When your company plans on releasing a mobile app as part of its next digital venture, a fresh and modern design becomes essential.
After all, an outdated-looking experience makes keeping users engaged a difficult process. Whatever the reason for building an app, ensuring its users stay inspired needs to be an ultimate goal and there is no better way than by paying attention to your visual designs.
During the initial phases of a mobile app project, it helps to understand the latest native app design trends influencing the iOS and Android platforms. The visual aspects obviously matter, but don’t short the app’s usability and other interface considerations when it comes to UX design.
Remember, your organization wants to be known as an innovator, so an obsolete, cookie-cutter look and feel needs to be avoided if you want to be designing mobile apps for modern users.
With an eye towards crafting a compelling mobile app experience, check out these latest design trends for 2023. It’s essential reading for any forward-looking mobile app developer or designer.
Who knows, maybe your organization becomes a trendsetter with an engaging app that breaks the mold?
Since mobile users tend to be tethered to their smartphones for hours a day, an app reducing eye strain provides some relief. Ensure the UI leverages a clearly-designed information architecture; making data and other visualizations easy to read and follow.
Also select the color scheme wisely, focusing on soothing colors and an attractive user experience. Having a dark mode available as part of your user experience in UX design is essential today.
Skeuomorphic design concepts highlighted the early years of the iOS platform. Back when Apple Books was known as iBooks, its primary interface looked like a real-life bookcase. Over time, those realistic UI designs became obsolete, although music apps emulating classic synthesizers, like the Minimoog and Moog Model 15, still use them effectively.
In 2021, a new version of skeuomorphism, called neumorphism, is gaining in popularity. This design concept leverages real-world imagery but in a modern wrapper rendered in 3D. As such, the days of flat buttons and other user interface elements appear to be over. Consider using neumorphism as a core principle of your app’s interface design.
Ironically, even that “old-fashioned” traditional skeuomorphic approach is becoming trendy again. App developers increasingly use analog design concepts like paper textures, old-school typography, and yellowed backgrounds. However, only leverage this technique if it fits with the rest of the app’s approach to graphics.
With an eye towards crafting a UI with depth, mobile application designers increasingly use shadows and layering; providing a 3D feel to an app’s interface. In fact, it’s a design concept highly compatible with neumorphism.
Consider using both approaches on your organization’s next app to give it an attractive yet modern look and feel using the power of 3D graphics.
The finger swipe remains an important interface gesture when using any well-designed app. It’s a key aspect of the mobile app experience on a smartphone or tablet. However, today’s app developers are making swiping more noticeable in a variety of ways.
One method simply adds animated graphics to make the swiping event more noticeable. Also, consider using finger swipes to access additional data or functionality depending on the app design. This approach is a growing design trend for 2023.
Another growing trend in mobile app design involves the use of geometric shapes and other forms of abstract art. It’s a graphical design style reminiscent of the 1980s, back when the Apple II dominated the home PC market.
The key when crafting a design using this approach involves not distracting the user from the underlying functionality of the app.
While this approach works in concert with a design aimed at reducing eye strain, combining it with old-school skeuomorphism might clash. Keep this in mind when designing the wireframes and prototype graphics for the app.
It seems like virtual reality has been on the precipice of critical mass since the movie, The Lawnmower Man, almost 30 years ago. Still, VR and AR continue to make inroads in technology, including in mobile app design. Any company providing home improvement products benefits from an app that includes significant AR features. This use-case generally requires the app to use AR for great visuals in addition to supporting relevant functionality, like seeing how a certain paint color looks in a room.
Note that including these elements in mobile apps requires a significant programming effort to ensure a truly immersive experience. Still, it’s a great way to add interactive and immersive elements to an app, ensuring customers use it over and over again and leave great reviews in app stores.
If your organization needs help designing and building its next mobile app or web app, connect with the team at 923 Digital. As experts in crafting complete digital ventures for our clients, expect an experienced approach combining state-of-the-art technical acumen with the hottest mobile design concepts and detailed user research.
Schedule some time with us to discuss your future needs.
What is a good app design?
Good app design is intuitive, clean and inviting to the user. It makes it easy for the user to use the application while creating an immersive experience.
What is the current trend in UI design?
One of the biggest trends coming up in UI design is 3D design with depth and shadows, lighting and textures that give the app "weight" - essentially giving the user more feedback.
What is UX design?
UX design refers to how apps are designed to be enticing to users while maintaining other things like branding, accessibility and more.
