If you’re busy listing ideas for our Giant App Comp, which with prizes of having your final ear of uni funded or equivalent, you should be, read on to hear Aimée-Louise Carton, CEO and Founder of KeepAppy’s top tips for enabling user’s to click and swipe in an enjoyable fashion.
Bookmark this page or take a few notes now …
Top List of Essentials for Usability:
Three Click Rule – users will rarely make more three clicks / taps / swipes to reach a feature before they become frustrated by how hard it is to find what they are looking for.
Colours 1 – Most people learn to read with dark text on white background, too much colours or white text on dark background actually causes the user to read more slowly
Colours 2 – humans are very simple, we rely on colours we already know. The most common colours we interact with are the ones we see every day – traffic lights. Consequently, humans associate green with movement … and vegetables, so nice and healthy. While red is a colour of warning – stop and blood. Look closely at colour combinations – conflicting colours will make users uncomfortable and less likely to use product, while neutral tones with blasts of branded colour, like you see on Facebook for example, will increase brand association
Physical design – Think about the physical aspects as well – very simply, at what point does it become cumbersome for the thumb finger to reach the top of the screen? How often would a user be willing to move their hands to touch the top of the screen?
A clear understanding of your user is the most underrated yet important aspect of any app build. Look at your Google analytics for your website to find out where your customers are coming to you from – do they prefer iOS over Android? If so, how can you integrate iOS design to increase intuitiveness and understanding of usability? Focusing on what the user has already proven to know and like can increase usability because they will feel more positive towards what they already know.
Fun! Most people have a competitive streak and competition hacks can really increase the users engagement with an app. For example, Tinder offered the ‘streak’ component (ie. logging in every day), while FitBit awards users with ‘badges’ based on steps achieved. Creating these competitive components can really help
Tone / voice – what kind of voice will your brand take? Peer to peer or top down lecturing? A peer to peer voice will help people feel more comfortable using a more causal app (eg. Bumble), while medical or professional apps should imitate the voice of authority to help people feel safe / protected (eg. fitness apps)