All apps that take off well are definitely high in their usability level. If you are rightly guided by the users� motivations while building the app, all the rest will fall in place perfectly. Here are a few tips to develop great mobile apps that your users simply cannot live without.
1. Understand Your User Well
It is extremely important that you understand the precise needs of your user at a very deep level. Only then will you be able to make their life smoother with perfectly tailored apps. Always place yourself in their shoes to get an idea of what exactly they expect from your app.
2. Choose a Simple Design
All your users are not techies, adept in using gadgets. Make sure the app design is an extremely simple one that can be easily used even by a non-technical person. The buttons must be easily visible.
Try testing it with your family members or friends at the initial stages of design. Make a list of all the points at which they get stuck while using your app and get it rectified at the earliest. Users will like your app and explore it further only if the design is simple and friendly.
3. Offline Performance Matters
The user will greatly appreciate the usability of your app if it can offer a great offline experience as well. From experience, we know that most of those popular apps work effectively even when offline. Minimal power consumption is yet another unique feature that bodes well with the users.
4. Customize Your App
While designing the app, be well aware of the basic design features of the operating system for which you are building the app. Since no two operating systems can be used alike, the same app may not suit both.
5. Accessibility across Multiple Platforms
Make sure your app functions effectively across multiple platforms. It is quite likely for users to keep switching from one platform to other. Even the slightest inconvenience in availing the app in a different platform may irritate users and they may give up your app.
6. Minimal Features
In an attempt to fix too many features, most often, app developers end up spoiling the broth. Do not confuse the user by providing too many options.
Your app should essentially have only one primary purpose. Be crystal clear in your mind about what that is. Never force a single app to serve multiple goals. It is always better to go for a clean and simple app that performs just one or two tasks and not more than that. Make sure the design will easily lead users to the particular experience you want to provide them.
Similarly, it is advisable to avoid huge banner ads that pop up across the screen. Such ads are likely to annoy the user. It is most likely that they may end up clicking these ads unknowingly.
7. Adequate Checks
The app should be properly tested at all the different levels of its development to avoid technical and non-technical glitches. Before the final release, check the app as a whole, to ensure that no error or irregularity of any kind has crept in. Whichever way you choose, it is extremely important to ensure that the app does not crash outright.
8. Ensure Consistent Performance
Just imagine how you would react if you had trouble operating your mobile phone because of a particular app that was causing some issue or the other. You surely will not think twice to get it removed from your device. Realize that it works the same way with your user as well. Make sure the app you develop does not test your user's patience and finally get itself deleted.
9. Enhanced Response Speed
Make sure that your mobile app gets loaded fast. Apps that require too much time to process will be abandoned sooner or later. Ideally, an app should not take more than three seconds to get loaded. If it keeps the user waiting for long, your app will promptly be replaced by another one.
Unfortunately, you may not have any other choice if your app is quite complex. In that case, you should certainly use a loading page that assures the user that the process is underway.
10. Query Users
After all, your app is meant for the user. Then why not ask them straight away what exactly they need? Make use of your social media network and try posting the question out there. Let your visitors give you tips on how exactly they would like the app to be.
From the many answers that your question will fetch you, apply your mind to select those that will work best for you. If required, you can now seek assistance from an experienced app developer to choose the right suggestions that would best suit your business and discard the misleading ones.
In short, the ultimate key to build a user-friendly app lies in your ability to narrow down the requirements of the end user. Be specific in your mind about how you want the app to be. How exactly the app will meet the users� needs should be your top priority. Allow yourself be guided in the right way and the result will be a wonderful app, designed perfectly the way the users want it to be.
Interested in building a great app that is a hit with end users? We can assist you.
