Designing Your Android App? Check the Ideal Beginners’ Guide

In the app development industry, only two leading players are famous, namely – iOS and Android. However, when it comes to developing an application and enjoying a vast user base, most entrepreneurs hire an android app development company. Why? Because Android enjoys an enormous user base and is seemingly convenient to develop.
However, there is a lot of confusion in designing a perfect android application that users truly enjoy.
Therefore, we at HestaBit have amalgamated all the “pro” strategies you need to follow to develop an ideal android application with the help of your development team.
So let’s start with the basics.
The basic rules for Android design language:
Just like other disciplines, before learning new things, you would have to know the ground rules for developing your project right. These rules will work as the fundamentals for your project design.
Strengthen your visual communication by using the guide given below:
- Create a solid visual hierarchy:
Your UI needs a proper visual hierarchy if you wish to create an excellent user experience. This is why Android applications require grids and whitespaces that function as a foundational element of them.
Therefore, you must remove all the decorative elements and focus only on the essential aspects, i.e., content.
- Leverage common system patterns:
Many designers think that it is better to design every interactive pattern while creating an application from scratch. However, that is not what you should do.
If a custom component varies from the material design language, the cognitive load on users will be increased. And even if you successfully create a custom component, the project cost will be more. Moreover, you would spend a lot of time in both designing and deployment.
Integrate standard components to reduce the designing and development cost both in the initial investment and long-term investments.
- Use motion for spatial relationships between views:
Establishing a strong relationship between various pages and UI elements can be challenging if you are trying your hands on flat design. If a clear, logical connection is not provided, your users may get confused about which pages are interconnected.
The tool that creates this connection is known as animation.
Your android apps development company needs to integrate material metaphors to emphasize the motion design to convey the meaning of the user interface.
- Keep accessibility in mind:
The core of a good design is accessibility. In an attempt to create a good design app, most companies forget to keep accessibility on track. Unless you make your application accessible, you will not make your users use each element you integrate.
A well-designed product is accessible to all users, be it someone with low vision, cognitive impairments, hearing impairments, blindness, or motor impairments.
The following contrast ratios are recommended by W3C:
- The contrast ratio of backgrounds for small texts should be 4:5:1
- The contrast ratio of backgrounds for large texts should be 3:1
- Consider device specifics:
If you had been designing an iOS application, specific guidelines would lead you the way. However, things are different with Android. Since Android serves various devices, all having different pixel densities and screen sizes, designing an application that suits all is tricky.
Your android app development company would have to test out your application by making it run on different devices to check the compatibility of all elements with every device. This task is mainly done by the Quality Assurance (QA) team. They create detailed reports of glitches and bugs found along the way, which are then solved by the development team.
This process ensures no bug gets in the way of your application’s user experience.
- Optimize for various hardware:
It is crucial to develop your application in the most optimal way. It is futile to assume that all applications can serve top-end hardware. Therefore, you should focus on developing your application in a way that it can function even on less demanding hardware resources. Ideally, the application you design should work flawlessly on various hardware – from low levels to top-notch.
- Utilize device capabilities:
Modern mobile devices come with many hardware components that are responsible for making the lives of users easy. Sensors such as Bluetooth, camera, GPS locations, accelerometer, NFC, gyroscope, and more can enrich the user experience of an application.
You can leverage these components to provide an even exponential user experience; for example, instead of asking your users to fill out their geographical locations, you can request access into their GPS and automatically fill out the necessary details.
This will be time-saving and user-friendly.
- Push your brand:
When you are designing your application, your number one goal should be to convey your branding personality. Create a product that can portray your brand perfectly. You can ask your designers to use their powerful tools to fulfill the criteria.
- Colours – use appropriate colour components for your branding
- Illustrations – use design illustrations that can deliver your message and your brand personality.
- Test your app with prototypes:
A crucial aspect of developing your application design is to test it out with a proper working prototype. It is impossible to create a perfect design from the start; every application will have to go through specific changes and updates to achieve the “perfect” status.
- Keep track of design iterations:
Documentation is significant when it comes to learning from your mistakes and improving your application. Keep track of where your application design is going and adequately document each upgrade and modification.
This will enable you to quickly make changes, prevent your application from clutter and enhance your development experience.
Conclusion:
The steps mentioned above should be in the “must” list of your android apps development company. If you take your android app design through each step provided above, you will be able to curate the perfect application your users are longing for.
Remember, the only formula to outshine in the market is to provide your users with just what they were searching for.
Choose the right development team, have the guide handy, and you are ready to go for android app designing!