The app stores are overcrowded with apps that are covering all genres and categories. If we only take the two leading mobile platforms- Play store and Apple’s App Store into consideration; the stats show 1.5 million apps on Apple Store and 1.7 million on Play store. This approximate calculation of available apps means the mobile app market is swarming already.
As for apps; the advanced capabilities of software and hardware is making the mobile apps like never before. Leveraging on user demands and advancements, the developed apps are doing things that were unimaginable before. It might not sound inappropriate if we say that the apps are becoming “magical”-just like how Steve Jobs described the iPad as “magical” back in 2010.
So, should you weave magic into the mobile app development for something unique? What can be the magic in an application? First, if we say that reports and stats are to be believed than mobile apps are overtaking the desktop. And sum these stats with the percentage of average time a user spends on the mobile apps within the mobile; it is just about the apps now!
However, there are stats other than the ones mentioned above that depict a different situation. But the same number of app users mentioned above will not use an app if their user experience is not good. The mobile app development for the users is about user experience. So, if you are aiming to develop an app, inject some magic into the design and let the user experience stand out. In this ongoing race of mobile app development, there are plenty apps that have been developed in a haste and the importance of creating a unique app with stellar functionalities and great design are therefore overlooked.
If you are about to design a mobile app that you want to feel magical, consider what is impossible and make your aim by considering the following:
1. Keep User Experience a Top Priority:
When designing a mobile app keep the revolution into you focus. You will not know what is possible unless you make it happen. Nothing was obvious before the touch screen enabled us to touch and move from screen to screen and element to element. You have to keep the ethos of ubiquitous and revolutionary apps important to make the impossible real.
The magic and surprises users look for in an app is what makes the offer unacceptable. Plan the surprises intact in layers so the interest will stay for longer time. Moreover, the uncluttered design, screen transition and intuitive UI are some of the major factors to create a good user experience.
2. Keep The Experience Simple and Natural:
The simpler the app is the better aesthetics it offers. However, does simplicity offer any rooms for creating a magical effect? The answer is in user preferences, the less the user has to think for in-app, the better and magical the experience becomes. The simplicity and experience are both derivatives of input, layout, gestures, and graphic design. When putting the design of an app together remember to start with less. Remove all the confusions by cutting them out, try adding instructions for further help.
For users technology becomes magical when it does the work for you and does it in an unobtrusive way. The magic in your app is directly linked to the UX/UI design as well as the gestures required by the user to interact with the app. The use of touch screen seems than using a mouse, giving voice commands than typing the request, and other such revolutions feel more magical.
Successful apps like Instagram follow paradigm for giving the nostalgic feel to the users. The use of filters in the Instagram photos makes them so wonderful that even if you close your eyes, you will still be able to imagine Instagram picture.
3. Keep it Consistent:
Keep the immersive experience consistent and your app will prove its worth. The gestures or font or color scheme used in an app should stay the same from screen to screen. Everything in-app should follow the same principle to bring out the magic of an app.
4. Check for Quality Assurance Concerns:
The best way to fade out the magical worth of an app is to forgo the QA process. Most of the cases, the time for an app to hit the market have a deadline and before that it is tested over and over until the quality is assured. But, the truth is that your app can crash and the wonderful user experience will not be able to save your app.
It only takes a single star to break down the image of your app and send another potential user away. Do keep the platform in mind as well because sometimes what breaks the magical experience is not the design or code, it is the platform your app is running on. It is very crucial for your QA team to stay on top of every potential threat of platform. Test the issues when available on beta; test the app on various devices as well. Remember that app is only magical and delightful until it does not crash.
5. Stay in touch with Users:
No matter how wonderful the app is, your customers are bound to experience issues. Since the mobile app development was yours, only you have solutions to the queries and problems. Stay close to the users, ask them for feedbacks and help them understand what is going on, and if something is to happen and get updated then when will that be happening.
Summing It Up:
For a mobile app to be successful and magical, a lot has to be put together. Keep the design elegantly simple. Keep the experience simple, powerful, and accessible. Every part of app development process should have its own time from its concept to the quality. Let the imagination come to reality!
This article is written by Sani Abdul Jabar. He is the Managing Director of VeztekUSA a well-known Web and Mobile App Development Company based in Los Angeles, California. He has extensive experience in building and leading innovative software development teams. He always stays up to date with latest trends in Mobile App Development and loves contributing on different technology Blog. Follow him on Twitter.
