Mastering UX Design Principles for Successful Mobile Apps

UX design has become one of the hottest buzzwords in the world of mobile app and web design. Yet so few design teams actually understand what it means and how to apply it properly. 

Whether you’re a prospective UX designer, entrepreneur, or business user that wants to create a mobile app, this guide is perfect for you.

We’ll dive deep into the core UX design principles that must be applied to ensure your app is a success. 

What is UX Design?

User experience (UX) design is the process of creating products that deliver meaningful and relevant experiences to end-users. It encompasses all stages of acquiring and integrating the project, including usability, branding, and functionality. 

UX design is commonly associated with software, mobile apps, and web design. But these concepts can be applied to any product, system, or service. For example, whether you’re creating a can opener, web page, or an employee onboarding process, ease of use and enhanced user experience are important for all three.

For our purposes in this guide, we’re going to focus more on UX design as it applies to mobile apps. 

Why is UX Design Important?

UX design principles provide the strong foundation that’s required to make all of the creative elements associated with your project. This includes everything from design patterns to interaction models, wireframes, storyboards, prototypes, and more.

As the name implies, UX (user experience) design focuses on the user and the user’s experience. But many designers find this definition to be a bit vague and unhelpful when they’re going through the design process.

That’s where the UX design principles come into play. If you understand these principles and core design concepts through each design phase, UX design will be integrated into each step of the UX project. 

Ultimately, UX design is so important because it has a direct impact on the user’s perception of your product. If the visual design is unappealing or the design usability fails, it’s going to leave users with a bad taste in their mouths. Conversely, a great UX design keeps users engaged and coming back for more—which is crucial for mobile apps. 

What’s the Difference Between the UX Design Process and UI Design?

UX design is almost always associated with user interface (UI) design. These terms are often used jointly and sometimes interchangeably. But UX components and UI components are actually very different.

Aspect	UX Design	UI Design
Focus	User’s overall experience and perception	Technical elements for user interaction
Objective	Solving problems and addressing user pain points	Look and feel of the product
Approach	Holistic view of design	Specific UI components for actions and navigation

Both of these are really important to consider to truly understand UX design principles. For more information, you can read our complete guide on the differences between UX and UI design.

10 UX Design Principles For Mobile App Development

Now that you understand the basics of UX design, what it means, and why it’s so important, it’s time to dive deep into user experience design principles. We’ve identified and explained the top ten UX design principles that every UX designer needs to know. 

1. Prioritize the User

First and foremost, you need to meet the users’ needs. A user-centric design is arguably the most key UX design principle for mobile app development. 

Even in the early stages, you need to think about what users actually look for in a design. Many designers often drop the ball here because they make too many assumptions. Some design concepts might seem like a great idea to you—but you’re not the user. 

There’s a big difference between what you think users will do and what they actually do. 

Testing your design concepts with a user control group is the best way to validate these ideas before putting them into practice. 

As designers gain more skills in their practice, they commonly step too far outside of the box. They’re more focused on impressing their colleagues and pushing design concepts to the limits. When this happens, the user experience gets lost in the shuffle, and the UX design fails. 

You must find a balance between elegant designs that are combined with form and function. The user experience must be integrated into your app design at the earliest stages, or a snowball effect will push the user further and further away as the design develops over the product life cycle. 

2. Be Consistent

Another core UX design principle is consistency. Users interact with other applications and software outside of what you’re building. You need to understand that there are similar UX design patterns across most of these apps, and your application needs to mimic them.

For example, when you land on a web page, there are certain things that you expect—like a menu bar at the top of the screen. Technically, a designer could put that menu bar anywhere. They could make it a diagonal menu that runs from the bottom left corner of the screen to the top right corner of the screen. But that would be inconsistent with everything a user knows about page navigation. 

There’s a fine line between being creative and consistent. If you’re on the fence, it’s always best to err on the side of caution. Don’t break away from the “accepted norms” that people are used to.

That’s the first part of being consistent with your UX design. Next, you need to make sure your design is consistent across all of your touchpoints. 

Your mobile app design, tablet app design, website design, and mobile web design should be consistent as well. Here’s an example many of you can probably relate to.

If you use Slack for business messaging, you’ll notice a consistent experience between the web version, desktop version, and mobile app version of the software. 

This ensures that users have a seamless experience as they use the app across multiple devices, and they don’t need to relearn the design every time. 

3. Establish a Visual Hierarchy

As a UX designer, you need to clearly establish a visual hierarchy on every screen. A quick glance at the page should tell users everything they need to know about what’s important and what’s not.

Bigger buttons are more important than smaller buttons. An icon that’s a different color than every other clickable icon on the screen is meant to stand out. These are the types of design patterns that you need to incorporate into your project.

Here’s one example to showcase this point:

For example, certain colors can make it challenging for colorblind users to distinguish one button from another. Or maybe something like enabling low light settings can make it easier for someone to use the app. 

Design Element	Challenge	Solution
Color	Colorblind users may struggle to distinguish buttons	Use high contrast colors
Lighting	Low visibility in bright environments	Enable low light settings

Screen readers, labels, and other tools can be used to ensure nobody is hindered by the design choices.

Helping users avoid mistakes is one of the most important UX design principles to consider. 

For example, imagine if clicking on a product automatically facilitates a purchase in a single click. If a user accidentally clicks the wrong button, it could cost them money.

Scenario	Potential Issue
Single-click purchase	Accidental purchase costing money
App for building important documents	Single button erasing all work

This would obviously not lead to a positive user experience.

That’s why you need to get confirmations like “are you sure you want to delete this?” Even a simple “confirm order” button during the checkout process can get the job done.

So don’t forget these types of actions when you’re designing the app using a professional prototyping tool.

Final Thoughts — What’s the Most Important UX Design Principle?

There is no single most important UX design principle. You need to take all of these concepts into consideration when you’re designing an app.

If you need help or more inspiration, we have an entire library of design resources that you can reference. It covers everything from app design tools to branding, how-to basics, ebooks, and more.

Alternatively, you can lean on BuildFire and pass your entire design process off to the experts. 

With BuildFire Plus, our team can handle all of the app design and development on your behalf. We’ll work with you on wireframes, prototypes, and mockups to ensure we’re on the same page. Then we’ll take your ideas and bring them to life. 

Schedule a free consultation to learn more and get started.