Mobile application design

For every business niche there are hundreds of different applications in the App Store and Play Market, and whether a potential client will choose yours is decided by the first 7 seconds. According to research, this is exactly how much a user needs to determine whether he likes a product or not, and whether he is ready to continue using it to solve his problems. Therefore, to attract attention and retain audiences, companies need qualified UI/UX design services.

Let's talk about what the design of a mobile application consists of, what problems a competent design solves, and how the process of its development works.

What is application design?

IOS and Android application design is the visual appearance of the product, which is built taking into account user behavior. Good design reflects the aesthetics of the business and is at the same time comfortable to use - if the consumer does not understand how to achieve the desired goal, for example, ordering a product or booking a hotel room, he will most likely delete the application and quickly find a replacement. Therefore, design is very important.

At a technical level, design is usually divided into two parts:

• UI – user interface.
• UX – user experience.

Although these are interrelated things, and the boundaries between them are quite blurred, the UI and UX of mobile applications are completely different. The user experience is aimed at making the use of the product as simple and intuitive as possible, and the user interface is responsible for the attractiveness of the visual environment: buttons, checkboxes, text fields and other elements.

Design Features for Mobile Applications

Developing a mobile application design is not much different from creating interfaces for websites or desktop software, however, smartphones have their own rules and limitations that specialists must take into account. Let's consider the main ones:

• Limited screen size . If on the laptop screen the user simultaneously sees menus, filters, product cards and much more, then in the mobile application this is definitely not the case. The smartphone display contains much fewer elements, so navigation here should be as simple as possible, and content and icons should be informative.
• Touchscreen . The user controls the mobile application with the touch of a finger, so the clickable components of the interface are specially made a little larger so that they can be easily accessed.
• Mobility and mobility . Users can use smartphones anywhere: indoors, outdoors in direct sunlight, on the move, and in places with poor Internet coverage. Therefore, when developing a design for a mobile application, interfaces are created that work quickly and are easily perceived under any conditions. To do this, for example, you can use “light” and “dark” switchable color schemes for different times of the day, automatic data preloading and other features.
• Optimize performance and power consumption . Smartphones have more limited resources compared to desktop computers, so application design must be optimized to save power and maximize performance.

What problems does proper mobile app design solve?

The main goal of professional design is to help a business achieve its goals. Therefore, it is always created individually, taking into account the unique needs of each specific company. Here are some tasks that can be solved using a well-designed UI/UX application:

• Increased customer satisfaction . Good design makes the app more user-friendly and attractive, leading to increased customer satisfaction. Satisfied customers are more likely to return to the company and recommend it to others, which contributes to increased loyalty and increased profits.
• Reduced customer churn . Users most often leave an app due to a poor user experience. Improving UI/UX helps reduce the outflow of the target audience and maintain their interest and passion for the product.
• Increase conversion. Good design can significantly increase conversions at different stages of the user journey - from attracting and retaining customers to making purchases or completing other targeted actions. The better the UX, the higher the likelihood of a successful transaction.
• Reduced support costs . A competent UI/UX helps users easily find the information they need and resolve all issues independently without the participation of employees. This saves time and resources, which the business can redirect to solving the most important tasks.
• Increasing competitiveness. There is already high competition in the mobile segment, and it will only grow further. Therefore, the use of functional and attractive interfaces can be a significant factor in strengthening a brand's position in the market.

The main trends in mobile application design for 2024

It is now more important than ever for startups and companies to adhere to UI/UX design trends. Let's be honest, in 2024, almost everything has moved online: work meetings, sales of goods, grocery delivery, training courses and even sports training. Along with the number of users, competition has also increased, and in order to win the fight for the attention of the audience, it is important to know which features and elements are relevant to use right now. Let's look at 7 key trends this year.

Flat design

The trend is based on simplicity, clarity and rich functionality of the interface. This design effectively combines minimalism with bright colors and bold printing, but does not use shadows or gradients at all.

The main advantage of flat design is that it prioritizes content over visuals. From a technical point of view, simple flat forms allow you to achieve high responsiveness and page loading speed.

