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Design Mobile Apps UX

5 Key Uses of Animation in Mobile App UI

Mobile App UI

The advancement of technology has led to several new improvements and trends in web and mobile designing. Animation was once a visual luxury but has now become a functional requirement. Users expect to face animations at some stage while browsing a website or an app. Animation infuses life into interfaces and makes them more rousing and visually appealing.  The proper use of animations accentuates the responsiveness of an app. In this article, we will discuss five critical applications of animation within a mobile app UI design.

Animation infuses life into interfaces and makes them more rousing and visually appealing.  The proper use of animations accentuates the responsiveness of an app. In this article, we will discuss five critical applications of animation within a mobile UI design.

1. System Status

There are plenty of tasks and processes like downloading and uploading data, calculations etc. that continuously run in the backdrop while the app is running. While these processes run in the background, users often feel that the app is frozen, as there is no activity at the front end. You must always indicate the status of all the ongoing processes through visual signs of progress. It provides a sense of control over the app to the users.

Page loading time is unavoidable, however, it is a very stressful time for users. Using animations can’t shorten the loading time, but can provide comfort to the users while they wait. Creative progress indicators can reduce a user’s perception of time. If users can watch something visually pleasing, while they wait, they are more likely to divert their mind on the animation, rather than the wait time.

Similarly, “pull down to refresh” is also a well-known system status indicator that reloads the page. Pull-to-refresh animations should match the design outline of the app. Movement and visually pleasing items naturally draw attention and create interest. Animating your notifications is a pleasant way to notify users about things, without hampering their experience.

2. Visual Feedback in Mobile App UI

Visual feedback is critically important for any user interface. It helps users to know and understand their current context in the system at any given time. User interface elements like buttons and controls should appear to be tangible, as they interact with them in the real world.

But, bridging the gap between the physical world and on the web is challenging. Visual and motion cues must immediately recognize the input and animate in ways that appear to be direct guidance. Animations enhance various points of interaction and reinforce the actions taken by a user.

3. Structuring Information

Animation allows proper structuring of information across the app. An animation draws users and shows what content to look for and where can it be found. The menu bar is one of the most common places where this can be implemented. 

There are many elements on the main screen of the app. When we activate one of them, the app should change the picture and display a whole new app section based on the selection. Animation helps users to know that it is the same element but with different form and scale.

4. Navigation & Transitions in Mobile App UI

Usually, users take the help of menu bar to navigate inside an app. A lot of apps have a complicated structure to show the list of app sections or features, which is confusing for users. Animation works as a visual navigator. 

A user should notice a changing picture on the screen while selecting or changing app sections. This lets them know that they are navigating to a different section or using a feature. Animation is a great way to transport users reasonably between navigational contexts. 

Read more about Mobile App Navigation

5. In-app Guide

Some apps have a more complex structure compared to others. If you don’t want to scare-off or irritate your app subscribers, you should clearly explain to them how an app works at the very beginning. Animation comes in handy here. A user gets brief instructions about the app in very less time via animations. Usually, an animated guide opens up when the app runs. However, users should have access to the guide whenever they need.

Animations are really pretty, but as mentioned earlier there role is no longer confined to adding beauty to an app. So make animations with purpose and use it in the app UI design to simplify user interaction with the user interface.

Let us know if you are looking for designing your new or existing mobile app. Our UI and UX team will be happy to assist. Contact Us today

Categories
Design Technology Web Design

5 Best Practices To Design Single-Page Websites

Single Page Websites

Single-page websites were once not a real favorite of web designers. However, things have changed over the past decade, and single-page sites have gained popularity owing to its ease of creation, simplicity and potential to deliver a rich user experience. That said, which one is better – multi-page or single-page website, is a never-ending debate. A single-page website is faster and easier to develop, but it still requires a lot of creative thinking and thorough planning.

Single-page website

No prizes for guessing, a single-page website is a website that contains a single HTML page. The entire content of the site is placed on one page. When users click on a navigation link, they are directed to an HTML anchor on the very page.

Single-page websites are responsive and provide better mobile UX. It offers a lot of freedom to web designers in terms of layouts and visual effects. They do have a few drawbacks as well, like it is not SEO friendly. You cannot index several web pages with various keywords and meta descriptions, which will negatively affect organic traffic performance. The key is to understand the target audience, their expectations, and the company’s long-term goals.

A single-page website is best suited for personal websites, portfolios, landing pages, brochure websites, single-product websites, resume pages, one-time events etc.

Single-page websites: Best practices

Break Down The Content

A single-page website is a right choice for you if you don’t have much text to display. Though less text doesn’t mean less information. Therefore, you need a clear and easy-to-follow visual structure. Create a story and break the content into small chunks and sections using different header styles, background colors, overlays etc. Well-written content along with appealing visual effects will ensure that users don’t stop scrolling on your website.

As you only have one page, try not to feed too much information to users. Use multiple sections and keep the messaging clear and concise. More importantly, ensure that you maintain a continuous and sequential flow of content. Another way to keep users following your point is to tell a story using both visual and textual content. Storytelling is a powerful way of delivering content.

Create A Visual Hierarchy

Visual hierarchy tools used for web design include size, color, contrast, proximity, and repetition. A common belief states that people read in the F-pattern when they are served a large amount of textual content, while the Z-pattern suits pages that have less text. But, it is suggested to use both of these patterns for different sections, as a single-page website contains numerous sections, and it’s essential to diversify the site structure.

The single-page visual hierarchy should be concise yet encouraging. Before selecting a particular page structure, identify your needs and keep in mind that you only have one page to scroll.

