Smartphones are sweeping the world. According to comscore , about 70% of the time spent in digital media is spent on mobile devices. This means that it is important to pay attention to trends in the world of smartphones. They can affect other areas of digital design and the world around us in general.
In design, as in other areas, some trends appear and disappear, while others become fixed and become fundamental rules. But in the case of Apple art apps we always get to see something fundamental yet creative every time. This article discusses 10 trends that can become fundamental and will shape the mobile design this year.
Time-saving design
This is by far the most important trend in mobile design. When people take the phone, they want to solve some problems. The amount of time spent on execution affects the formation of attitude to the service. Users want to use products that help them complete their business as quickly as possible.
The following techniques will help designers minimize the effort the user needs to achieve their goal.
User linear path
A user’s linear path is the path in which users interact with content in a specific order along a linear path. Typically, users are only allowed to perform one specific action at a time.
Simplify the way
The user is annoyed if the mobile application forces you to go through many sometimes-unnecessary steps before finally allowing you to perform the desired action.
Speed and simplicity are the foundation of mobile design. Therefore, it is important to give users not only a step-by-step flow that helps to perform the desired action but also try to minimize the number of steps in this process. Designers should strive to create an experience that does not require countless interactions.
Neutral Interfaces and Content Oriented Experience
Many designers are trying to reduce the complexity of the application, making its interface almost invisible. There is a popular trend known as Zero UI. Its essence lies in the fact that all the user’s attention is focused on the content, and decorative elements are removed. Content-first layouts allow users to consume content without any distractions.
Phased presentation of information
Modern mobile applications and websites have become really complex products, which contain large amounts of information and many functions. If you show the user all this at once, then he will quickly get confused and drown.
To overcome this problem, designers use a phased presentation technique. Information or action becomes visible only when the user needs it.
Guidance and help
More and more designers are focusing on designing a bug scenario. They are actively looking for steps in a user scenario where a person may need help, and put some hints at this stage.
Location awareness
Designers can also use device location data to simplify some operations. For example, if you are developing a food delivery application, instead of asking the user to provide their address, you can automatically determine their current location and ask the user to confirm that he wants to accept the delivery there.
Decision making for the user
Fatigue from decision making is a real problem in the modern world. Every day we have to make choice after choice, and this affects the ability to make effective decisions throughout the day.
Therefore, when developing mobile applications, you should try to reduce the number of choices that the user must make when interacting with them. Services that ask us to make too many decisions can be annoying, and the user will begin to look for a replacement for this software.
In an attempt to improve the user experience, many product designers try to anticipate the needs of the user before the customer has to make any decisions.
The Spotify service offers a good example of this design: a playlist is automatically created in it weekly based on personal music preferences. Thanks to this user do not need to spend time searching for music – the application does it for him.
Using smartphone features
Mobile devices now have many built-in sensors, such as cameras, location tracking, an accelerometer, and a touch sensor. These technologies can be used to enhance the user experience.
Touch IDs and Face IDs are great examples of how device capabilities can minimize the steps required to enter the app. The user does not need to enter a password each time to open a banking application or unlock a phone.
According to Apple, the average iPhone user is unlocking their device 80 times a day. 89% of people use Touch ID for this.
Color as a functional element
Without a doubt, color is one of the most powerful designer tools. But in modern mobile applications, color can be used not only for aesthetic purposes: it becomes part of functional experience. For example, color can help designers draw attention to certain parts of the user interface or influence user behavior.
Multichannel
People no longer use apps in isolation. Many services began to interact with several platforms, devices, and channels. Designers should think about the user experience in general. The ultimate goal is to create a product that is convenient at all steps of contact with it. Users should be able to switch to another device and continue to use the product.
According to Appticles , 37% of online shoppers choose a product on their mobile devices and buy through a website. Thus, if you are creating a service for e-commerce, synchronization on different devices should be a priority.
Soon there will be a continuation where you will learn about animation, emotional experience, personalization and much more.
