The Time Has Come… to Design the UI

“Within an umbrella category like ‘mobile UX design’ there are differences between designing an app and designing a mobile website. When users download an app, they don’t just want the mobile version of the website. They want a unique experience that justifies the time they spent downloading the app (as well as the space it takes up on their phone)” (Chapman). When designing the UI, it’s extremely important to prioritize the user. It’s all about how they react to the app and if they would like to continue to use it. If the user’s needs aren’t met, then they will simply move on to other apps. In order to draw their attention, it’s important to make sure that the app is easy to navigate. Anyone should be able to open your application and be able to go through every page without complications. Along with this, the information should be minimal but descriptive and applied design should be cohesive throughout the app. Each screen should have a specific purpose and provide a fluid experience for the user.

My app redesign is a moon phase calendar, but the original navigation was confusing and the pages didn’t properly relate to each other. I wasn’t sure where I was going at times, which is definitely a red flag for an app. “When a person visits a website or app on a mobile device, they want to complete the task at hand as quickly as possible. It’s up to the designer to make completing necessary tasks as easy as possible. Eliminating everything that isn’t absolutely vital to each task is a great place to start. Making necessary tasks simpler on a mobile interface is also key” (Chapman). After figuring out the color palette, typography and overall design layout, I began to check how each page was going to transition and make sure there wasn’t any difficulty when navigating. While the original app’s galaxy background was an appealing image, it wasn’t the right choice for a functional app because of the distracting pattern. My decision to use a darker shade of purple as the background was purely to ensure that the user will be comfortable when looking at the text and graphics for each page.

There are so many functions that could be added in an app, but it’s vital to realize that there’s always a time and place for everything. For example, if an app’s navigation bar looks cluttered, it will begin to confuse the user and disinterest them. “By cluttering your interface, you overload users with too much information: every added button, image, icon makes the screen more complicated. Clutter is terrible on a desktop, but it’s even worse on mobile devices where we don’t have too much free screen space to play with” (Babich). Each screen should be visually pleasing and have an organized layout for easy navigation. While taking all of this into consideration, it’s still essential to be creative and use your own skills to make this app personalized yet professional.