A Short Guide to iPhone App Design

The iPhone app design is an integral part of the application’s success in the market. Apple has set the usability and design bar incredibly high, so the platform requires a lot of attention to the design. The users on iOS are used to having an intuitive interface so they have some pretty high expectations as to the design of the third-party apps.

READ ALSO: Application prototyping  

When you design an app for iPhone you need to ask yourself a few questions before proceeding to photoshop or sketch. Start with the basic questions like what is the main focus of the application, what functionality requires the most of the user’s attention, think if he/she needs any tips to understand what the application is all about.

Then, eventually proceed to more complicated questions and solutions like the placement of the elements on the screen, their sizes, and other similar things. 

Benchmarking the iPhone design apps

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Try analyzing the colors that are being used and try to find out how your app design can differentiate from the competition. Users love fresh design ideas as long as they are intuitive enough.

There is always a great aspiration to create something new in terms of UX mobile design, but the main problem is that you need to test if your design is convenient enough for your target users. It can be done by asking your friends or acquaintances to try out the app with your design and get feedback from them. 

The details in applications for iPhone designs

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These instructions are not obligatory but rather recommendatory. There is a lot you can learn from these instructions when you design an app for the iPhone. The placement of controls, the types of alerts, the highlights of certain elements, the color palette, color schemes, the usage of both systems, and custom UI elements.

Even if you are planning to use your own unique design – don’t hesitate to tread through the HIG’s because it was compiled by professional designers and that means there is always a great piece of advice that can be found there. Always design apps for iPhone with iOS users in mind. And always remember to try to make the design as intuitive as possible.

The App Solutions knows how to design iPhone apps that users love. We have huge experience in this field and are always willing to share our experience with our clients.

How to Design a Mobile App Like a Pro

The mobile app design is a critical factor when speaking about app success. Even if your app has a functionality that is really required by the market, your app is not likely to succeed unless it has a good User Experience and an intuitive interface.

In most cases, it is much better to have an app that intuitively does a few things, than have an application that is providing 10+ functions and has a complicated, non-intuitive interface.

The app design is a very complex process that requires quite a lot of the app designer’s time and resources. The mobile designer should be fully aware of the whole set of functions that the application delivering. His goal is to make all the user’s interactions with the app as flawless as possible.

Data-driven App Design that drives growth

The technology nowadays allows the mobile app developers and publishers to see how exactly the users interact with the application. The analysis is usually conducted based on a set of predefined metrics by the marketing team. The Marketers, who gather and analyze the app usage data can provide the mobile app designers some insights indicating if the user experience has any space for improvement. This is a proven way to design apps because the decisions are made based on the real user feedback, rather than the designer’s preferences.

There are various tools that help produce excellent mobile app designs. These tools include the mobile analytics platforms, as well as A/B testing tools that help test the app designer’s hypothesis as to the application’s UI, mobile UX. It is very important to leverage the wide toolset that can help in producing successful mobile designs.

How to Design an app like a pro

As mentioned before, designing a mobile application is a complicated task and you only start to understand it’s complexity and importance when you start working on the wireframes and the initial design of the application.

The successful app design starts with a brief with information about what the app does in the first place. Having a clear understanding of if the app’s functionality is absolutely crucial for producing a good design.

READ ALSO: Mobile app prototyping

As soon as you get the idea of the app’s functionality, the first thing it is recommended to do is to go the App Store or Google Play and search for apps that do similar things, or at least are positioned in the same app category. Look for some solutions there, and see how your app can differentiate from the proposition that is available on the market.

Create a set of wireframes describing all the user workflow inside the app, including the specification on all app screens and the placement and functions of all possible controls.

Make a few mockups based on the prepared wireframes and immediately test them out on the device. You can do this by exporting a screen mockup from Photoshop or Sketch and upload it on the device. This is done in order to make sure that all objects are the right size for the small smartphone screen which is one of the most important factors to consider when you design mobile app.

Continue editing and producing mockups and don’t forget to ask people to take a look at the design and give their feedback.

Alternatively, you can order the app design work from a professional mobile app designer. Contact us today to see how we can help you design an app.

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