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Mobile App Design: Scheming  for a Web App vs Native App

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One of the dominant agreement enterprises faces fresh and initial in mobile app Design. whether to build a native app, web app or a hybrid of the two. This decision not only influences and dominates the overall design of a mobile product but will also precept how users collaborate with a  definitive and clear-cut product. For more advice and the reputation on the difference between the three approaches, you can read our comprehensive and extensive guide here.  This article will outline and draft how web apps and native apps each uniquely serve a distinctive purpose. Where web is primarily used to penetrate information, native apps are typically used to achieve a task (i.e. buying a product vs searching a restaurant’s location.)  Ultimately, taking a design reasoning approach to expansion, enterprises will be able to better understand their user and choose an app type that provides a solution to their pain points. It is important to appropriately pick an advancement and evolution approach as the way each app type is designed is different and calls for varying aspects.  Deficiency to properly design a native or web app can be detrimental to overall success and accomplishment.  Below we delved into the in-between web apps and native apps and what applications should be taken when designing a mobile product to reach its fullest potentiality.

What is a Web App

As mentioned above, websites provide users with a means to access information. While web apps can’t display as much advice as a desktop version of a website, web apps condense the website contentment to improve functionality. A web app loads in browsers like Chrome, Safari, or Firefox, and doesn’t need to be downloaded from app stores like native mobile apps.

Web App Design Applications

Web app design is concentrated on information and intelligence architecture. Properly designing a web app will assure users can easily navigate your app, finding the intelligence they want or need quickly and efficiently.

Navigation

It is imperative to design a navigation system that is intuitive to use, allowing users to easily locate the content they want. Furthermore, incorporating a proper navigation hierarchy will guide users through your site, allowing them to complete site goals, be it conversion, education or awareness. Create a strong hierarchy by first eliminating unnecessary clicks.

Speed

It’s reported that 47% of consumers expect a web page to load in two seconds or less. Users are easily frustrated with performance and usability issues like load times, small images, and network availability. An easy way to combat a slow or laggy web app is to keep things lean. Display and incorporate only necessary information and features in your web app. As mentioned earlier, web apps condense web content to improve functionality.

Adaptive vs Responsive

With roughly over 13 billion mobile devices worldwide, businesses designing web apps need to keep in mind that no one device is alike, and therefore need to account for how their web app will display on varying screen sizes.

Responsive

A responsive design responds to changes in browser width by re-adjusting the design elements to fit the available space.

Adaptive

Adaptive design has multiple fixed layout sizes. When the site finds out applicable the available space, it selects the layout most appropriate for the screen. For example, if the app is opened on a mobile device the site chooses the best layout for that screen.

Native App

Native mobile apps are the most unique and  common type of app. They are built for specific platforms (i.e. Apple or Android) and are written in languages that the platform accepts. For example, Swift and Most companies will invest in native mobile app development Native App Design Considerations. Native app design is attracted around what is known as communication design. For this to be successful it is imperative to have a thorough realization of your users, their pain points, and what solution this app will provide. After pinpointing the task a user wants to accomplish, you can easily design the right user flow and user journey to guide the user through the app.

Use Intimate Gestures

Implementing gestures into your app design is a good method for creating shortcuts for navigation and key functions. However, introducing new user gestures in the UI that aren’t familiar can result in a learning curve. Also, invest in researching user motion patterns on their devices. Users hold their devices in different ways, understanding what motions they make and discovering the most accessible locations on the screen ensure for a comfortable experience. Placing an important function in an area that is hard to reach for example may be detrimental to the overall functionality of the app.

Conduct Content and Interface Elements to the Least Possible

Carefully and thoughtfully select the functions and features your app requires. Filling your interface, with unnecessary buttons, images and icons can burden users with too much information. As there isn’t as much real estate on mobile devices as there is on desktops, it’s essential to get rid of anything that isn’t key to the functionality of the app

Minimize User Input

For many users, entering any information into an app (be it registration, or filling out a form) is a tedious process. The simple fix is to minimize user input. Eliminate the need for unnecessary registration forms and other elements that require user input. If this is necessary to your app, however, there are some best practices that can be implemented to make the process smoother. Try to keep forms as short as possible by removing any unnecessary fields. The app should ask for only essential information from the user. As a final step to avoid added frustration, implement autocomplete features and dynamically validated fields, as these will ensure information is correct before being submitted.

Final Thoughts

While there are commonalities, there is also a distinct difference in how mobile apps and web apps should be designed. It is important to first and foremost have a deep understanding of your target users and their pain points. Identifying their needs will guide you towards the approach that fits your needs. Keep in mind that native apps and web apps serve different purposes which dictate design elements and functionalities. Above all, it is important to remember that Software Development Company in Chennai is an iterative process. Implementing the design considerations above into your app should be a starting point to continued testing. Use the provided data and user feedback to continually improve your design and overall experience.

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