Common Mobile App Design Mistakes

The mobile app market, with millions of apps, has become quite crowded. Naturally, the apps have to face a tough competition from the rivals. In order to cope with this fierce competition and emerge as victorious, the app you offer to your users must be in the most sublime state, i.e. devoid of all mobile app design mistakes.

When we say, the app must be free from all the bugs, we do not just talk about the bugs that creep inside the business logic, but also the design mistakes.

For an app, the navigation, placement of the content, screen transition are some of the factors that need to be taken care of. The mistakes committed while designing the app may lead to serious consequences like frequent app crash, a blurred rendition on certain devices and so on.

Users always have a plethora of options when it comes to mobile apps. If your app has certain design flaws, the users will discard your app right away and look for a better alternative.

In order to create a mobile app that meets the expectations of the users in the most precise and efficient manner, you have to be particular about the mistakes that are commonly committed by the app designers. We have compiled some of those mistakes that when avoided, can make your app truly awesome.

 Inconsistent and Cluttered UI

A mobile app is mostly used on a device with a small screen, and this is where the smart management of content comes into play. If you stuff a lot of content and other design elements like a slider, the design becomes cluttered and too distracting to the users.

If you wish to add a lot of content on the main screen, you can go for a single screen layout that can be scrolled. Otherwise, include only the most relevant content on the home screen and add others to the menu button or at the bottom of the app screen.

A congested app is disliked by all and you need to be particular about it. Also, the UI throughout the app should follow a similar layout to maintain the consistency.

Lack of Visual Clues

 A design, how attractive it might be, will not be able to engage a user who is not able to decipher the screen transition, navigation features, etc. It implies that your app should be intuitive so that the users have to understand the working of the app just once and the visual clues can do the rest.

Using conventional icons, implementing the navigation options that are used as default in the OS can make your app really intuitive and an instant success among the users.

App design not in sync with the OS

 Every mobile operating system whether it is Android, iOS, or Windows, has a distinctive design layout that makes it different from others. Any mobile app designed for a particular mobile operating system must follow the design paradigm.

An app that is in sync with the overall design of the OS becomes an integral part of it. The users find such apps more credible than those which try to fit in with an alien design. For instance, you will never like an app on Android platform with icons and navigation options that resemble that of iOS apps, and vice versa.

Lack of Beta Testing

It is often seen that the businesses release apps in haste just to be in the competition without testing the app thoroughly. Testing an app can help eliminate any design error before its official launch.

Mobile apps are run on several devices with different screen resolutions and hardware/software capabilities. When you beta test an app, you make the users aware that they are using a beta version and it is just for test purposes.

The feedback that you get from the testing version of the app lets you make an app free from major design errors. Next time when you think of building an app, do not undermine testing is thoroughly.

Web Design Influence

Mobile Apps and websites are two different entities and are meant for different categories of devices. When you design a mobile app, you must move away from the shadows of web development and its paradigm.

Also, you must not use content that is used on a desktop website, like images and text, in the app, as it may cause the app to become heavy, which could be detrimental to the app’s performance.

The Closing Thought

The app industry has overshadowed the web and the businesses are going the app way without wasting any time. However, rushing to a solution often leads to mistakes. In the case of mobile apps, mistakes can be detrimental to the success and the reputation of the app. Therefore, it is recommended that you go through these commonly committed mistakes and make sure you avoid committing them while designing your own app.

Author’s Bio

 Ashni Sharma is a senior app developer working at AppsChopper, a well-known app development firm based in India. Apart from building groundbreaking mobile apps for several platforms, Ashni loves to write about different aspects of mobile app industry and shares her insight about how to build successful apps.