Tips to Improve Your UX Design
The rapid growth in technology has us experiencing a lot of new and innovative things very frequently. There isn’t a single day in our lives where we have gone without using our mobile phones. But have you ever sat and wondered how amazing it is that every technology we own responds the way we want it to respond? We swipe up on our phones to get the app menu, we double tap to like something on Instagram and we can shake the phones to turn on the flashlight or turn it off. And we do all this with even the latest apps that come out as if we already know what to do. This is what a UX design agency does. The developers know what’s most convenient and create their apps in such a way that we could get used to it in just a matter of seconds. This is what’s called user experience or UX for short. Basically, UX is the experience when a user interacts with an interface of a device or an app.
UX design is the process of designing the elements of the user interface to make the app or a device as convenient and as easy to use as possible. A UX designer is supposed to have all the knowledge of what most people prefer, their common likes and dislikes towards similar apps and what’s currently trending. By keeping all this in mind, and implementing all the technicalities to make the interface smooth, fast and aesthetically pleasing is the major process of UX designing. UX design agencies will have to hold interviews and meetings with a lot of professionals to get feedback on their creation before finalizing the design. Almost all the developers nowadays release beta versions of their apps to public to get a feedback on what they need to improve. I am mentioning all this because user experience is a critical factor that differentiates between a good app and a great one. If the app has absolutely everything a user needs but the interface is ugly and doesn’t function properly, then there is no way the user is going to continue using the app because it just gets frustrating.
Let’s take a look at a few tips to help you create a good user experience.
- Responsive interface: One of the most important factors to keep in mind is to make the interface as responsive as possible. There are some apps where some buttons don’t even function and sometimes the buttons do something other than what the label says. There are also apps which are so slow to respond, that the button functions several seconds after it has been pressed. No matter how good your app is, it won’t get sold if the interface is not responsive.
- Keep it trendy: With pop culture shifting drastically from one month to another, it gets hard to keep track of what’s trending all the time. But it’s good to get a general idea and create something related to that. This will help a lot in attracting the young crowd. Not only that, but constantly updating the interface prevents it from becoming outdated.
- Simple is good: The simplicity of a user interface defines a successful user experience. By making it complex or hard to navigate takes a lot of time for the user to get used to. This could impact the app or the device in a bad way. The first impression always leaves a mark, so it’s better to keep everything simple and functional.
- Feedback is important: There is a reason why a lot of devices, apps and, games go through a long period of alpha and beta testing. This is because the developers need feedback from the users as after all, they are the ones who would be using it. And one of the most important factors that the users look for is the responsiveness and the aesthetics of your user interface. If you get a positive feedback on your UX design, then that’s the first sign that you’re doing something right.
- Security: Unfortunately, you don’t always get the complete freedom to design an interface the way you want it to. You might have to change several things due to security reasons. Complying with the security protocols to avoid breaching and exploits all the while maintaining the original vision is a difficult task. UX design agencies will always keep all of these in mind before settling on a design.
- Do it for the fans: Once you have created something with an amazing UX that everybody enjoys, listen to what the fans want the most. Ignoring their needs or failing to meet their demands could immediately stop the growth of your app. Loyalty is important to have in this competitive world.
- Don’t fix if not broken: Consistency is the next big part in maintaining your fan base. Creating something new just for the sake of it could throw the users off track and asking them to get used to a new UX all over again is asking for trouble. It’s okay to stick to the same design choice with minute improvements here and there.
- Keep it organized and clean: Avoid stuffing a lot of things on one screen. Create categories and sub-categories to distinguish everything and avoid excessive scrolling. This gives the users the freedom to jump directly to where they want to go instead of going through all the unnecessary things one after another.
- Be the user: Finally, and most importantly, makes sure you enjoy using what you have created. If you strictly stick to the requirements and create something just to meet the deadline, you will end up not enjoying the UX you have created yourself. By looking at it from a user’s perspective gives you an idea and helps you understand the design better. You will start recognizing flaws and improve wherever it’s required.
These are some of the generic tips to improve your UX designs. You can seek help from any UX design agency and they will provide you with a lot more information.