Add Alternative Navigation

Single-page websites are all about scrolling and sometimes about endless scrolling. At times, this can leave the users clueless and stranded, with no idea where to go. If your site has a complex structure and with a lot of blocks, you should think of alternative navigation.

Use a sticky navigation bar that stays on top of the page, no matter how deep you scroll. This will allow users to move to the section they are looking for quickly. Also, use anchor links and a back-to-top button to keep the UX pleasant and intuitive. Always keep the users on track. Try to combine scrolling with a traditional navigation system. Don’t forget to put a “back to the top” button if you have a long single-page website.

Add A Compelling Call-to-Action Button

A call to action button is the most influential factor in a conversion. A well-designed CTA influences users to take the desired actions; be it a mobile app download, order placement, demo request, email signup or as simple as a contact form submission. The exceptional quality of a call to action increases the chances of conversion.

Single-page websites are perfect for a CTA. Because of their structure, single-page sites are more focused as compared to multiple-page sites. The design and placement of the CTA must be around the specific purpose of your website.

Keep It As Simple As You Can

Take a look at any of the traditional, multiple-page websites and you will notice that they are created based on a particular design theme. A few templates of inner pages are added to this basic design theme to complete the overall design. However, it is much more challenging to design a single-page website.

With the recent developments in CSS3, HTML5 and Javascript, the opportunities to create a simple and engaging website are as vast as you can stretch your imagination. Adding little details, like animations and smooth transitions, also contribute to enhancing the user experience.

Don’t make It Heavy

A lot of times the goods about a single-page website are washed out by its slow load speed.
Since there is only one page to deliver the content, all information is stuffed onto one page, making it really heavy and takes ages to load. Be selective, don’t stuff the website with unnecessary information and heavy animations. Saving a user’s time should be paramount. Slow loading will also hurt your website’s SEO.

Analyse the pros and cons of a single-page website, and then make an informed choice. In case you would like to know more about it, talk to our experts now.

Categories
Design UX

4 Brainy Ways To Use Illustrations In UI Design

Use Illustrations In UI Design

It’s an accepted fact that as human beings we are more attracted towards visuals. Any visual information grabs our eyeballs faster than any other means of communication. Almost 90 percent of all the information that our brain interprets is in form of visuals. Due to this fact, it’s easier to convey information through visuals as compared to a complex and lengthy block of text. Pictures have always been part of a good interface. However, use of illustrations has interestingly increased recently. Illustrations provide a lot of freedom to designers to produce creative effects. Moreover, they have added control on content and technical aspects as well. Here are 3 smart ways to implement illustrations in UI design effectively.

1. Illustrations On Homepage

No matter how brilliant your product may be, it is bound to be a failure if it is poorly packaged. Similarly, people judge your company and the quality of your product by the look and feel of your website. Thus it’s imperative that your website must look stunning and provide an unforgettable experience. That’s why designers take a lot of efforts in order to provide a visual delight to the customers.

This is where homepage illustrations come into the picture. It provides an aesthetic and imaginative touch to the entire website. You can customize your illustrations to strike a personal connect with your customers. This works wonder in terms of creating a strong brand recall.

intercom

Pic Courtesy: Intercom.com

2. Onboarding And Tutorial Illustrations

Illustrations provide help using visuals. They provide clarity in messaging by drilling down concepts into very basic visuals. Pictures create a far better impact and accelerate the overall experience. This is what makes illustrations so prominent for on-boarding and tutorials.

Onboarding screens propose the key features and benefits of the app to users. Illustrations help in providing context and add clarity in information for the user. This smoothly leads him towards the next step. Illustrations can really help in conveying the core message with the minimum use of copy.

An engaging and interactive onboarding instantly creates interest in user’s mind. It generates eagerness among the users and also creates a sense of happiness. A tutorial is usually a boring manual which can often kill interest among users. Using illustrations is a much better way to engage users during this initial process.

pinterest

Pic Courtesy: Pinterest.com

3. Illustrations On Reward Screens

We all have played video games at some point in time of our life. Be it mobile games, TV video games or any other type of games. Almost every game has a feature of rewarding the player on an achievement of certain criteria. Terms like level unlocked, stage unlocked, power unlocked etc. go hand in hand with these games. But why is rewarding so important? It’s because rewarding provides a human touch to the interface experience. The user feels as if he is interacting with a real human rather than a machine.

It stimulates a positive emotion among the users and they feel more connected. It helps in creating a positive engagement between the users and the app. Users tend to overlook the flaws of your app when they receive a rewarding experience from your side.

pmbr

Pic Courtesy: pmbr.tn

4. Character Illustration

Character Illustrations in simple terms means using a person, animal or cartoon character to illustrate your brand and website. The character can act as a mascot for your brand as well. The best example of character illustration can be cited at Mailchimp. The company uses an appealing chimp as their brand mascot who is present in almost every part of the website. Characters can be used in designing the logos of your brand as well.

mailchimp

Pic Courtesy: Mailchimp.com

However, Character illustration requires more efforts in order to seize and display the real personality of the character. But we believe it’s worth it as it ensures that your brand stands out distinctively from the crowd.

Illustrations act as a very impressive and imperative way to enhance user experience and create positive engagement. These are some of the best ways to use them. However, it’s not limited to only these 4 ways neither there is any set of rules on how to use them. The soul purpose is to display the desired information in the most basic visual manner so that users can easily interpret it. Talk to our design experts and understand more about the use of illustrations and other design requirements for your business.