2023 Best Android App Design Award

The best android app design, is the fruit of ClearSummit’s partnership with AvePoint Public Sector to relaunch the City of Richmond’s city services mobile app. ClearSummit worked with AvePoint in managing the redesign and rebuilding of the public and internal web portals of what used to be an out-of-date mobile application.

Android app design

Best practices

  • While it’s true that app design awards demand creativity, you shouldn’t try to reinvent the wheel when it comes to designing a functional, streamlined app.
  • You should always follow what has traditionally worked and what users are familiar with.
  • Most successful apps all have similar designs and they follow a matching ruleset. For starters, focus on smooth navigation throughout the app.
  • Ensure the actions are recognized, minimize the need for typing and most importantly keep it simple.

Navigation

  • The general rule of thumb is to optimize your app design for one-handed navigation.
  • The fact that two-thirds of the global population’s interaction with smartphones were managed with a thumb says enough.
  • Put the most critical and often used buttons in the thumb-friendly zone. Those that are smaller and close together are difficult to tap and are prone to errors.
  • You don’t want your users to feel frustrated, so place them accordingly. Understanding the differences between screen sizes is also critical.

Inclusivity

  • Designers behind award-winning apps consider the totality of the prospective community.
  • Left-handed people comprise approximately 12% of the world’s population.
  • Usually, when users hold their phones, the bottom half of the screen holds all the important elements and actions reachable by the thumb.
  • Right-handed users access the bottom-right side of the phone while left-handed ones do the opposite.

Engagement

  • While we have already touched upon these, it’s imperative to note that app design is a perfect vessel to let your creativity shine.
  • While your new app obviously requires text, you want to adorn it with lots of fun, visual elements to make it pop.
  • Go one step further and include animation and interactive elements to highlight a particular feature within the app.
  • Visuals are what ultimately make your app easier on the eyes.

Reliability

  • Some level of restraint must be exercised to ensure you don’t go overboard and make your app lag under all the weight.
  • If the design idea is too complex, the app will take more time to load and by extension skyrocket your bounce rate with every passing second.
  • There’s nothing more frustrating from the users’ point of view than an unresponsive app. 
  • Even if a page needs more time to load than is recommended there should be an exciting, moving symbol or something to show that it’s being refreshed.
  • Making sure that the user actions are clearly and instantly recognized also creates the illusion that a page is loading faster than it does.

Conclusion

The end result is an app that’s been lauded by the city government and residents alike. It has increased transparency of city services and made it easier for residents to get the help they need.