7 Best Mobile UX/UI Design Practices to Try in 2021

Developing a feature-rich, high performing mobile app is easier said than done. Especially in this digital sphere where the app stores are flooded with millions of apps. Fitting a ton of information, icons, and images on a smaller screen and keeping multiple device sizes and types in mind is an intricate task. Designing a mobile app that offers a positive UX on mobile and wearable devices requires careful planning and the best design practices.

A mobile app design matters most, helping users understand what your app is all about and how to make the most of the app. In fact, a neat and clean mobile UI design can lead to an out-of-the-box UX that will eventually increase app downloads and retention rates.

When users download your app, they expect a unique experience and amazing features that simplify their lives and perform important tasks. Users will immediately delete the app if they don’t find it useful. According to Statista, 25% of apps were only opened once after download.

When it comes to building a mobile app, putting your best efforts into creating a perfect UI design helps UX designers make their app a big hit.

Let’s explore.

1. Do Proper UX Research

Who is your target audience? What are the interests of your prospective customers? What are their pain points, and how your app can simplify their lives? What kind of devices do they use? When you have answers to all these questions, it will be much easier for UX designers to come up with an intuitive design.

You can’t develop a mobile app if you don’t know your target users. In fact, user research is a fundamental part of the UX design process. Try to do proper user research and find out information about your prospective users. Keep users’ needs in mind and follow the best UX research methods; otherwise, they will move on to other apps to meet their specific needs.

2. Readability Matters

Keep in mind that you are designing for smaller screens; fitting a lot of information on a mobile user interface design is an intricate task for app designers. However, using the right font size, colors, text structure, and design elements can help readers understand the main features of the UI and provide a great UX.

A simple and clear structure of text blocks and effective organization of UI components helps users quickly perceive the copy. UX designers are advised to choose the typefaces that work perfectly fine on multiple screen sizes. There are many easy to read fonts for mobile apps that you can use for your app design.

• San Francisco
• Proxima Nova
• Lato
• Roboto
• Nexa
• Open Sans
• Montserrat
• Source Sans
• Playfair Display
• Nunito

3. Simple and Familiar Navigation

Today, users are very impatient; they want to perform actions to quickly get the desired results. Creating intuitive navigation helps users immediately understand how to use the app. Adding recognizable design icons such as Home, Back, chat, and search buttons to your app design can make it more understandable. If users find it difficult how to use your app, they will most likely close the app and never come back. So, avoid clutter and make mobile app navigation simple and intuitive.

4. Touch Target Size

Mobile users want instant results; if they tap on something that doesn’t respond or end up doing an unwanted action, it makes them angry. App development and design teams have the ability to help users avoid this mistake by designing a finger-friendly mobile experience. Whether users use the thumb or index finger, the key is to use proper size touch targets to read users’ input. Smaller touch targets make it difficult for users to hit the button, increasing the chances of performing the wrong action.

The average width of a human index finger is 16 – 20mm; therefore, mobile app designers are strongly recommended to create touch controls that measure 10-12 mm(40-45pixels). Keeping this mobile UI design guideline for touch targets in mind, app designers can create a tappable area that works for multiple screens.

5. Provide Users with Instant Feedback

If you want users to engage with your app and take the desired action, it is important to provide them with instant feedback. Well-designed mobile apps tell users what is happening, why it didn’t happen, what will be going to happen. Animations and transitions play a key role in providing feedback. When users perform a certain action, you can inform them with tactile and audio feedback. Many app development companies are using audio feedback, while some are using different forms of feedback such as haptics and visualizations depending on the UI elements.

6. Speed Matters

5G technology is one of the most cutting-edge mobile app development trends for 2021 that is forcing mobile app developers to create apps that meet this standard. This amazing telecommunication technology is the fastest way to wireless transfer information. With 5G technology, developers can build faster loading apps and UI elements that can instantly react to user requests. When users receive faster and better responses to their actions, it will create a better UX.

7. Designing a Voice User Interface

With the advent of voice-controlled devices and voice-enabled AI assistants, creating a voice user interface has become the utmost need for app designers and developers. Voice user interfaces, unlike traditional UIs are based on words, not visual items. When designing voice UI, designers need to make sure that the app provides users with accurate information and stays conversational. Feedback is critical for voice UIs, since users can’t see what is happening, it is advised to provide audio feedback to tell users what is going on.

That’s All, Folks!

Mobile devices have become an integral part of our lives. Creating an out-of-the-box user experience for multiple device types is a challenge for UX designers. Adhering to the best mobile UI/UX design practices will catch people’s attention and provide them with a positive user experience.