Design often relies on flashes of inspiration, and mobile app design is especially flexible and varied; there is no single method or formula for designing a good app. But to help designers avoid detours, learning design principles is worthwhile: they provide reference and guidance. The design guidelines offered by each mobile platform are a collection of important experience accumulated by the major companies, full of reference and inspiration. After studying these platform principles, we have summarised the following eight principles of mobile app design in the hope of helping mobile app design work.
Principle one: content first. Interface layout should centre on content and provide what users expect.
Principle two: design for touch. The interface’s interaction system is built on natural gestures, ergonomic and consistent.
Principle three: transform input. Use the device characteristics and design techniques of various phones to reduce text input inside the app.
Principle four: fluency. Keep the flow of finger and gesture operations, the flow of the user’s attention and the transitions of interface feedback smooth.
Principle five: multi-channel design. Leverage the device’s multi-channel characteristics and coordinated multi-channel interfaces and interactions to give users a stronger sense of realism and immersion.
Principle six: learnability. Keep the interface structure simple and clear, with navigation that is easy to understand and operations that are simple and visible, so users know how to act from the meaning of interface elements and the clues the interface provides.
Principle seven: design for interruption. Consider the contexts of use, and make sure that when output is interrupted the user can resume previous operations, preserving the user’s effort.
Principle eight: smart and considerate. Give users designs that surprise and delight, that are intelligent, efficient and thoughtful.
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