As is often the case with something new and exciting, when apps first became a thing, developers were keen to cram every single thing they could into them. Cramming your app design with features and design is not necessarily a good thing though – in fact, research shows that minimalism and simplicity have become integral to most successful apps.
The initial failure of many overly feature-heavy apps is often due to a simple lack of consideration to the user experience, or UX. More detailed designs and fancier features mean longer loading times, more attention needed to differentiate and find what you're after, and more time necessary to move through the app. Since most apps are meant to be adding convenience to their user, all these should be considered cardinal sins of app design, and avoided at all costs. Simply put, UX is everything, and users want simplicity.
Having said that, app designers still get to flex their creative muscles and create opulent animations and elaborate features. To help you determine when it's best to shoot for simplicity, and when you can go all out with your designs, we've put together a few points on minimalism, simplicity and animation, and when each may be an appropriate design goal for your apps.
Minimalism
As a rule of thumb, work/productivity/marketplace apps UI tend to be more minimalistic compared to many gaming apps. This could be explained by the amount of time we're willing to spend in the app – a game is fun, so we're happy to linger, and might forgive slightly longer loading times. But if our to-do list repeatedly takes forever to load, it's voted off the phone in no time.
Most productivity apps are list oriented, because we need them to have simple, instinctive navigation. Game apps have a little more freedom here too. You obviously should still aim for menus that are easy to navigate, but theoretically only the phones' specs and memory are the limit to your possibilities for gaming UI design.
Since productivity apps are a bit dry and restricted by the common list layout, their app designers have embraced the minimalist trend and are wholly committed to creating a better user-friendly experience. The limitations can be a fun challenge too – with minimalist design, the challenge is to only use color, fonts, and simple shapes to create a beautiful end product.
Our two examples above illustrate both sides: Nice Weather 2 has a blurred gradient background (an app design trend of 2015) and minimal vectors and text which stands out to the audience making it crisp, clean and straight to the point. By contrast, award-winning adventure gaming app BADLAND features some rich and incredibly detailed design elements, which keep users firmly on the hook.
A few points on simplicity
Because of the high demand for convenience, simplicity should be your highest goal to create a user-friendly experience, regardless of the app category you find yourself operating in. In a nutshell, that means avoiding apps with a huge amount of buttons or functions, apps that have a complicated sign-up process, or excessive scrolling to get to a destination.
Let your design be guided by your UX – if you want an immediate action from a user, make that button bigger, whereas less important features should fade into the background and take up minimal space.
Keep in mind that simplicity does not equate minimalism. Simplicity refers to the functionality of an app, whereas minimalism is concerned with the design. Many gaming apps, like Candy Crush Saga for example, can have an opulent design while still facilitating a very simplistic UX. In gaming, where you get away with more, it is particularly important to consider your target audience when honing in on how simplistic you want your UX to be – the younger the intended user, the easier it should be to navigate.
Curator is a great example of a simple app. It collects and organizes ideas onto a mood board. The simplicity of applying photos, texts by dragging large rectangle buttons makes this app provide a user friendly experience as well as interactivity.
Animation
Most game apps are heavily animated and apps that focused on work and productivity are often static. This again relates to how much time a user is willing to spend on the app – animations can make for a much more engaging and memorable experience and lead to users spending more time in the app, which is particularly desirable for gaming and lifestyle apps.
Don't just think of animation as a visual design feature – it can be useful as a UX tool as well, as a way to draw attention to specific content or functions for example, or to visually differentiate new and important information. If you want to add animation, there are online animation maker tools you can use.
Have a read of Google's material design – it's a great starting point towards understanding the need for animation in all apps.
A great example for an app utilizing animation is Snapchat. Ignoring the content, if you look at the menu, the icons change when there is an action to be fulfilled, making it simultaneously visually interesting and simple to use, while encouraging user engagement.
Golden Rule: Keep adapting your design
As an app designer, you must understand that the concept of creating something final does not necessarily exist. Keep up to date with new app design trends and technological advancements, but be sure to only follow those that will help your app's UX. This way you will make sure your app has a maximum chance of success. Happy designing!
Want More?
Here are more resources you might find helpful:
12 Tools for the Modern Web Designer and Entrepreneur
Mobile App Logo Design Generator
Design Principles: 6 Design Fundamentals to Guide Your Work
5 App Design Tips to Get You Ready for the Apple Watch
Written by Divya Abe on Friday, August 14, 2015
Divya Abe is an expert graphic designer ready to share her knowledge with the crowd. Besides spending quality time on the internet she enjoys anything to do with cats. Get in touch via Google+.
