The User Experience You've Missed
03 Jul
You've just finished an app. All the functionality and layout is implemented, but something is off. Something's missing. You don't have the same feel as the other apps out there. You're looking to improve your app, but don't know what to do next. Try improving your UX, by adding transitions, animations and more.
A user needs to have feedback to every action he makes in your app. Google's Material Design highly approves this concept with things like tap feedback on any view even if nothing happens afterwards.
Here are some things to consider:
- Loading Transition
Even if opening another window is an instant process, you must add a loading screen. Don't let the user have even the slightest idea that the app is not doing something when it should. Even the simple spinning wheel that we're all used to is more than enough.
- Button Feedback
How do you differentiate a button from a view? Don't say anything close to "users are going to figure it out" as it's not always the case. You need to give feedback for every action a user elicit. The simple thing you can do is change the background color of the button when pressed, underlining the fact that it has an action linked to it. The same goes with text fields. Make it clear where the user input will be.
- Icon Animation
If an icon you have is being replaced with another for a different functionality your app has, you could animate the transformation instead of just switching it to the different one. It blends perfectly with the whole 'do something - get feedback'.
- Remember The User
I remember an app (I'm sorry, I forgot the name) that slowly removed the titles below the icons and made the tabs smaller as the user kept using it. Why use all that space when the user knows to go around the app with eyes closed?
I'm working on improving my skills in this area, since it's an important part of creating an app. Hope my post helped you, have a good one. :)
A user needs to have feedback to every action he makes in your app. Google's Material Design highly approves this concept with things like tap feedback on any view even if nothing happens afterwards.
Here are some things to consider:
- Loading Transition
Even if opening another window is an instant process, you must add a loading screen. Don't let the user have even the slightest idea that the app is not doing something when it should. Even the simple spinning wheel that we're all used to is more than enough.
- Button Feedback
How do you differentiate a button from a view? Don't say anything close to "users are going to figure it out" as it's not always the case. You need to give feedback for every action a user elicit. The simple thing you can do is change the background color of the button when pressed, underlining the fact that it has an action linked to it. The same goes with text fields. Make it clear where the user input will be.
- Icon Animation
If an icon you have is being replaced with another for a different functionality your app has, you could animate the transformation instead of just switching it to the different one. It blends perfectly with the whole 'do something - get feedback'.
- Remember The User
I remember an app (I'm sorry, I forgot the name) that slowly removed the titles below the icons and made the tabs smaller as the user kept using it. Why use all that space when the user knows to go around the app with eyes closed?
I'm working on improving my skills in this area, since it's an important part of creating an app. Hope my post helped you, have a good one. :)
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