The Importance of Mobile App UX Design for Startups

What Is Mobile App User Experience Design?

Mobile applications have evolved with time due to technological advancements. UX/UIservices often come as a joint service delivered by one specialist. While UI design brings attractiveness and a beautiful interface, UX design is a user’s interaction with the app and the company’s other products and services. 

Another mission of UX design is that it goes through the testing phase. After completing the design, the specialist does a test run of the application to detect backlogs and issues. Therefore, your users are less likely to face problems with using the platform. 

Let’s take a closer look at what UX design service elements can solidify your overall product, ideas to consider while designing UX, and who to hire. 

The Importance of UX For Startups

Users want fast app performance, reduced time for discovering the app’s opportunities. A stable and well-designed UX guarantees that a user will continue using your platform and recommend it to friends, colleagues, and family members. UX’s main task is to make sure users will use the platform regularly.  

Simple to Use

The usability of the application means that users can easily find the control sections. Thus discoverability is considerably reduced. They don’t spend much time finding the needed bottom and don’t wander around the application to discover its main features. Usually, they only come to the landing page of the web or mobile platform, and the system gives hints everywhere possible to facilitate its use. Technically, app users don’t have to think about the app’s features and opportunities - they see it everywhere. 

Easy to Learn

If the application requires users to take too much time to understand how the app works, it won’t be successful. You don’t want to waste their time; you want to keep them aboard. Minimizing confusion and shortening the learning curve are your primary goals. 

Satisfaction

The emotional reaction of users about the application determines their loyalty, acceptance, and further use. If they get what they want, they will talk about it to friends, colleagues, and family. Moreover, when the satisfaction level is high, and the stress is minimum, the users become more bonded to your application. 

Long-Term Success

UX is not a one-time process. It is a dynamic set of actions applied to your application’s development and maintenance stages. This procedure includes constant updates after thoroughly investigating users’ responses to using the platform. The features can be added, removed, or changed based on the customers’ feedback. That is why one of the UX designer’s tasks is the constant analysis of the user’s behavior and app acceptance. 

Ability to be Unique

In many applications with different life-changing features, you have to offer something more distinctive, more usable, and unique. Only a truly customized platform can fill a gap of needs for your users and develop your business. 

Tips for Better UX DesignSolutions

Quite often, startups trying to do their best with functionality provide an overwhelming number of app features. It leads to users being confused about the central purpose of the application. Moreover, a common mistake by companies is a lack of knowledge about the target audience. So, before creating a solid UX for your startup, here are some things you should consider:  

1. Start with core features first. Since all applications are initially developed to meet a specific goal, you need to pass it to your customers. A startup idea should be accurate and straightforward, meaning if you provide a sports-oriented platform, highlight its features as soon as a user opens the app. 

2. Be consistent. Using the same words to describe features or buttons on the menu bar is crucial for users to know they are still using the same application. Ensure you maintain the visual elements in every section of your platform (colors, fonts, spacing).

3. Simple app navigation. Since your application is new on the market, make sure your users can learn it as fast as possible. Give them hints using full-screen menus, and provide clear labeling, graphics, and icons in one style. 

4. Inform about the in-app errors. Quite often, when it comes to errors, the popup icon only indicates a problem, not a solution. Therefore, think about giving users a proper message on the issue and how they can fix it. 

5. Minimize wordiness on icons. Every icon in your application should be accurate and understandable. It is better to incorporate card-formatted patterns as they are easier to interpret. 

Who Comes First - UX Designer or Developer?

Imagine that you have an idea, a thorough plan on what your future application will look like, and what features it will include, but what to do with UX designers? When is the right time to hire them?

The development itself (coding) and UX design creation often coincide. However, hiring UX designers for startups is the first step after the research and project setup. Depending on your project’s scope, the UX design process may take 3-5 hours up to 3-5 days or even weeks. As the process starts, developers may be interrupted to add/remove some aspects to the code. Designers continuously analyze the application during the development process to create a better user experience design for a mobile app.

The starting point of UX designers is to research target users, analyze their behavior, define goals to achieve, and determine their needs. It is common among specialists to say that “UX design has no endpoint.” If your company wants the application to grow and gain more clients, you will need to constantly upgrade, giving your users more features and simplifying the use. 

A UX design for a startup is essential as it facilitates introducing the new product to the audience and shows why your application is better than existing ones. 

UX design seeks to unlock the inner workings of an audience's needs and how they expect a website to function, look and feel,

claims Goran Paunovic, a creative director of ArtVersion Interactive.

Where to Hire UX Designers: Choosing Between In-House and Outsourced Employees

The traditional model of building a development team has changed. Outsourcing has become a powerful option for companies that seek to meet their needs and receive brilliant quality at smart costs. Let’s define the difference between these two models and determine the best option to meet your business goals.

In-House Model

Hiring office employees means having daily interaction with a team, conducting personal meetings, and building trusty and reliable relationships. Moreover, it is easier to build corporate culture with in-house workers via team-building parties and informal sports and celebration events. Employees who work in an office may feel more value and team integration but at the same time, lost productivity has its place due to daily office routine, notorious tasks, and inability to be flexible. In-house employees get support from HR specialists, who analyze the overall team relationship, workers’ satisfaction from the given duties, and other aspects. HR experts play a vital role in the company but will bring you additional expenses. 

Outsourcing

Outsourcing introduces a way of hiring employees from anywhere in the world. For instance, a US-based company has a development team in East Europe. The company gets lower labor costs, a vast pool of talent, and the world-class quality of software development services. Since this article mainly talks about mobile app UX design for startups that usually operate on a shoe-string budget, why not consider outsourcing?

Unlike the in-house employment model, outsourcing is about saving costs since the UX designer’s price would be significantly different. To be more precise, an average hourly rate for a UX specialist in Germany is $25-36, while outsourcing to Ukraine allows you to cut this price into half - $12-17. 

End Points

Solid UX design is about making apps responsive, fast, and easy to navigate. It allows you to build a brand, create a strong market position, gain recognition, and spread its popularity globally. Being a startup, you should consider UX design as one of the crucial steps in software development. The more simple and straightforward your app’s functionality is, the more customers will like using it. Once perfectly organized, UX design is your way to gain long-term success, and outsourced UX designers provide you with world-class expertise for smart costs.

KeyUA has provided UX solutions for over 12 years and has completed more than 120 successful projects for clients operating in various industries. We are fully committed to meeting your niche business needs through the highest-quality technology implementation. Our UX designers prioritize your needs and create unique, simple, and easy-to-use applications that will pose a real threat to your competitors.