5 UX Mistakes App Developers Unknowingly Make

Quantity Over Quality

This is a glorious time we live in — if you are a data enthusiast.

There are dozens of great quantitative analysis tools out there (e.g., Mixpanel, Flurry, Google Analytics) that provide you with deep insights into the numbers behind your app.

While these tools are very useful, it’s easy to lose sight of how your users actually act beyond the numbers. This will result in building UX that works in theory, but may not in reality.

Qualitative analysis, also known as UX analytics, allows you to look at individual users in greater detail. This, in turn, provides you with an understanding that you can’t get from looking at graphs.

The Fix: Use both number-driven and user-driven analysis to connect the dots. This will allow you to have an optimal base to work on.

You can either go for a service like UserTesting (a bit more expensive), SessionCam (web only) or try out our tool UXCam (mobile only).

Your Background Is Too Beautiful

“Wow, that background is really eye-catching! Wait, what was the app about again?”Making your app pretty is a good idea, but it can’t come at the cost of being unclear. Finding the right balance may be harder than you think.

If your background is too distracting, it will confuse the user and take the attention away from what you want to say or, as Wojciech Zielinski said, “Whitespace is like air: it is necessary for design to breathe.”

Shazam does a great job at keeping it simple.

The Fix: Take a close look at the background of your app. Could you simplify it? Alternatively, use heatmap analysis to see if users are trying to click or gesture on the background instead of on where you want them to click.

Unremarkable Call To Action

We’ve determined that a background that is too prominent is bad. The opposite is true for your call to action: Think of your app as a map where the call to action gives directions.

The CTA button should catch the users’ attention and inform them how to proceed.If it is not clear enough, your users will get lost and not do what you expect them to.

The Fix: Wherever you want your users to click, put up a noticeable sign that shows the way. The call-to-action button should be in contrasting colors to the rest of your website.

Here too you can use heatmap analysis to see how often the CTA is getting clicked in comparison to other elements in your app.

Neglecting Performance

Performance is like electricity for your UX: You can’t see it but nothing would work without it.

It can be easy to get lost purely in the looks of your app and ignore speed and crashes — imagine being in a car that looks like a Ferrari but drives like a station wagon.

A study by Google showed that 53% of mobile users give up on sites that take longer than 3 seconds to load. You only get one chance to make a good first impression, so make sure your users don’t get annoyed by an app that takes too long to load or crashes. If they do, they will very likely not come back.

The Fix: Take your time to review how your app performs. How fast does it load? How frequently does it crash? Does the UI freeze?

You can use various tools to track crashes and other issues, and quickly fix them. We recommend our own Issue Analytics suite.

Unnecessary Screens and Clicks

No one likes their time to be wasted.

Would you have continued reading this article if we had gotten into personal details in the introduction? Probably not, right?

It’s the same for your users. If they feel like you are putting them through unnecessary steps, they will stop caring. Every superfluous action increases the chance of your app being discarded.

The Fix: How many screens can you cut out? Make your app flow as simple as possible, check where your users are dropping off and use that knowledge to identify and fix bottlenecks.

Conclusion

Avoid these UX mistakes and keep your app simple, clear, beautiful and performing well. Easier said than done, we know, but there are plenty of tools out there to help you achieve your goal of building an amazing app.

If you’d like to give ours a try, start a free trial today. We’ll help you deliver the perfect app experience.