Learn This About UI UX Design Before Choosing a Mobile App Development Company in London

Mobile apps have become the jewel of every business in the UK today. Therefore, every mobile app development company in London is super-loaded with work! Everyone today aspires to own a fascinating mobile for business knowing its unlimited benefits. But do you know that an app’s UI UX design determines its worth for its users?

And how much the users love your app determines your business success! So, you need to choose a careful approach when handing over your project. UI/UX is the most important part of app development and you as a future app owner need to understand it well. So, let’s learn a great lesson now and become a smarter app owner!

Let’s Explore the User Interface (UI) Elements in Detail Today! 

User Interface (UI) is ‘how an app user interacts with an app’. Certain elements of a mobile application that a user can interact with form an app’s user interface.

In simple words, tangible elements of a mobile app like its colours, icons, text, images, buttons etc. are part of the User Interface design! The ‘visual design’ part of an app is called its UI.

For better understanding, let’s study these elements in a more technical yet precise manner. 

#1 Define the Layout

The layout of a mobile app plays a very important role in its visual appeal. Layout is the design in which everything fits on an app. A comprehensive and visually appealing layout enhances an app’s value for its users. 

Overall, how the app’s menu, icons, logos, text, images and all other elements are ‘arranged’ on the screen is what we call the app’s layout. 

How The Layout Must Look Like?

            ✔️ Neat 

✔️ Clean 

✔️ Comprehensive 

✔️ With Ample Whitespace

What The Layout Must Not Look Like?

            ❌ Congested (too many elements on one page)

❌ Space-Tight

❌ Distracting

#2 Be Mindful of the Colour Scheme

Probably, even before the layout, app users see the colour scheme of an app. If the colours of a mobile application are not eye-soothing or misfit for the target audience, the popularity of an app decreases.

Say, for example, if you choose too vibrant colours for a target group of senior citizens, it might strain their eyes and result in uninstallation. On the contrary, if colours are too ‘soft’, the teens might start repelling from the app. So, the choice of colours must be really careful. 

How The Colour Scheme Must Look Like?

            ✔️ Professional Yet

✔️ Trendy & Fashionable

✔️ Fit for the Target Audience

What The Colour Scheme Must Not Look Like?

            ❌ Too Vibrant 

❌ Extremely Dull

#3 Be Careful in Typography 

Next comes the ‘textual content’ on the app. No app can be fully dependent upon the icons and images and it requires some textual content too. However, the text must also look nice in layout. Maintaining accurate font size for each screen size becomes a necessity.

Additionally, maintaining the right amount of text that also impacts the app users in a positive way is one of the responsibilities of the app development team. Consult the best content writer while dealing with App’s textual part. Leave a lasting impression on the app users. 

How The Text Must Look Like?

            ✔️ More Meaning in Less Text

✔️ Accurate Font Size (neither too small nor too large)

✔️ The Best Font Style (readable yet aesthetic)

What The Text Must Not Look Like?

            ❌ Too Tight or Too Lose

❌ Overly Fancy Fonts

#4 Adopt Aestheticism in Iconography

Icons on an app like the CTA buttons, notification icons, and action buttons (like close, back, home, menu, download, cancel etc.) are part of the Iconography.

If UI is a cake, icons are the cherry on the top. And remember that Iconography is not cakes and ale! You have to choose an app development team which is aesthetic enough to add icons such that they elevate the UI design. 

How The Icons Must Look Like?

            ✔️ Stylish

✔️ Perfectly fit in the layout

✔️ Clickable (Most Important)

What The Icons Must Not Look Like?

            ❌ Too Small (That makes them unclickable)

❌ Overtly fancy (to avoid distractions)

#5 Planning Smart Navigation 

How the App User moves around the application through the menu and visits various app pages is called the ‘navigation’. However, you may see it as part of the User Experience, but both are intertwined. Making the Navigation smooth and ‘coherent’ is a necessity for the development team.

If navigating through an app is confusing, it will add to users’ frustration and soon the user will uninstall the app from his/her phone. So, using clear action buttons at the right place and time will do the job.  

How The Navigation Must Look Like?

