Mobile users spend 86% of their time on mobile apps versus 14% on mobile websites (Source: Forbes).
How many times do you pick up your smartphone throughout the day? With over 5 billion mobile subscribers in the world, the future of search is mobile. In fact, statistics revealed that as of March 2017, there were 2.8 million apps available for download on Google Play Store and 2.2 million on Apple App Store (Source: Statista). It’s crazy not to mobile-proof your business today!
But isn’t a mobile-friendly website enough? While mobile-friendly sites are indeed helpful for search rankings, mobile apps offer many more features that mobile websites can’t. Here are just a few:
How Mobile Apps Add Value
1. Better personalisation:
– offers tailored content by allowing users to set up their preferences at the start.
– track user engagement to offer customised recommendation and updates.
– identify location of users to provide geography-specific content.
2. Higher click-through rate (CTR) and conversions:
– push notifications allow businesses to send instant, non-intrusive notifications to users on their mobile phones to prompt action.
– acting as a new stream of conversion and helping businesses push users further down the conversion funnel, given that mobile users spend 86% of their time on mobile apps versus 14% on mobile websites (Source: Forbes).
3. Easier access to mobile device features:
– ability to access and utilise features on the mobile phone such as contact list, GPS, camera, etc., reduce user’s effort in performing a task, enabling them to get more done in less time.
– for example, instead of exiting the browser to take a photo and upload on the mobile site, users can now use the camera within the app to take a photo instantly.
4. Faster load speed:
– apps work faster than mobile sites.
– data are stored locally on mobile devices rather than on web servers.
– some apps can also work without an Internet connection, offering basic content and functionality offline.
5. More liberty in design:
– not restricted by browsers’ features such as “back” and “refresh” to work.
– enables more elaborate functions based on advanced gestures like “swipe”, “pinch”, “tap”, “drag”, “hold”, etc.
Mobile App Branding Tips for Greater User Experience
1. User-Centric Design
It is of course important that your app is fun to use, but it should also be of utility value to the customer. Your customer is the key here and nothing else is more important than him/her.
Always create your app with your customers in mind because they are the ones who will use it. When you design your app, you must provide amazing user experience. At the same time, you should study your competitors to understand where they succeed and what elements aren’t so appreciated by customers.
2. App Naming
Properly naming your app goes a long way in establishing the app in the minds of the users. The more relevant your app name is to the function of your app, the better your app will fare in the marketplace.
In case the app name of your choice is already taken, you could probably use a combination of two words as a single word. The best app names sometimes use a simple convention of pairing the basic function of the app with a word that enhances it. Think of Evernote, Snapchat and Dropbox as prime examples.
3. App Icon ≠ Brand Logo
They are similar, with one key difference: logos are scalable, icons are not. This means that icons are subject to changes in resolution when sized up or down. Icon design is highly influenced by technical dimensions and the restrictions of the systems that display them.
Your app icon helps users uniquely relate with your app. This aspect of app branding takes a lot of work and creativity. A way to figure out the right kind of icon for your app is to relate your icon to some important feature of your app. For instance, match the colour scheme of your icon to those that you mainly use in your app.
4. Consistency across Mobile and Web
Consistent user interfaces facilitate communication. While they don’t need to be exactly the same, try to use same colour palatefor bothmobile appsand your official website. By using consistency to create a design and a logical structure to clearly define where users can find what, you’ll spare yourself confused and frustrated users.
This makes it easier for users to navigate and use your app. It also helps your users feel confident in their ability to manage what’s under their thumbs and will evoke a positive emotional response resulting from a pleasant experience.
If this blog has sparked your interest in mobile apps, get in touch with us! We’ll help you with your mobile app design and get the best user experience.