Once the app idea is validated and ready to be pursued further, it is time for the app development company to get into the mobile app design process. Creating a customer-centric app design requires rigorous efforts and adherence to industry-acclaimed best practices.
Let us explain here the essential process of how to design an app.
Understanding the Project Scope
At the beginning of the mobile app design process, you need to be cognizant of the project scope. To develop the best possible app designs, the product strategists should ensure that the designers have a clear understanding of the business objectives and project requirements. This is why the team needs to immerse in the client's business at this stage.
Designing an app requires you to understand the business first by talking to the owners. This will help you involve the clients in the design process so that the concept in its mix of aesthetic elements and business logic becomes transparent.
One of the best practices of how to design an app is to interview the client by asking a few critical questions related to the project goals, target audience, revenue, key app features, and the value proposition. Let's have a quick look at some of these important questions.
• What business goals does the app project have? • How are they planning to generate revenue from the app? • Who is going to be the app's target user audience? • What common expectations do users give from the said app? • What tasks can users carry out through the app? • What is the fundamental value proposition that makes it stand apart? • What is the key featuring the app offers?
This immersion stage is crucial for your understanding of how to design an app simply because it reveals the app's value position in the scheme of things the business deals with. The app UI/UX design process only needs to follow the guiding points you get from this understanding of the business and scope of the app project.
Carrying Out Audience Research
Following the immersion stage, we have the research stage. The research mainly focuses on understanding the target audience and market competition. At the end of this stage, the app developers and designers will have a solid basis to make data-driven design decisions.
Whether in the Android app or iPhone app designing process, the team at this stage is responsible for understanding the project requirements, analyzing the user behavior, and carrying out a competitive analysis. Understanding user roles, expectations, desired features, and creating mind-maps are essential to understanding users.
Creating User Persona
Creating a user persona is one of the most important aspects of modern mobile app design. A user persona is made based on the data gathered through user research. Among the most acclaimed principles of mobile app design, creating a user persona is crucial because all the research inputs are filtered and crystallized through a user persona.
When creating a user persona, make sure you create a separate persona for each different user role that echoes the needs, goals, and pain points of each type of user. Surveying a lot of users to understand the different attributes will help you create some distinct personas.
Create the User-Journey Map
One of the most common tips about how to design an app offered by most experienced designers is to create user-journey maps. A user journey map helps you clearly understand how people are likely to use an app, whether first or repeated use.
To create a great user journey map, it is vital to understand how the target users are going to behave while navigating through the app. You can understand this better by taking into consideration all possible usage scenarios well in advance. In this respect, it is important to take note of the issues faced by the users, the typical user experiences, and user emotions.
Competition Research
In the mobile app design process, competition research stands as an irreversible step. Analyzing the competition can help you do away with several efforts to finalize common design elements that your project needs. On the other hand, you can fall into the trap of following competitor design and can lose originality.
When explaining how to design an app, most experienced design professionals will advise you to take a middle path by balancing both ways. To design a mobile app, you need to implement the standard design norms that remain sacrosanct as best practices. At the same time, you should not lose your focus on applying a unique approach in your mobile app UI/UX design process.
Originally Published at: How to Design an App : 5 Simple Steps Process
Let us explain here the essential process of how to design an app.
Understanding the Project Scope
At the beginning of the mobile app design process, you need to be cognizant of the project scope. To develop the best possible app designs, the product strategists should ensure that the designers have a clear understanding of the business objectives and project requirements. This is why the team needs to immerse in the client's business at this stage.
Designing an app requires you to understand the business first by talking to the owners. This will help you involve the clients in the design process so that the concept in its mix of aesthetic elements and business logic becomes transparent.
One of the best practices of how to design an app is to interview the client by asking a few critical questions related to the project goals, target audience, revenue, key app features, and the value proposition. Let's have a quick look at some of these important questions.
• What business goals does the app project have? • How are they planning to generate revenue from the app? • Who is going to be the app's target user audience? • What common expectations do users give from the said app? • What tasks can users carry out through the app? • What is the fundamental value proposition that makes it stand apart? • What is the key featuring the app offers?
This immersion stage is crucial for your understanding of how to design an app simply because it reveals the app's value position in the scheme of things the business deals with. The app UI/UX design process only needs to follow the guiding points you get from this understanding of the business and scope of the app project.
Carrying Out Audience Research
Following the immersion stage, we have the research stage. The research mainly focuses on understanding the target audience and market competition. At the end of this stage, the app developers and designers will have a solid basis to make data-driven design decisions.
Whether in the Android app or iPhone app designing process, the team at this stage is responsible for understanding the project requirements, analyzing the user behavior, and carrying out a competitive analysis. Understanding user roles, expectations, desired features, and creating mind-maps are essential to understanding users.
Creating User Persona
Creating a user persona is one of the most important aspects of modern mobile app design. A user persona is made based on the data gathered through user research. Among the most acclaimed principles of mobile app design, creating a user persona is crucial because all the research inputs are filtered and crystallized through a user persona.
When creating a user persona, make sure you create a separate persona for each different user role that echoes the needs, goals, and pain points of each type of user. Surveying a lot of users to understand the different attributes will help you create some distinct personas.
Create the User-Journey Map
One of the most common tips about how to design an app offered by most experienced designers is to create user-journey maps. A user journey map helps you clearly understand how people are likely to use an app, whether first or repeated use.
To create a great user journey map, it is vital to understand how the target users are going to behave while navigating through the app. You can understand this better by taking into consideration all possible usage scenarios well in advance. In this respect, it is important to take note of the issues faced by the users, the typical user experiences, and user emotions.
Competition Research
In the mobile app design process, competition research stands as an irreversible step. Analyzing the competition can help you do away with several efforts to finalize common design elements that your project needs. On the other hand, you can fall into the trap of following competitor design and can lose originality.
When explaining how to design an app, most experienced design professionals will advise you to take a middle path by balancing both ways. To design a mobile app, you need to implement the standard design norms that remain sacrosanct as best practices. At the same time, you should not lose your focus on applying a unique approach in your mobile app UI/UX design process.
Originally Published at: How to Design an App : 5 Simple Steps Process