Driving User Engagement with Your Mobile App

4. Optimize for One-Handed Operation

Even though screen sizes are getting bigger and bigger, people still prefer using their mobile phone with just one hand. So be sure to design your mobile app’s user interface in such a way that users can easily access all of its features without using their other hand.

One way of accomplishing this goal is to place the app’s most frequently used features within reach of the user’s thumb, as shown in Figure 1. This is where users usually tap their screen. You can place rarely used features at the upper corners of the screen, in the red zone, which is hard to reach using one hand.

Image Source: RV Technologies

5. Avoid Adding Too Many Features

Instead of cramming your app full of an excessive number of features, take the time to analyze which functionality is most important to users and the business. Apps with too many unnecessary features usually have a cluttered user interface. These are the sorts of apps that users abandon after the first few days. To keep your app’s abandonment rate low, make sure to implement only key features that can help you drive the highest engagement from your target audience.

Implementing just the core features can also help you establish your app with your initial customer base. Then, once you have a large enough audience, you can gradually release new features and see how your app performs among the masses.

6. Eliminate Design Inconsistencies

Make sure that your design is consistent throughout the app—especially if you plan to create a unique design solution. An inconsistent user interface would hamper the app’s user experience and make it harder to understand. To discover and correct design inconsistencies, you should use a variety of scenarios when testing your app and ensure that every module follows the same design standards. Implement whatever changes are necessary to eliminate inconsistencies.

7. Provide a Welcome Screen

When designing mobile-app user interfaces, many designers either don’t provide a welcome screen at all or don’t optimize it for their users. Keep in mind that a welcome screen provides the user’s first impression of your brand. Therefore, it is important that it should be visually appealing—even captivating. You can also use a welcome screen to introduce users to the app’s unique features, with which they are probably unfamiliar. However, you should refrain from adding too many elements to the welcome screen because this could damage the user experience.

Conclusion

There’s no denying the fact that a poor user interface is one of the most common reasons why people abandon mobile apps after using them for just a few days. If you don’t want your app to get buried among your users’ many apps, focus on designing an easy-to-use user interface that keeps users engaged. Following optimal UX design practices can give you a competitive advantage, ensuring that your mobile app attracts and holds users’ attention more effectively.