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MAKE YOURMOBILE APPA GREAT FIRST TIME EXPERIENCE

MAKE YOUR MOBILE APP GREAT

If you want to improve user experience, mobile app localization is an important factor. To make mobile app localization easier, preparing for app localization during app development is a good idea. There are a few other important things to keep in mind when working on user experience. Here are 5 tips on how to improve your app’s user interface when developing an app.

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How to make your mobile app a great first time experience

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FUNCTIONALITY

Does the app work? 

 Is it too slow?

Do the links work? Clicking at the same button five times without response will probably result with your app ending up in the trash bin.

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CONSISTENCY

Consistent performance is simply an app that doesn’t crash. Apps that don’t perform as expected are usually uninstalled apps, and uninstalls aren’t good for your ASO.  

A consistent app is also an app that consumes as little space and power as possible from the user’s device.

If your users need to charge their battery twice as often as before and find out it’s your app causing this frequent low battery indication - then it’s likely your app will need to go.

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CONNECTIVITY

Your app should easily connect with social media.

Social connectivity will make it easier for your brand awareness to spread.

In some markets, like the Korean market, you need to have a social component in your app to succeed.

REWARD YOURUSERS

The principle of variable rewards: Don’t reward every time. Think of slot machines. They don’t reward all the time. Instead they trigger the user to try again. And again. And again and again.

We usually check our smartphones 110 to 150 times a day. What triggers us to enter our pin code more than hundred times a day? Our wish to be rewarded.

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3 THINGS TOPUSH A BEHAVIOUR

The user has to be highly motivated

The user must have the ability to do it

The user must be triggered to do it

BJ Fogg (Persuasive Tech Lab)

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1. DO NOT REINVENTStick to the formula and eliminate confusion

Skip a cluttered interface: Few colors, one font. This helps users making decisions because they then know what to do and where to click.

KEEP IT SIMPLE01

Focus on a really simple interface instead. Even mobile games can be simple. Check Candy Crush for instance; manageable with one hand while doing something else.

SKIP COMPLEX MENUS02

App users can roughly be divided into these two groups. Your app needs to continue where they just left off the last time ”just checking”: LinkedIn, map, timetables, Candy Crush etc.

BORED OR STRESSED03

Users bring their own experience and expectations from other apps, so make sure to follow these standard rules. Being familiar means that users know what to do, what to expect and how to behave when clicking, scrolling and trying an app. 

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2. RIGHT COLOR IN RIGHT PLACELess color and a minimum of text helps your users to navigate easily

Red shouts NO! so avoid red color in text and buttons.

Does the user understand what to do? Clarity, where the interface tells where to click and where to find the next step, is essential.

A large number of our population are color blind. Make sure to have colors and text in colors that’s readable for all.   Here is a link where you can upload images to a color blindness simulator. Make sure you’re not using colors to show important things.

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3. SHOW ME THE MEANINGEvery click, every link, every button must lead to something somewhere else

Don’t create a button where the view looks just the same after being clicked. That’s just confusing.

Users do make mistakes. Always make sure it’s possible to go back and make changes. With help from breadcrumbs, or steps, show the user where in the process he or she is.

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4. ICONS NOT TEXTSketch your elements on a paper to see how your user flow works

Picture having a grid. That way key elements end up at the same place and users recognize what to do.

Skip text where possible (it’s possible more often than you think) and use icons instead.

Make sure the text is readable. Don’t use a new cool font where the J looks like a U. Don’t use fancy words. Here’s not the right time to show your Scrabble skills. Keep it simple. Use simple words that everyone understands

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5. TESTED ON DIFFERENT PLATFORMSMake sure your app works on different platforms

Make sure your app works on different platforms. Test it really, really thoroughly. Don’t assume it will work on iPhone 6 if it’s totally working on iPhone 5. Borrow a Samsung (other phones are available), test with different browsers, click every button there is to click and submit every possibility to submit.

Go outside. Don't think everything’s working fine because it’s working in your office with your super speed wifi. Go to the bus station, go visit your grandma, go to the woods where you’re happy to find 3G between two oak trees.Stress your app. Connect and close down - fast. Imagine you need to board a train just as you opened your app. Test your app and use it like you would use it IRL. Because a real user won’t wait for an app to open. If nothing happens in less than 3 seconds, a standard user closes down - they don’t want to wait for the page or app to load.

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TEST IF Test every possible situation.

You can read the screen and walk at the same time. Is the font clear enough? How about the pictures - are they clear enough?You can read your screen in sunlight.

You can click the button you’re aiming for with your finger. Or are you accidently pressing two buttons and a link? The rule of the thumb - the button needs to fit the thumb.Your friends, family, parents and 10 year old cousin understand what to do. Ask them to test your app.

Your app is still working when receiving a call while using it.

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WHEN YOUR USER EXPERIENCE IS SET THEN USE A FREE TOOL LIKE LOCALIZEDIRECT TO SEE WHAT YOUR APP PAGE WILL LOOK LIKE BEFORE GOING LIVE. FIRST IMPRESSIONS LAST. GIVE YOUR ICON SOME EXTRA CARE. YOUR ICON NEEDS TO STAND OUT AMONG OTHERS AND SHOW WHAT YOUR APP DOES.

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MOBILE APP LOCALIZATION Your next step to make a great first time experience for users around the world

Mobile app localization is your next step to make a great first time experience for users around the world. Otherwise you risk launching an app that’s not available for all. Localizing your app, is not only about translating app text; to fully reach new markets then images, keywords etc need to be localized.

Contact a localization expert like LocalizeDirect today to get help with your mobile app localization.

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