for popular e-commerce, streaming multimedia, sports, and news applications.
Neomorphism
You may not have heard about neomorphism, but you definitely saw examples of this style’s use. Neomorphism is a design that has elements created realistically.
Thanks to the clever use of highlights, shadows, and radiance, it highlights certain elements.
Neomorphism quickly bypasses the circle of the community of app designers. It is expected that it will become a huge design trend shortly. Not surprising, because it looks stylish.
Such applications stand out from others. They look unusual. And every day it becomes only more popular. Without a doubt, this is one of the promising app design trends 2020.
Storytelling
Presenting a holistic story in UX design plays a vital role and has been widely used lately. In this way, you can help the user and make interaction with the site more intuitive, straightforward, and fun.
An exciting story will make your application understandable and appealing for a large number of users. The basis of the story is a particular character, for whom to create a personality, user story, and problem, the solution of which is your product. Storytelling is used both in the UI and in the UX but has significant differences in implementation. It’s important to understand these differences before you get started.
Application Illustrations
Applications are localized in different countries, implying an inability to use such flexible typography as on the web. Accordingly, the design becomes boring. But there is something that all people of the world understand without exception in any language – illustrations and icons. It is a responsible approach to this part of the application that can create individuality and a unique, eye-catching style. Illustrations are becoming more and more popular for this reason. Make sure that your application has cool illustrations.
The brighter the picture, the more attention it attracts. Check to see if this is true.
Animated Character Stories
Today, more and more applications come to the concept of expressing information about the company and the product through the characters. Original characters are used for human interaction, establishing lasting contact with users.
If your team has talented illustrators, then be sure to ask them to create a character that would become the face of your application. Characters are liked not only by children but also by adults. This is an excellent challenge for app designers. It’s essential not only to create an attractive character but also to think about how exactly it will personify your application.
What should be remembered?
The convenience of users, their emotional state, and their needs today go to a new level. Now app designers must learn how to work with non-verbal and non-visual interfaces and focus on people with disabilities. It is also essential to understand that some tricks are in the past, and what was a trend in 2019 is no longer a trend. Although some of the app design trends of 2020 are back from the past. Nonetheless, it’s essential to keep an eye on trends and to stay updated.
Simultaneously, due to the spread of the high-speed Internet and the growing number of users of the global network, the number of interactive elements in mobile applications will increase. The content on their pages will become even more personalized.
Minimal app interface and other design techniques are certainly the way to achieve good design, but they are not the ultimate goal. The ultimate goal is to simplify the interface and make it more functional and useful.
This year a lot of new challenges appear for app designers. For example, find a new approach to using the gradient. If your team has experienced app designers, then you have nothing to worry about. Just discuss these trends with them and conclude.
App design includes a reasonably wide range of tasks. It is not just how the interface looks and creates an impressive background. Your app designers will have to make a lot of effort to create a quality product today when user requirements have grown significantly. Working on the app starts with a study of the users` behavioral factors, analytics of competitors, the development of additional functionality, and so on. If you need help with this, then contact our specialists. In our agency, you can get competent advice that will save you at least the most common mistakes.
Most applications are used no more than once. Users will easily find an alternative to your application with a better user interface, so if you are not comfortable enough, then it’s time for a change. Our team will tell you the direction and the best ways to achieve your goals. Make your app great again.
