We’ve talked about how to develop an Android app several times here on The Android Mania. Thanks to the best development platforms and APIs available today, developing your own Android app is far from difficult. In fact, you can develop your own app as long as you know HTML5 and have the right framework, to begin with.
To make a successful Android app, however, takes more than just good coding skills. There are a few common elements found in most – if not all – successful Android apps. We are going to review those elements in this article.
A Consistent UI and Good UX
UI and UX are two elements of an Android app that cannot be separated. In order to present a good user experience, you need a clean, fluid and smooth user interface. The UI needs to be consistent as well; users must be able to know where the menus are and how to navigate through the app’s features without having to read a Help page or go through a complicated tutorial.
There are a lot of tools that will help you provide a smooth and enjoyable user experience. Google’s own Material Design Guidelines is always a good place to start. You can make your app very seamless and let users feel at home with the design language.
Good Feedback and User Interaction
Today, successful apps offer so much more than the right set of functionalities. The way users interact with the app matters too. For instance, the small, detailed animations you see on apps like Twitter or Instagram are more than just animations. They, combined with other UI elements, create a tactile feeling; a sense that the app is really responding to user’s inputs.
Good feedback is always an important element to have. Successful apps all have a great tactile feeling to them. Even the simplest games – such as the once-popular Flappy Bird and the now-trending Pokémon Go – are instant hits because of the tactile feeling they produce as part of the UX.
There are many ways to produce the tactile feedback too. The best mobile app development platforms allow you to access the haptic feedback engine as well as a wide array of animations and sounds for a more immersive experience.
Simplicity and Ease of Use
Last but not least, the app needs to, well, work. Don’t make your users jump through hoops just to access a particular function. Don’t put layers of tutorials and gimmicks on top of the actual features of the app. Instead, let users get to the point and use the features they need – the reasons why they install the app in the first place – in a single tap.
It is part of creating a great user experience. Ease of use and other elements we talked about in this article all create an immersive and highly enjoyable user experience. That same combination will also help users relate to the app and the functions it offers, increasing the chances of success even more. The next time you’re designing a mobile app, add these elements to boost its chances of success.