            ✔️ Crystal Clear

✔️ Straightforward Action Buttons

✔️ Step-by-Step and Systematic

What The Navigation Must Not Look Like?

            ❌ Misleading (Avoid Fancy Vocabulary)

❌ Random

#6 Taking Animations & Transitions Seriously 

Navigating through the app must not feel boring! Therefore, using quirky animations and subtle transition effects can break the monotony. 

However, make sure that the chosen mobile app development team does not overdo it! Otherwise, it will make the app ‘feel’ childish. 

How The Animations & Transitions Must Look Like?

            ✔️ Smooth

✔️ Fast

✔️ Clear 

✔️ Relevant

What The Animations & Transitions Must Not Look Like?

            ❌ Glitchy & Slow

❌ Childish

❌ Too Many

#7 Also Paying Attention to Images 

Images are also the ‘visual’ part of a mobile application. Therefore, images also form part of the UI design. Make sure that the images load fast and have a High Definition (HD) picture quality. This attracts the app users more and also makes the user journey pleasing. 

Say, for example, if you are an E-commerce app owner, then images will have a special role to play. So, ensure that product images and demonstrations are HD and highly ‘focused’. Avoid unnecessary and distracting images. 

The images must blend with the UI design seamlessly. The colours must match well together otherwise, it will spoil the user experience. 

How The Images Must Look Like?

            ✔️ Pixel Perfect

✔️ Colour Scheme Matching the UI Design

✔️ Relevant to the Content 

What The Images Must Not Look Like?

            ❌ Unnecessary

❌ Odly Placed

So What Responsibilities to See in the UI Design Team? 

When choosing a Mobile app development company, make sure that the UI design team’s previous work is such that it fits the criteria we just discussed above. 

When you connect with the team to discuss your custom mobile app development requirements, always ask for an app wireframe or preferably a prototype (see #3 under User Experience below). 

It will help you figure out whether their design skills are up to the mark. And remember, you do not need to be a UI expert to be the judge. Just use their previously built apps and see if you are enjoying them! You have done your job!

What Elements Come Under the User Experience Category? 

Now coming to the User Experience (UX), which is “how a user ‘feels’ when using an app”. UX designing is more about the ‘research’ part that lays the foundation for UI design. Basically, deciding on the ‘User Flow’ is what UX design is. Thus, UI and UX are closely interlinked. 

#1 Understanding the User Behaviour 

As said above, UX designing is more about the ‘research’. To decide how the user must ‘feel’ after using an app, it will take a robust understanding of the user's behaviour. 

What makes a user like a mobile app and what makes the user dislike it? The UX team must have enough understanding of the target audience’s psychology, likes, dislikes, and expectations. 

Sometimes, the UX design team might also have to interview the target audience, put a sample app on beta testing, and even utilise data mining techniques to arrive at the right conclusions. 

#2 Planning User Journey

Based on the understanding of and research on the user behaviour, the UX team has to plan the user journey. It will define the UI elements like navigation, content, action buttons and relevant images. 

#3 Utilising Prototyping 

The UX designers are also responsible for preparing an App’s wireframe or preferable prototype. A wireframe is like a photograph of the concerned mobile app that you as an owner are looking forward to getting. 

The prototype is like a working ‘model’, a little harder to build than a wireframe. 

However, whether prototype or wireframe, both will let the app owner know how the final product will look and feel like. 

So, choose a team of app developers that build apps with decent UX research and robust app prototyping and wireframing. 

#4 Ensuring Responsive Designs 

The User Experience part of the mobile app development is also for ensuring the mobile responsive design. A mobile application is for various types of devices. It may be for Android OS and iOS. While iOS devices are less varied, Android devices are super vast in screen sizes and displays.

As a result, maintaining top-notch user experience and pixel-perfect UI for every device is also an important matter. 

#5 Speeding Up the User Journey 

Ensuring fast performance with high-speed transitions, animations, and actions also forms a part of the User Experience. The UX designers have to make sure that the user experiences a glitch-free app performance at a good speed.

The app content loads fast and the action buttons work faster. Did you know if an app does not load fully within 1-2 seconds, a user may dislike or even uninstall it? So, be very careful. And choose a reliable team of UX researchers and interactive designers for your mobile app. 

