A well-designed interface as a design strategy
We have already talked about how important UX is once we apply it within our internal solutions. A practical and plain App will improve the confidence of our users and encourage them to continue using our App. The same can applies to applications outside of our work environment.
One of the main keys in the operation of an App is the interfaces, the objects that our users will see and will have to explore to do what they need. With a bad interface (not very intuitive, for example), it will be more difficult to find what we need, it will make us close it and look for another solution. Which is far from what the companies that create the applications want, of course.
Plan each interface from the beginning
When faced with an idea of a possible application to launch, whether web-based or mobile, many ideas tend to come up that are difficult to put in writing and ensure that they are not lost. We must identify the main functionalities to add and draw a sketch of the interfaces for each one.
Early planning helps a lot in the performance of the entire project. Thus, when a view or functionality moves in priority or you want to make a change, all our team and clients will be aware and will be able to act.
What tools can I use?
Figma is one of the main tools in the business sector. We already did an article on the importance of Figma as an application to collaborate between our teams. You can learn more about Figma here.
We also have Overflow, like a “narrative” format for our interface. Defined as the first tool to create with your diagrams: it allows you to create interactive flows and team presentations in a few minutes. In addition, it works with the reference design and editing Apps on the market. Here we leave your official introductory video.
Zeplin can help us explore design tasks further. A designer on canvas (a very popular format in the world of web design) that aims to be more accessible to non-developers (Q&A, Project Managers,…) eliminating the need to create explanatory documentation to present a work project. Here is his short video introduction.
The most important thing about these last two applications is the integration with Figma, to take the work out of your already saturated developers, helping them to organize themselves with the other project departments even if they prefer one of the other two options.
What these APPs contribute to design work
If we want to see the designs of what an interface would look like in our App and the components, we will create mockups: sketches that show how it would be structured in view of the general public. Before we had to make the designs in a thousand different tools (or even by hand), and hope that they all connected correctly.
Now, thanks to thousands of plugins and the ability to collaborate from all kinds of design platforms, it’s easier to learn how to design, proofread, and work on different ideas. The navigation flow within the application can also be organized more easily, avoiding the appearance of situations where a communication failure causes erroneous access to functionality.
How important is it to use these techniques?
Using these three development tools, we not only help our client (or ourselves) to see how the application evolves and make the necessary changes. They also serve us internally, allowing integrated communication between developers, something vital to identify possible problems in time when we implement something new. Everything will result in fewer delays and “downtime” for our application, and a minimum number of undetected bugs.
In short, they are very useful tools to help continuously improve the performance of our applications, capable of being extended to the enterprise level very quickly and with support for all types of works and collaborations.