5 Easy Initiatives to Dramatically Improve Your App’s UX
Let’s face it, if you want to create a successful app in today’s ultra-competitive mobile ecosystem, you must possess a thorough understanding and finesse of User Experience (UX).
First, let’s wrap our heads around the term “UX.” The term has certainly become a notable buzzword, yet there is still a bit of a lacking consensus on a definition. According to Oxford Journal, UX or user experience design is a concept to “improve customer satisfaction and loyalty through the utility, ease of use, and pleasure provided in the interaction with a product.” Others have described the UX concept as being simply a steadfast customer-first mentality. This includes intimately understanding the customer, anticipating the customer’s needs, and delighting the customer at every engagement. Although the definitions are a bit different, there is certainly a common thread- “the customer.”
What falls under the realm of UX? Well essentially everything that affects the customers’ end interaction and position with your product. In the case of mobile apps, this is typically usability, performance, functionality, UI, and overall design. Phew! A lot of stuff right?
Don’t fret. When it comes to your app’s UX, it’s important to remember that its optimization is an ongoing process. You are not expected to produce the most optimal app UX possible on the first try. However, there are certainly some simple hacks you can utilize from the get-go to ensure that your app’s UX is on a direct path towards excellence. Below we will expand on these 5 straightforward yet valuable initiatives.
Revamp Your Sign-up Screen
Oh the lovely sign-up screen. It can be your best friend in terms of increasing retention, but it can also be your worst enemy if not done “right”. What do we mean by this? Basically, the sign-up screen is one of the key facets of your users’ first impression of your app. If this screen triggers any sort of friction between your user and your app’s UX, then it can actually spark high rates of app abandonment. Cue the dramatic music “da-da-daaaaaa!” So how do you combat this scary possibility?
First, don’t just incorporate a sign-up screen within your app because it is an “app 101 best practice.” You need to remember that on mobile, sign-up forms physically look a lot longer than they would on desktop. Be cognizant of this factor when designing your sign-up form and also keep in mind the patience level of today’s mobile user. Does your sign-up form really need to require a birthday and a profile photo? Think about it.
Correspondingly, users will often give up on a sign-up screen if the act of confirming a profile password requires too much effort. “Ughhhh another Captcha that I can’t read?” This might be how your user is feeling. In a nutshell, users want to be able to access what they need from your app with the least amount of effort possible. This is such an indisputable human characteristic, that the field of cognitive psychology has even named a theory after it entitled the “Principle of Least Effort.” Despite this reality, we understand the want of some apps for an extra layer of reassurance to confirm legitimate users. There are actually some great alternatives to Captcha that can help bolster your user experience and deter the amount of unregistered users. On the other hand, if you are using email as a way to confirm users, make sure that the navigation from app to email is absolutely frictionless. The easier a user can navigate to their email and return to their app experience, the better chances you have of the user fully signing up and staying.
Lastly, even though your sign-up screen will typically be part of your user’s overall first impression of your app, that does not mean it should be the absolute first screen they see. Why? Give your users some breathing room for gosh sakes! When your users are asked to sign up within the first second of their first experience with your app, you should not forget that they have not yet had a chance to explore or assess your product for themselves. It is essentially like asking someone to marry you before the first date! You need to demonstrate the value and function of your app before asking users to “make the big leap.” Ultimately, it’s crucial to make your sign-up screen as user-friendly and approachable as possible otherwise your users might start (or continue) dropping like flies.
De-scarify Your In-app Permissions
While permissions can be vital for the execution of your app’s functions, they also have the potential to scare people away and negatively affect your UX. The last thing you want to do is turn your users away due to in-app permissions that appear invasive and/or irrelevant. Users are already a bit apprehensive (and with good reason) about handing over access to their personal information, location, social media accounts etc. Knowing this, you need to make sure you effectively explain each permission and ask only when absolutely necessary. It is always a good practice to describe why your app needs certain information even if the reason might be seemingly obvious. We also recommend asking for specific permissions after certain user actions, such as when a user clicks a “share post” button and then is prompted with a permission for access to a social media account. Users are more likely to accept this permission because it gives them a clear-cut understanding of “in order to do A you must do B”.
