If you’re looking out for your mobile app development company’s best interests, you’ll know how vital it is to learn about trends. If you don’t, you might make the critical error of catering for last year’s market and adding features no one wants or cares about.
So, what trends will we see in 2017? Let’s take a look.
What’s the Most Important Takeaway from These Trends?
Before we look at the individual trends, let’s first look at the big picture. The defining, overall direction for mobile UX trends in 2017 is aimed at a better UX. Keep this in mind at all times.
It’s easy to get bogged down by minutia, especially if you work in an Android app development company and spend every day on the nitty-gritty aspects of mobile apps. Forget them; concentrate on the end user!
What will matter most to the end user is how easily, simply and usefully they can access your product. Things move fast in the mobile world and it’s critical for any Android or iPhone app development company to keep up.
Now that you know the most critical aspect of the new trends, what are the top trends of 2017? Let’s take a look.
1. 2017 UX Trends Will Personalise the App Interface Further
This coming year, we will see iOS App development companies emphasizing the individual.
No user is the same and 2017 is set to hammer this home. People want to feel heard and important. So, any mobile UX developer who wants to thrive this year will ensure that the interface it presents to the world puts the individual user first.
It’s not just about “wants”, but also about “needs”.
For example, is your end user colorblind? Of all men, 8% are. Are they susceptible to the sleep-disrupting patterns of blue light? Of all people, 60% are over-exposed to screens daily. Are they using your app at night and don’t want to wake a partner up with a flashy bright screen? Of couples, 77% share a bed at night and need to cater to each other’s comfort.
If you take a moment to consider this trend closely, it’s actually just an evolution of responsive design. We previously saw developers catering mobile app services to the individual device so that the apps looked good on a small Samsung mini and a large iPad. In 2017, we’re going to take that one step further, amping up our meta-data and catering to the needs of the individual instead.
2. Input Changes Will Be Where It’s at in 2017
This is actually a trend related to app personalisation. Voice and audio technology is on the rise as it enables a wider range of access to mobile services and provides simple convenience. And, natural, intuitive interfaces that use this technology will attract more and more users.
Likewise, the infamous Facebook “likes” show a well-known example of micro-interactions in mobile app interfaces and you should expect to see more from micro-interactions this year. These detail-oriented ways of showing that you care for your consumer are critical to making the holistic experience of your product feel fun, rewarding and entertaining. And, it will be the key to making them stay with you instead of downloading another app.
So, look at shaking up your navigation styles and offer users something novel and different too. Minimize the “invisibility” of app features, combat the over-proliferation of the hamburger menu and make intuitive, thumb-friendly navigation possible.
3. User Onboarding
First impressions matter and the feeling your users get the first time they use your app will last. Android and iPhone app services will need to take this into account or face the consequences. So, you need to improve the users’ initial experience with videos, tutorials or more, but don’t overdo it. No one wants to hang around forever for a nagging tutorial to finish. Make it short, sweet and friendly.
4. Copying or Repetition Won’t Work for Android App Service Providers
Best practices are just the industry’s polite way of saying “we’ve always done it this way.” But, that’s not going to cut it in 2017. While we mentioned Android in the heading, let’s face it, iOS app service providers are guilty of this cheat method too.
Don’t look to replicate what other people have done with your apps this year. “This is just how we do things” is a pathetic excuse in an arena as young and cutting edge as apps and app service development. Ten years ago, apps barely existed. So, methods cannot have been set in stone!
This is why mobile UX trends in 2017 will begin to see a drift away from this habit of “doing what’s always been done” and instead encourage the virile imaginations of developers to bring new and better solutions to the table.
So, if your company will be hiring mobile app developers this year, look for bright minds who want to look past the tried and trusted into the murky, yet rewarding, depths of innovation. Don’t be the employer who squashes novelty and clings to the old this year.
5. Don’t Be Afraid to Take Your Company to Your User
It truly is becoming a mobile world: you can now hire iPhone app developers at the click of a button, catch up on the latest business trends online, and hunt for new markets to sell products in a few simple clicks without leaving your office. This ease of use has to show in how you market your products or you’ll miss out too.
No one clicks on home pages to find out what’s going on with companies any more; they now turn to more social platforms for their input. And, you risk losing your audience if you don’t adapt to this changing trend. Hunt down your consumer rather than expecting your consumer to hunt you down. Mobile UXs that cater to this ability to integrate with social media and drive company specials, news, promotions and more to the app will be on the rise in 2017.
Custom Mobile App Development can seem a difficult and trend-filled space to navigate, especially if you need to hire separate developers to help you take your brand into the mobile space, but it needn’t be too difficult. Stay on top of what’s new and what interests your end users and you’ll be 90% of the way to a successful app from the start.
Image source: https://stegpearl.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/mobile-trends-2017.jpg