UX and UI design are trending! A good User Interface makes you stand out and gives you competitor advantages. Nowadays simplicity is the most outstanding trend of UI Design if you look at the new Apps in the Appstore. Although a simple layout can make you more attractive and accessible to customers, simplicity is even more important when building a business application.
Business Applications are more upcoming than ever because of the low-code platforms like PowerApps | Microsoft Power Platform. With PowerApps you can build an app without any development knowledge or developer skills. It is easy to use by its drag and drop features and makes a tremendous uplifting movement in digitalization of businesses. Simplicity does not only apply to the aesthetic perception of a Design. Especially in business applications it especially applies to Information Design. Information Design is the organization of its structure, flow, and frame of interface items.
For those of you who are interested in the best UI of their Business Applications. Here are six practical tips:
1. Apply uniformity and continuity in your design
In business applications uniformity is key. When developing an App, the large sets of data and numeral sort of actions the App provides need to be consistent in the design. Keep in mind that a User never in any circumstances should doubt an action. A design needs to be crystal clear. For example, make sure that your back button or as we also say the home button looks the same on every screen and is in the exact same spot. If you want to add a delete button, make sure you always use the same icon or button. Do not use an icon on one screen and a button on the second. Be consistent and uniform. This will build familiarity and trust with the structure of the app and will create the feeling of ‘what you see is what you get’.
2. Choose your colors wisely
It is not recommended to go all the way and use all colors of the rainbow in your color scheme. Creativity is appreciated, but most users get distracted when using to many colors or colors that don’t match. To make sure the user understands the importance of the application, it is advised to take a maximum of 3 distinct colors to use throughout the app. Final tip: make sure the colors do what the sentiment says. Just like a traffic light.
3. Leave unnecessary stuff out
Remember the purpose of why you are building the business application in the first place. Do not provide extra information or extra actions into your design if it is not involved in the business process. Do not show variables in your tables that you do not need for this application. Users will only get confused and will question their follow-up actions.
4. Keep things familiar
Users are already accustomed to certain actions or buttons because these are already used in all kinds of other applications. A good example is a hyperlink. People are used to having clickable texts underlined and highlighted in color. Use that knowledge when building your own application. Many users have this knowledge and will therefore have certain expectations.
5. Different device, different habits
Consider on which device you want to offer the application. If users use the app mostly on their mobile device, make sure your menu or your main actions are on the bottom of the screen close to the thumb. Or if you want to show an overview of a large data table, keep in mind there is less space on a mobile device compared to a tablet. In this case menu tabs on a mobile device can be used to cut data in to smaller, more readable, chunks.
6. Give a heads up!
Make sure a user is informed when an action is performed. If a user clicks a button to provide an action, let’s say send this form, make sure they know if the action was successful or not! Use pop-ups or notifications to inform users and engage them to optimize the user experience.
The above six best practices are just a few important ones to keep in mind when building a low code business application. Next to a great UI Design, you will also need great teamwork and a good perception of the user experience. If you are looking for more in-depth knowledge and practice please e-mail us on info@be-empowered.nl or call +31 (0)20 303 24 70 and don’t forget to follow us on LinkedIn.
