Application Design for Beginners

Featured Article by Robert Cordray, Independant Technology Author

Have you ever been searching for a certain kind of application in your OS’s app store and come up empty? Chances are if you’re looking for specific features, you’re not the only one who needs it. Don’t let someone else implement your idea. App design is easier than you think.

The initial step is what probably brought you to this post in the first place: get inspired. Look around your app store, try out some products and take notes of gaps or poorly executed versions of what you want to do. After you have a vague idea the problem you want to solve or app you want to improve on, it is time to consider the ux: the user experience. The user experience is everything that affects how the user receives your app. Who are they? Where and when will they use your app, and what kind of device will they use to access it?

During every stage of your app’s development, you will be revisiting and refining your concept of the user’s experience. There is a lot to consider between what fingers are available to touch the screen, if the interface is a touchscreen, the level literacy (both digital and otherwise) required to use your product and other factors. Brainstorm these facets of usability before you begin, but understand that plenty of more questions will surface during testing, reviewing and updating phases. For some help with scenario mapping, click here.

Once your audience is more clear to you, you can analyze your competitors. Where do similar apps fall short? Where do they succeed? Read blogs and reviews but also purchase your competitor’s products and play around with them in different operating systems and platforms. Maybe there is an app just like the one you want to make that works great on Android but has a glitched-out equivalent on the iOS–or no equivalent at all! This could guide your development to a specific OS.

What kind of app are you making? It is it for a mobile device, website or computer? Mapping apps are useful on the go, but complex video editing applications might be put to better use on a computer. Chose what platform will be best for your app. Deciding this and what OS you want to work with then determines what style guidelines you can use. Here are some common guidelines to consider:

iOS
Android
Windows 8
MeeGo

Focus on developing for one set of guidelines, one operating system at a time. After reviewing your resource of choice carefully, it is time to visualize how your app will work. Create a practical flow chart of menus on paper and create screen mock-ups, but don’t worry about aesthetics yet. Design for the largest device screen your application will be used on, but keep in mind different devices will require different scales. Address this by using vectors for your graphical interface.

Make a list of all the things you want your app to do, and then prioritize these tasks. In your first version of your app only implement the main features. Other parts of the app can be released later in update installments.

With simple graphics created, features planned, guidelines in mind and menus mapped out, you are ready to start coding. Most operating systems provide a programming environment and language for you to work in:

Android
Windows 8
MeeGo

Now you can make an app! To perfect your software before release perform testings, add animations and sounds, refine your graphics to align with your OS of choice. After, get reviews and always keep updating. And of course, be proud of what you’ve made and market it to the masses.