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As an increasing number of consumers continue to turn towards technology for the information they need, mobile apps are growing in popularity. This is an emerging trend that business owners and marketers can utilize effectively to increase brand awareness and drive more sales. However, to ensure your app is a success, you need to ensure that your app is designed with both functionality, aesthetics, and, most importantly, the user experience, in mind.
Design trends and how users engage with technology, as well as the technology itself, changes all the time. As a business owner, it’s important that you are aware of these changes to ensure that your business can continue to meet the demands of consumers. Understanding which mobile app features and functionalities to include in your app is crucial in ensuring that your app is well-received by users. Just because a particular design feature has worked up until now, does not mean that it will continue to work going forward. It’s important to avoid trends that are declining to keep your app relevant and to keep your users engaged.
Let’s take a look at five mobile app trends that are becoming outdated quickly so you can ensure your app is up-to-date with the latest best practices.
Fingerprint Security
Many modern smartphones have a fingerprint sensor built-in which makes completing transactions and logging into apps easier than ever. However, the technology only works well if your hands are dry and clean. In the COVID-era, people are using hand sanitizer regularly and wearing gloves, rendering the technology inconvenient.
If you are designing an app for your business, or you are redesigning your existing app, avoid including fingerprint sensor security. Instead, opt for face recognition technology which provides an effective, secure, hands-free security option for users to access your app. Making your app easy-to-use for your audience will increase use, leading to better reviews and more downloads over time.
Touch-Type Input
Most apps nowadays allow users to input data, conduct searches, and use other features of the app by manually typing using the keyboard on their screen. However, this user behavior is quickly changing as voice typing is becoming more popular. As we all live busier lives than ever and are constantly on the go, voice typing offers users a more convenient, hands-free solution to touch-typing.
While the typical user can type thirty to forty words per minute, they can speak anywhere from one hundred to one hundred and thirty in the same amount of time. This makes voice typing much more efficient. Enabling voice input functionality will be essential in ensuring that your app provides the best possible user experience going forward.
Developing For 4G
5G internet speeds will be up to twenty times faster than the 4G connections. With faster connection speeds, the potential of apps to perform faster and with more functionality is something you need to consider. Many new mobile devices are being built with 5G compatibility and as 5G continues to be rolled out, it’s only a matter of time before it is available to users everywhere and becomes the norm. Mobile apps that are only designed for 4G connections will quickly become clunky and slow, eventually becoming obsolete.
To future-proof your app and to build a product that will not only meet but surpass the expectations of your users, you need to design your app with 5G connection speeds in mind. Taking advantage of faster internet speeds, you can incorporate more advanced features in your mobile app to ensure that it stands out from your competitor’s offerings.
Credit And Debit Card Payments
If your app accepts payments from users, you need to think about the future of digital payments. Mobile payments are an essential part of the modern economy and as more users become more familiar with mobile payments you need to ensure your mobile app has this functionality included. In time, users could be reluctant to use apps that don’t feature mobile payment functionality which will have a negative impact on your app usage and downloads.
E-Wallet schemes such as Amazon Pay, Paypal, Stripe Subscriptions, and other payment wallets are becoming more popular with consumers and are replacing card payments. With e-wallets, users essentially have a prepaid account that they can add to. Providing this type of functionality in your app is an effective strategy in improving the user experience, increasing use, and building more loyalty towards your app.
Not Integrating Sales
When many businesses design an app, they use it as a promotional or communication tool for their business. While this is certainly an effective use of a mobile app, you can have much more business success with your app if you take a different approach going forward.
Since the Coronavirus outbreak, there has been a huge growth in e-commerce and the number of consumers embracing buying online. If you already have an app, or you are designing a new mobile app, you need to ensure that there is functionality built-in that allows you to sell directly to the user.
Moving forward, for your app to be a success you need to ensure that it has robust mobile commerce functionality. Including mobile commerce in your app will help you to increase sales and generate more revenue for your business.
Ensure Your App Is Designed For The Future
Mobile app designs change all the time as user behaviors and expectations evolve alongside technology. When you are designing a mobile app, you need to ensure that you focus on future design trends so that you don’t get stuck in the past. For your app to be a success, you need to ensure that it provides the very best user experience possible and that means focusing on design aspects that are current and relevant.
Focus on building a mobile app that will improve brand engagement, provide a seamless user experience and, ultimately, increase your sales. With one eye on the future of mobile app design developments, you can ensure that your app is able to adapt to emerging design and functionality trends to provide the best user experience.