#6 Making the Design Universally Accessible 

The team of UX designers in the mobile app development process also remains responsible for making the app universally accessible. Target Audience of any mobile app is always diverse.

Especially, when it comes to the United Kingdom, here population is highly diverse culturally, linguistically, physically, and even age-wise. 

Keeping everyone’s needs in mind is what makes an app unlock the universal reach of a business. Therefore ensuring a universal app design must be a necessity for every app developer. 

How to Make an App Universally Accessible?

 When communicating your project requirements to the app development team, let them know your target audience well. Accordingly, ask them to ensure multilingual support on your mobile app. 

Your Target Group (TG) must not overlook the Persons with Disability (PwD) category.  So, the people who cannot type must have the ‘search by voice’ command feature in the search bar. 

For people with weak vision, adaptable font size of the textual content is a good feature. It will help them use the app hassle-free. 

 Furthermore, the team can plan for more smarter and user-friendly app features with Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning technologies.

# Dark & Light Mode Toggles for Better ‘Experience’

Also, today every mobile app user avoids too much strain on the eyes. Therefore, they prefer Dark Mode. The dark screen mode puts comparatively less strain on the eyes, especially during the nighttime. 

So, either let the UX team add a smart real-time Dark and Light Mode adaptation feature or just ask them to add a toggle for the same. Especially, in the case of international TG, Dark Mode adaptation has to be really accurate as per country-specific time zones.

A dark mode option lets your mobile application have users during the night time as well. So, in addition to a Universal business reach, you also get an opportunity to 24X7 hours of reach. 

How Does UI UX Design Impact A Mobile App’s Success? 

From the above discussion, it must be clear to you that UI and UX are two different parts of the mobile app development process. 

However, both are inextricably linked together. Both UI and UX have a direct impact on your app’s success. 

This is because UI/UX is something that decides whether the app user (which is your potential or existing business clients or customers) will take services from you or not.

So, understanding the impact of UI/UX on an app’s success is as simple as below: 

#1 Targeting the Target Audience Right! 

The UI/UX design helps you target the right kind of audience. By choosing a suitable colour scheme, and content (textual and images), languages, menu styles, animations etc, you can attract the crowd you want on your app. 

#2 Poor UI Leads to Faster Uninstallation 

If the User Interface is not good for your Target Audience, people will uninstall your app much faster and will never return back. 

Say, for example, if the navigation is misleading. Like a user not finding the ‘add to cart’ option on an e-commerce app easily. 

Or, suppose a medical fitness app with too fast and vibrant colours! During illness, people can’t tolerate too much eye strain due to body weakness. Rest, you are intellectual enough to understand what we mean!

#3 Slow Speed Makes The User Never Return

Likewise, if a mobile app is slow in its load time, the chances of its uninstallation become really high. Did you know that if an app does not load fully within 2 seconds, the user is likelier to uninstall it within 30 seconds of use? 

So, make sure that your chosen app development team masters the art and science of crafting speedy apps. 

#4 Easier to Conquer the App Store & Play Store 

If the UI of your mobile application is really good and the UX is highly user-friendly and glitch-free, it becomes easier to launch the app on Google Play Store and App Store especially.

Both Alphabet (Google) and Apple love fast-performing, ton-notch quality mobile apps in their stores.

Therefore, if yours is a good quality app, certainly, you will certainly see yourself on the App Store and Play Store much faster. This way, it will become easier to reach a vast audience.

#5 Great UI/UX Brings Free of Cost Marketing 

Additionally, once you get on the App Store and Play Store and if your app’s performance is top-notch, believe us!

You will get free of cost content marketing for your app. Invite reviews from the app users and be confident about your app’s user experience.

When the user experience is really good, you will get amazing ratings and reviews. This will further optimise your position on the Stores and this, in turn, will invite more downloads. 

#6 Better UI UX Cuts Competition 

Moreover, when you have a really amazing business app which is unique and offers a better user experience than your competitors, you automatically cut competition for yourself.

If your mobile application has the talent of keeping your audience hooked, then certainly, your sales and revenue are going to rise every day. Competitors will not be able to bring you down this way.  