Neomorphism

A relatively new trend that has proven itself well in Android application design. Its concept is to mix the physical and digital worlds, making the product look minimalistic and include elements that are used to being used in real life - buttons, graphics, etc.

Abstract geometry

Minimalism has been a major trend in app design for years, and its relevance continues even today. But the problem is that there are a lot of minimalist interfaces on the market, so highlighting your product using the same trend has become problematic.

This led to the emergence of a new trend in UI/UX design - abstract geometry. It uses unconventional visual elements that go beyond conventional shapes, taking the level of simplicity and responsiveness of interfaces to a new level.

3D graphics

3D graphics are quickly permeating all areas of brand identity and mobile interface design. Volumetric elements enliven the visual environment and help emphasize the main ideas of the company, and since market giants such as Apple and Google actively use them in their products, this trend will definitely remain relevant in the next few years.

But here we need to say a few words about the technical side: 3D graphics are heavy content. Therefore, before implementing it into your product, you need to make sure that it has sufficient performance and can quickly load all elements. We, at AVADA MEDIA, to achieve optimal results, create the client side of applications using native Swift and Kotlin technologies, or use the reliable cross-platform Flutter framework, which allows the use of 3D graphics of any complexity in the application.

Asymmetry

The trend allows you to create a balance of symmetry and asymmetry in UI/UX. So, by using different sizes, colors, fonts and shapes, designers can create visually beautiful and unique interfaces that will definitely give your application a famous look and make it stand out from thousands of competitors.

Full-screen immersive graphics

The idea behind the trend is to make every pixel on a smartphone attractive and stylized. This creates an original image of a business or startup, and also motivates potential customers to move to new pages of the application - that is, to move further with a pre-planned map of user paths.

This way, full-screen apps stand out from the crowd, attract attention, and have a positive impact on conversion.

Blur in the interface

Blur not only looks stylish, but also solves the functional problems of the application. With its help, you can easily highlight important areas in the interface and tell the user where to move and what to click on next. It looks harmonious in the design of Android and IOS applications.

Stages of mobile application design development

Creating a unique application design is a complex task with a specific life cycle. It may vary slightly between teams, but the main steps will be similar. Let's look at them:

• Study of business goals and objectives . A professional UX/UI designer does not think in good pictures, but in business categories - he draws each interface element to solve specific business problems or achieve marketing goals. Therefore, the first stage is researching the client’s request.
• Market research . The second step to cool and effective design is to analyze the market and target audience. He helps to understand the situation in the client's niche in order to then design and create solutions that meet user needs and are ahead of other players.
• Analytics conclusions . The analyst collects preliminary research data, dives into the client's business processes, and studies the audience's problems. Based on the data, he creates general models: process diagrams, user paths and mindmaps - these are business analysis artifacts that will become the foundation of future design.
• Design . The designer collects user paths, schematically visualizes screens and determines the logic of interaction of elements. The result of this stage is an interactive prototype of the application, which allows you to imagine its appearance and identify potential UX problems.
• Design concept . At this stage, the style and user flow of the application are determined. To do this, specialists draw several UI interface concepts and coordinate them with the client.
• Visual design . Based on the approved prototype and design concept, all application pages and interface details are drawn, adaptive versions of mobile operating systems are created, and elements are brought to a single corporate style. After development, we receive a working version of the design, which is agreed with the customer and, if necessary, finalized.

Designer Tools

To create striking and functional UX/UI, designers typically use a variety of specialized tools. Here are some of them:

• Sketch is a mobile app design tool that provides a wide range of features and plugins.
• Figma is a user interface design platform that allows you to collaborate on projects in real time.
• Adobe XD – provides interaction with non-static elements and allows you to implement thoughtful dynamics on the page.
• InVision is a service for creating interactive prototypes and collaborating on projects.
• UI Kits include sets of ready-made elements and allow you to speed up the process of creating unique designs.
• UserTesting is a user experience testing platform that helps designers get feedback from real users.

Our core values

We at AVADA MEDIA create modern and functional designs for IOS and Android mobile applications. Our main goal is to develop effective visual design that will help your business attract the attention of your target audience and develop successfully in a competitive environment. To achieve the best results, we follow current trends and implement them into projects using an innovative stack.