Have you ever used a mobile app and wondered what the next step was?
Or you tried to click that tiny link, the CTA button, but failed several times?
If you answered yes, welcome. You have just come across what we call a common “UX mistake.” Don’t worry if you don’t understand what it means. Because we have simplified it for you!
This article will go through the following:
- Why are UX and UI not the same thing?
- What’s UX exactly?
- What are the most common mistakes businesses and designers make while designing the UI and UX of mobile apps?
- And finally, UI trends have been rising in popularity.
Stop! UX is Not UI
Think of UX and UI in terms of the human body. UX is your skeletal structure, whereas UI is the visual elements like hair and skin. They are not the same. But they are different parts of the same body.
Both cannot function without each other. You won’t be able to move or take any action if you don’t have skeletons (UX). And same goes for skin and hair. You would simply be bare-bones!
Here’s how Don Norman and Jakob Nielsen of Norman Nielsen Group define the difference between UI and UX…
It’s important to distinguish the total user experience from the user interface (UI), even though the UI is obviously an extremely important part of the design. As an example, consider a website with movie reviews. Even if the UI for finding a film is perfect, the UX will be poor for a user who wants information about a small independent release if the underlying database only contains movies from major studios.
Now that you know how UX and UI work, let’s see their definitions.
What is User Interface(UI) Design?
User interface(UI) design is the visual look of your mobile device. A UI designer will design a mobile app interface that fits with the user experience designed by a UX designer. A great UI design attracts users and retains them longer.
So, what are the essential elements of User interface design?
Documents
- Texts
- Images
- Videos
- Forms
- Buttons, tags, text fields, checkboxes, dropdown lists, etc.
In other words, if you see an app that gets the “wow, that’s beautiful” reaction from you, thanks to a UI designer.
What is User Experience(UX) Design?
UX has five major elements:
- Strategy: It’s a phase of gathering information and laying a solid foundation by understanding the needs of both businesses and users.
- Scope: In this phase, the designer will set the scope for the idea and type of content they will be designing. It’s further divided into two parts – functional(features, functions) and content (images, themes, audio, videos) requirements.
- Structure: This phase decides how the design is organized and how it will behave when the user interacts with it.
- Skeleton: This phase is where the UX designer will combine everything created till now to decide the flow of information and movement from one screen to another.
- Surface: It’s the final layer. The designer finalizes everything that will go on the screen that users will see.
In other words, if you see an app that gets a “wow, that was quick and easy” reaction, thanks to a UX designer. They succeeded in simplifying your user experience. UI UX design services take your mobile app design to the next level and make it user-friendly as well as pleasant.
Don’t Make These Mistakes When Designing Your Mobile App
1. Overloading users for information
- The main motive of the mobile app design should be to reduce user frustration. So, when you use two three-page long forms. It can create a painful experience for users, leading them to abandon it.
Here’s what you can do instead:
- Keep the forms short. Only include the most critical information and remove any unnecessary fields.
- Use intelligent features like autocomplete to fill the form automatically. This would instantly reduce the friction that most users friction while filing the information.
2. Use jargon
The worst thing you can do while designing a mobile app is to fill it with jargon that most users won’t even understand! Clear communication should always be a priority. After all, if users don’t even understand what you want them to do, how will they continue?
How to avoid these scenarios:
Keep it simple to avoid confusion.
Learn the understanding level of your audience. A 15-year-old would have a different understanding from a 40-year-old.
3. Bad onboarding Experience
Mobile users are susceptible to bad first-time experiences. So much so that almost 21% of users will never app if they had a not-so-good first-time experience.
So, how to make the first experience pleasant?
Simple, leverage contextual onboarding. Contextual onboarding is when you provide instructions only when users are using the app. The best thing about contextual onboarding is that it does not overwhelm users with information like those user manuals do.
Duolingo is the perfect example of well-designed contextual onboarding. Once the users sign up for the app, it asks them to choose between beginner and non-beginner, after which they are immediately sent to the core product. There, too, the app guides the users with little information.
Users are also encouraged to do a quick text. This is just one of the strategies to create a pleasant first-time experience with your mobile app. However, the end goal remains the same – make it easy for users without overwhelming them with information. Read more..
