How to design a mobile applications is the most critical question mobile apps developers ask themselves in this competitive world where devising lucrative & innovative apps have become a key factor to differentiate themselves from the plethora of apps available in the market. Whether it is windows 8 store app development or any other app, if developers keep in mind the fundamentals & the tips to make a successful apps, they can go a very long way & win quality customers with ease & comfortability. For a developer writing a mobile app can be easy but designing & structuring an app can be quite a challenge.

So, lets take a look at some of the quick tips in designing mobile applications: –

1- Be Clear & Focused

The best of the mobile apps are designed because they do one thing really well – they know what your app should do. If that’s clear then half of your battle is won. They know what functionality to be put in & the target market well. They know it must be light weight, productive, user-friendly & sustainable. So, a developers must know all these factors before designing an app.

2 – Keyboard Input

There are many designers who have no idea about how the screen will look like the moment the on-screen keyboard is operative. Whenever the testing is performed, developers must see to it that users have enough on-screen space so that they know what they are doing whenever the input keyboard is activated.

3 – Place Tabs In The Right Place

For instance, in iOS the main tab doesn’t look like a tab. It looks like icons at the bottom of the window which helps users to shift between topics in the application smoothly. So, briefly to say, iOS users won’t appreciate the tab to be at the top as like in Android phones. Developers must ensure that the concept of tab is clear in their minds and place tabs according to the different OS, devices & platforms.

4 – Watch Out Your Button Size

There is a normal habit of developers that the smaller you design the buttons the more options you can offers to the users. But, sadly that’s not a user-friendly approach! It could make an app unattractive & it could be a huge turn off for a user. The developer must ensure that the button size is reasonable & its comfortable to use for users & switch between topics with ease.

5 – Provide the Information That Users Want

Design your app in such a manner that the app offers a one-stop-shop destination for all the information for the users. It must help them take better decisions. Developers must think on how best they can make it informative either info-graphically or through content optimization techniques in a web page. It must offer pain-free information to the users to be more precise!

6 – Beware Of Your Image Resolution

Today, the smartphones have extremely good high resolutions that can look awesome giving a run for the money from a UX point of view. Developers must understand the changing resolution demands of devices & smartphones & use images as per them to maintain the high standards. They must look crisp & clean to be viewed for your retina’s! Usually 274ppi or higher resolutions images can be used to create great UX. An even wiser option is to use vector images to scale any resolution size!

7 – Challenge The Features Constantly

In the previous years, software developers would focus on adding features after features & measure success on the number of features added but the landscape has changed drastically today. It’s no more about the number of features added but about the quality of the features that are added & the kind of user-friendly approach followed in offering optimum customer satisfaction. Today, features must offer maximum UX & must be different from the rest of the pack in the market.

8 – Use SSL Always

Developers must always ensure that the communication between the app & the server is established rightly. Wireless connections established must be secure, safe &confidential of the data being shared amongst users. It must ensure privacy as more and more content get personalized in the future. Developers must see to it that they pass the security test compulsorily.

9 – Test Network Conditions

Design & test apps which will work well with good as well as bad network connections depending upon the location of the smartphone user. Sometimes, by using a simulation could help developers in testing bandwidths in the environments & testing networks.

10 – Log & Register User Behavior

Understanding the user behavior is key to gauge the response post-development of the app. It will help developers analyze & come up with better product innovations next time & it will give them an idea for the next update needed for the app. This will happen only if they understand the current user behavior!

With all the above tips, developers can encash on designing innovative yet out-of-the-box apps which could be the next-generation app in the future. Let’s hope that the best out of the developers is yet to come in the coming years!