Building a great user experience for your app

Expectations for a good user experience in mobile apps is higher than ever. Apple has set the bar high with their built-in apps on the iPhone and iPad, and many independent developers have followed suit to deliver the best user experience possible. The astronomical download numbers of these apps are poof positive that good UX is a main ingredient in App Store success.

Great user experiences doesn’t just happen by opening up Xcode and dragging some design builder elements over. It takes a conscious effort throughout every stage of the design and development process to get it right.

Here’s a few tips you can try that will help you achieve a great user experience in your app:

Design your app’s flow BEFORE you open Photoshop, Xcode, or your text editor of choice

Sketch out how your app will flow from point A to point B, and include all the “what-if” scenarios.  Doing this up front will allow you to realize and fix your design mistakes by copying, pasting, and deleting. Having an “oh crap” moment too late in the game could cost you a lot of time re-coding, or a lot of downloads because you settled for less. Have those “oh crap” moments early.

Don’t be afraid to iterate. Ask yourself: “Is there another way this could be done?” Sketch them all out and choose the best.

Google Drawings is a great free tool for sketching out flows, and there’s even mobile wireframe stencils available to expedite the process.

To give you an idea, here’s an example of a flow for a simple movie ticket app that I made using Illustrator and an iPhone Fireworks stencil:

Watch people use your app

Hand 8 people your app, watch them use it, and shut up. Keywords here are “watch” and “shut up”. You will be tempted to show them something, or interrupt them to point out what they’re doing wrong. When you do that, you learn nothing. By shutting up and watching, you see how your actual customers experience your app. Tell them that you wont help them up front, but have them explain what they’re thinking out loud as they go through it.

Watch them get frustrated, observe how they overcome problems. Are they getting stuck but quickly figuring it out, or do they just give up? Once you watch a few people use your app, you’ll see patterns and the solution will become clear.

Doing this exercise will humble you and prove your assumptions wrong. Once people can use your app to accomplish their goal quickly with minimal issues, you’re well on your way to a great user experience.

Keep your app simple, brah (KYASB)

Solve your customer’s problems in as few steps as possible, but that doesn’t mean cram everything on one screen. Think of your app as a set of tasks (dare i say wizard?) that leads up to the end result.

Each of those tasks should have its own screen in your app, and there should be as few tasks as absolutely necessary. Remove anything that doesn’t directly aid in completing the task at hand.

People love being led down a simple path. Guide them like they are your children, and you’ll have yourself a great user experience.