Types of UI UX Designs Perfect for Londoners

Phew! Hope we have explained well the role of UI UX in mobile app development and its successful execution. To add a little more, let us give you to 3 best UI/UX design examples suitable for the British population.

Britishers are high on fashion and love royal and classy things. So, based on their traits, here are a few suggestions for you:

#1 Neumorphic Design (Favourite of Apple Too)

When the app developers try to ‘mimic’ real-world objects, it becomes a Skeuomorphic design.

However, when an app’s design only gives a subtle illusion of real-world objects but differs aesthetically, it becomes a Neumorphic design.

Say, for example Apple’s Calculator and Compass apps. For the British audience, Neumorphic designs are really aesthetic. 

So, certainly, if your TG is the Britishers, Neumorphic design will do a good job for you.

#2 Glassmorphic Design 

Next comes, glassmorphic design. Glassmorphic design gives a highly aesthetic and classy look and feel.

As the name suggests, in this design, the application will get a frost glass effect that gives an artistic feel.

For the British audience Glassmorphic design can also be a great choice to satiate their taste buds.

#3 Brutalism Design

Inspired by Brutalist Architectural designs, brutalism in UI/UX Design focuses on raw designs with bold colours and sharp fonts. Website of UI/UX design Figma is an amazing example of Brutalism design!

Brutalism UI/UX does not emphasise aestheticism but rather focuses on professional and more magazine-like minimalistic designs with a well-defined layout.

It is suitable for Londoners owing to its smart and elegant looks with great visibility. Especially, for Gen Z and Millenials, Brutalism can capture instant attention. 

Choosing the Right Mobile App Development Company in London? 

Now when it comes to choosing the right mobile app development company in London or other parts of the United Kingdom, make sure that you choose a knowledgeable team that can execute your project with due perfection.

Additionally, it will be better for you to choose a custom mobile app development agency. The underlying reason is that a custom development team focuses on bespoke designs. So, they have vast experience in creating various types of UI/UX.

As a result, you cannot only get on-demand solutions but also contribute towards a cleaner and better UI/UX design. 

This way, always choose a development team that listens to you and has enough experience. You can check their previous and ongoing work for more clarity.

Furthermore, asking for an app prototype or at least the Figma design will also make things much better for you. 

Final Thoughts 

User Interface Design and User Experience Planning are the most crucial stages of mobile app development. Your business success depends upon the mobile app you are about to launch. Your mobile app’s success in turn depends upon its UI design and User Experience. So, you need to be really careful when getting a business app developed. Make sure that the UI UX matches the taste of the target audience really well and that the performance is absolutely smooth and glitch-free. If users find your app easy to use and navigate through, certainly app’s success would be no big deal. And the app’s success will be your success!

FAQs

1. Does UI UX Designer Need Coding? 

UI UX ‘Designers do not need coding skills. Rather, a UI designer must have graphic designing skills and practice with tools like Adobe XD, Sketch, and Figma. The User Experience Designer must have research skills, interviewing skills, and psychological and behavioural understanding. 

However, remember that a ‘front-end developer’ is responsible for the design execution and the front-end developer must have coding skills. All 3 are different domains. 

2. How Much Does It Cost To Develop A Mobile App?

Depending upon an app’s complexity, features, functions, UI UX design, and targeted Operating System (Android or iOS or both), the cost may vary anywhere between £500 and £100,000. Alternatively, it may go beyond this bracket as well. However, it is advisable to consult multiple mobile app development agencies to get a clearer picture of the cost breakdown as per your project requirements. 

3. How To Choose A Mobile App Development Company? 

Choosing the right mobile app development company can be a little bothering but not really difficult. You must choose a company for app development that has an experienced team of developers (at least 3 years of experience) and high on professionalism. For authenticity, connect with their team and check their technical knowledge. For further assurance find out their client reviews and testimonials online. 

4. How To Use Figma For Mobile App Design?

Figma is a popular UI UX designing tool that helps designers create mobile app and website prototypes. A UI/UX designer may use the Figma platform to create digital layouts and test with different screens online. You too can use Figma on your own. Just Sign Up for free with your Google account and answer a few simple questions. Then start with the design. However, you will need to have basic design skills. Otherwise, choosing a professional team of UI UX designers is always the best option.