Bad Ideas In Mobile App Design
There are millions of apps on the market with some good, some great and plenty of bad ones out there. Of course nobody really sets out to make a bad one, do they? Often it is just a misstep or two that takes place during the process that results in the app being labeled a failure. As an experienced mobile app design company that has been there and done that, we wanted to share some of the bad ideas in mobile app design we have seen to help make sure you don’t accidently end up on that path with your next app project.
Bad Ideas that create Bad Apps
- Building an App for You – This actually happens a lot where someone decides to create the perfect app that they have always wanted. It does exactly what they want, looks exactly how they want it to look and interfaces in a way that resonates with them. The only problem is that you have custom designed an app for an audience of one; you. Apps should always be created to solve a problem for a target audience if your goal is success. Just because you love purple and black does not mean those are the best or only color choices for your app. Just because you think bottom drag menus are cool does not mean they work for other people as a navigation tool because they typically don’t. Make sure you find out what works best for your audience and then craft something that they want.
- Charging for an App – When Apps first came along there was a lot of discussion about the best way to monetize them. Some people liked to charge an upfront fee, others like ads, some preferred in-app purchases while others like the idea of a free and premium price break. Today about half of all app revenue is from in-app purchases and trends are moving towards that and away from charging for an app, so look for another way to make money off of it unless it is truly groundbreaking and original.
- Too Complex – Apps are best when they are simple. Games that can be played quickly and easily or an app that does one thing really well are both examples of common successful apps. What are not successful are apps bloated with features and options, games that are in-depth and complex and any app that combines any of those qualities. Once things get too complex they become difficult which can easily lead to frustration or annoyance. People simply don’t want that in their apps; they want simple.
- Mobile Apps of a Web App – Why? If you have a web app then you have already built something useful that gives customers value. Why would you want to create a stripped down, lesser version of your web app? Not only is it expensive, but unless the mobile app has a very specific function people constantly use that can be done faster and more efficiently than via the web app, people won’t waste time with the mobile app when the web app works better. Remember, mobile apps are best when they do one thing really well versus a web app can do a lot of things really well.
The bottom line is that there are quite a few bad ideas in mobile app design. The ones we just listed are four of the worst offenders that will quickly regulate your app to the discard pile if you use them, so do yourself and your app a favor and make sure you avoid them.
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