Spice Up Your Microinteractions
Some of you might be wondering, “what is a microinteraction”? By Microinteractions.com definition, “microinteractions are contained product moments that revolve around a single use case.” Basically, every time you interact with an app, website, or even appliance (even in the most insignificant way) you have partaken in a microinteraction. For example, when “you change a setting, sync your data or devices, set an alarm, pick a password, log in, set a status message, or favorite or “like” something, you are engaging with a microinteraction.” From an app UX point of view, microinteractions actually have the potential to help make an app feel more human and personal. They can encourage the user to feel a connection to the brand, a connection that can ultimately improve your retention rate. Unfortunately, because microinteractions are typically so minute and commonplace within the app experience, the potential of microinteractions is frequently overlooked during the app’s design process. Yet these tiny “moments”, when executed creatively, can actually help your app overall stand out amongst the millions of apps out there. Think about today’s app user, who has higher standards than ever before and expects certain levels of personalization during their UX. Adding flavor and creativity to your microinteractions can be a powerful initiative to help reach and even exceed these expectations. To read more on microinteractions, click here.
Add Control and Transparency when Sharing
Take a look at the innate physical nature of mobile phones- extremely personal and portable. Accordingly, today’s on-the-go users put a lot of their information on their mobile devices and within their apps. Now we know that many app creators want users to share accomplishments and interactions within an app as a way to advertise their app and increase virality. Yet, sharing and privacy are obviously a bit of a contradiction. You need to establish legitimate trust and transparency with your user from the get go, especially if you want your users to be your brand evangelists.
Your app needs to explain to users exactly what they are sharing and who they are sharing it to. If users start seeing their private content on social networks they will most likely lose trust in your app, and even worse, probably uninstall your app and leave it a poor review. For example, if you have a fitness app, do not assume that your users will automatically want to share their diet and exercise progress with their Facebook or LinkedIn community. Instead, make sure to provide a variety of sharing options for your users that they can switch on and off at their own will. Yes, entirely within the users’ control. It is also a good practice to remind users about their sharing settings via an in-app message. Do not automatically set all of the sharing settings to “allow”. You will be shooting yourself in the foot. Trust us. In the end this assurance that you set with your user will establish a stronger affinity for your app and contribute to a better overall user experience.
Gather Qualitative Data
So you have worked really hard on your app’s UX design and you now want to analyze its effectiveness. To put it simply, traditional, free analytics are not going to cut it. While quantitative data is certainly important, you must gather qualitative data in order to fully understand your UX and pinpoint opportunities for optimization. We’ve got the perfect anecdote to explain this value:
Let’s say someone recently told you about an amazing trip that they took to French Alps. This act of verbally narrating their experience is like traditional, quantitative analytics. You have a surface level understanding of their experience, where they went, what they did etc. Yet what if this same person actually showed you pictures and videos of their adventure- you are now getting potent visuals of their trip and can understand their experience at a much higher level. This is what qualitative data is all about. Qualitative analytics platforms, like that of Appsee, will allow you to visualize what is actually going on inside your app and how your users are reacting to certain optimization initiatives. This capability is thanks to robust visualization features such as touch heatmaps and user session recordings. Instead of having to spend hours sifting through quantitative data to try and understand why a user left your cart screen or chose not to sign-up to your app, visual data will instantly provide you with the crucial “whys” behind all your numbers. As we mentioned early, UX optimization is an ongoing process. Thus it’s utterly crucial that you build up an arsenal of the best user experience analysis tools possible in order to remain as informed on your app as possible.
Wrap-up
Be humble regarding your app’s user experience. It is an intricate, dynamic entity that is not flawless. It always has the potential to be optimized. These initiatives can significantly help you improve your app’s overall UX, but they are not the end-all be-all in terms of a “solution”. No matter what, put the user at center stage and design with them in mind. And with that said, we’ll leave you with this final quote:
“If the user can’t use it, it doesn’t work”. — Susan Dray
This post was originally feature on Tune’s Marketing Blog.
