Alicia Wells
Conversion optimization is the central focus of mobile app developers. Gone are the days when all you needed to do is create a unique app and put it out there. With the stiff competition in the mobile app market today, creating a one-of-a-kind app just doesn’t cut it. You need to go the extra mile to ensure that the user interface of your app is engaging enough to attract users and get them hooked on it. However, this is way more difficult than it sounds.
According to analytics firm Adeven, up to 60% of the apps on Apple’s App Store have never been downloaded. Alarming, but that’s not all. A study by Localytics shows that one in four users who download an app launch it just once and only 34% of users return to an app up to 11 times. This state of affairs has been described as a “user engagement crisis.”
The fact is that mobile apps are the best way to reach users today, and the market is still very lucrative. In 2016, the global mobile app revenue stood at $88 billion, and that figure is expected to more than double to $189 million by 2020.
The big question is, how do you get in on the action? There are many stories of apps earning millions, but it seems only the top apps are making it. According to Sensor Tower, in the first quarter of 2016, 94% of all the revenue on Apple’s App Store in the US came from just 1% of the top app publishers. This means 99% of the remaining publishers earned just 6% of the total revenue.
Let’s take a closer look at this, if certain apps are earning a massive majority of the revenue on the platform, then it follows that the publishers behind these apps are doing some things that all the others aren’t. One of these things is emphasizing on creating the best user interface.
Mobile apps have become a part of our lives. There are very few activities we engage in today that do not involve an app. As a result, expectations are high, and with so many options out there, users can be picky. The fact is that a good user interface gives you an edge over the competition. Now to the ultimate question, what makes a good user interface?
- Ease of Use: Usability is one of the critical elements of a great user interface. Users must be able to operate your app without any difficulty. If the on boarding process is complicated, you are likely to struggle with user retention and ultimately conversion.
- Attractive: Apart from ease of use, the aesthetics of your app is also important. No one wants to use an app with an ugly user interface or one that looks archaic. You need to adopt cutting-edge designs to make the user interface of your app stand out. A little animation can go a long way to bring life to an otherwise stale design.
- Functionality: Your app user interface can be easy to use and look good, but if it doesn’t function well, you may struggle with conversion. Your app must solve a problem and work without any glitches to make it valuable to users.
- Engaging: Many people today have a short attention span. Therefore, if the interface of your app is not engaging, you will lose users before you even get a chance to convert. There are many ways to make an app’s interface engaging including cutting out all unnecessary pages.
How to create the best user interface to optimize conversion
The user interface of your app must drive conversion rather than pushing users away. The following are a few strategies to achieve this.
- Consider users with large fingers: One of the most frustrating things is attempting to click something on an app and end up pressing something else because the buttons are too small. You need to take users with fat fingers into consideration when creating an app. Apple suggests creating buttons that measure 44 points by 44 points to make them easily accessible. You can give users the option to increase the size of control buttons on your app so that users with fat fingers and normal-sized fingers can change the interface of your app suit their preference.
- Avoid cramming too much information on one page: There is a tendency for mobile app developers to attempt to pack a lot of information on one page – after all, the mobile app screen is quite small. However, this can easily be a put-off for some users. The adage that ‘simplicity is the key’ holds for mobile app user interface too. Users can digest information when it is presented in an orderly manner. Leaving some blank space on the screen does not take away from the design of an app, but reinforces your overall interface design and allows users to focus on the information being presented.
- Call-to-Action Button: A call-to-action button is a staple in the world of mobile app development. This is one of the oldest strategies in the book for increasing conversion, and it works. A call-to-action button gives you a way to grab the attention of users and invite them to perform a particular action. There are many ways to make a call-to-action button stand out including its size, placement, and color. Ultimately, it must not stick out like a sore thumb but must merge with the other elements of your interface design.
These are some of the best ways that you can use your user interface to increase conversion. However, there are other equally effective techniques such as using beautiful icons, incorporating gamification into your design, and removing all unnecessary pages or other obstacles (like signup requirements) that users have to get through before getting to enjoy your app in action. User interface is at the heart of conversion. If done right, it can support the conversion rate of your app. However, a bad user interface can have the opposite effect.
