I have been living in Hyderabad since Aug 2013 and have been exposed to different Biryanis. But when it comes to consistency and meeting expectations nothing is as good as ‘Paradise Biryani’.

A colleague of mine ordered Biryani today in the office cafe when i was enjoying the leftovers of yesterday’s biryani for lunch. He got a stale biryani and had to return it. I started wondering why is it hard for the rest of them to copy what Paradise does, after all anyone can buy the affordable biryani and do a bit of digging in to understand what makes Paradise biryani stand out.

I had a realization that this is true when it comes to the world of mobile apps. Cool functionality are hidden behind bad layouts and interactions leading to poor uptake.

As far as apps are concerned, the points below can help you make the most out of good UX out there.

1. Understand the context

When you see a great layout and want to borrow the pattern for your designs understand its not always possible; especially when designing you are design for enterprise solutions where the functionality takes precedence over experience.
Install the app and play around; Understand the context in which it works, know the before and after views. This exercise helps tailor specific layouts to suit your needs.

2. Invest time in building your own pattern library

There are great many mobile patterns on web which can come in handy as reference. It always worth while to put together your own bunch of personal favorites and keep building the same. In time, you will have a personal pattern library to refer to; annotate the screen, write notes. Pinterest can definitely help but, a slide deck or OneNote lets you do more than just putting it up. Annotations are powerful.
www.pttrns.com
www.mobile-patterns.com
www.inspired-ui.com
www.appreciateui.com/

3. Animations and transitions – subtle but powerful

Simple animations/transitions can enhance the user experience a great deal. Animations can provide subtle cues to the task at hand.
Example: Do you remember the animation for the ‘Compose’ view in your mail apps?
Most email clients follows the ‘Cover up’ Animation and on completion its ‘reveal down’. This can be borrowed on many enterprise apps where creation follows similar pattern.

Understand Mobile Design is more than great layout.

On a different note, Enterprise solutions can incrementally add complexity to its product line. This may not be possible always, but when you can offer.

Never let

Secondary features hamper primary functionality

Have i missed any points ? Let me know..

We are surrounded by Great Biryani in Hyderabad