Every new technology takes some time to become mainstream and IoT (Internet of Things) is no exception. The main reason why many people prefer not to use new technologies is that they are not familiar with them, which makes them seem intimidating, unapproachable and scary. However, UX and UI design are very important parts of the whole process of building great products, as they make these products more user-friendly and thus easier to use. That’s why I decided to list the 6 most important secrets of UX/UI design specifically tailored to IoT mobile apps in this article.
1) User research
You can have all sorts of great ideas, but until you really understand your users, everything’s just an educated guess. So make sure to talk to people and watch them use your product. You’ll probably be surprised by what you learn! For example, I was working on a consumer app that would help people find new restaurants nearby. I thought it would be fun to show our users a map with pins showing nearby restaurants—and then let them click on those pins to see more information about each restaurant. But when we actually talked to our potential customers, they told us they didn’t want any extra clicks or taps; they wanted us to show them a list of restaurants with no extra steps required. It turned out that they were already familiar with some of their favorite spots and could tap one to go straight there. We learned something important from talking to our users: People don’t always know what they want, so don’t assume you know either.
2) Prototyping
It may be very helpful to create a prototype or mockup of your idea before you actually design your mobile app. That way, you can take a step back and consider how users will interact with your new product. It’s easier to change things on paper or with technology like wireframes than it is in real life, so why not use that advantage?
3) Testing
A lot can go wrong when designing a mobile app. In order to avoid frustrating and confused users, it’s important to test early, test often. Don’t just ask your friends to try out your mobile app before launch; enlist real strangers who are willing to provide honest feedback. Use prototypes or wireframes if you don’t have an actual design yet; even an image of how you imagine your final product will help you uncover and fix problems that otherwise would remain unseen until it was too late. Mobile app design companies in Bangalore uses latest technology to create apps with innovative features that make people use them more frequently than other apps. Moreover, they build apps which are user-friendly as well as easy to understand by everyone.
4) Usability testing
Similar to prototyping, usability testing (sometimes called user experience testing) allows you to test your app with a variety of people, both users and non-users. This process helps you learn how easy it is for someone to use your app, how intuitive it is, and what problems they run into along the way. You can do some level of usability testing yourself or hire a third party firm to do it for you; either way, it’s an important step in making sure that when your product hits market, it’s as close to perfect as possible.
5) Mapping user journeys
User journeys are a visual representation of how a user interacts with your website. The journey map provides insight into which steps might be tedious, where users get stuck and where there may be opportunities to simplify or clarify certain interactions.
6) Reusability
A well-designed user experience or user interface, or UI, is highly reusable. Don’t expect every IoT app to include a ton of different functionality. Rather, design your apps with reuse in mind and focus on designing specific solutions to problems. This way, you can quickly roll out new versions and updates without much effort on your part. If you’re looking for a UI/UX design studio in Bangalore to help create an eye-catching user experience, we would love to hear from you! Contact Pepper Square today and let us know how we can help.
Also Read: How to Build an Android App?
