Efficiently Enhancing Mobile App Through Redesigning: A Complete Guide
What Is an App Redesign?
You can think of the mobile app redesign process as a major transformation. It is like one of those MTV shows where you take someone’s car that looks absolutely miserable and can’t even function and change it, and it is almost brand new with these fun colors and lights. An app redesign is the process of changing the look and feel of an app entirely. This includes changing the designs, layouts, colors, branding, icons, features, etc. Through this comprehensive process, organizations and businesses are able to unlock new potential for their apps, as the user experience they offer is much better than before.
Organizations and businesses casually need to conduct such processes every now and then. This is because all these businesses from different industries are always on the run to adapt to the ever-evolving world and users’ needs.
When Does an App Need a Redesign Process?
As we mentioned before, businesses and app owners may always need to think about the mobile app redesign process. But, in addition to adapting to the fluctuating market needs, what could be the reason that they need to do this? Great question! Businesses and app owners indeed have a plethora of reasons why they could redesign their apps. So, let us explore the most common reasons that you would find on the market.
Getting Negative User Feedback
As we all know, feedback is always a major part of applications. Applications are based on user-centric designs, layouts, and features, so it is no surprise that they have to abide by user feedback.
Consistently negative user feedback about the app's UI, functionality, or performance is an indicator that a redesign may be in order. Some businesses even start conducting surveys after getting a lot of negative feedback to get a full picture of the problems that they are facing. That is why reviews in app stores, questions about customer service, and feedback from surveys should get all your attention.
Outdated Design
We can find a new design trend and layout literally every second. The rapid development of interfaces and systems always inspires the emergence of new visuals, design trends, and strategies. The visual design of your app could use an update if it appears dated in comparison to other apps or if it doesn't adhere to current design trends. Apps that look and feel modern and appealing tend to have a larger user base. And this is why many apps turn to redesigning their apps following new design trends.
Low User Retention
Do many users leave and don’t stick to your app long enough? Then you probably need a mobile app redesign process. When your app has a high rate of new users but a low rate of returning users, it means that people are trying it out but not finding enough value to keep using it. In this case, you’d need to alter some of the existing features and find out what is causing the problem. The level of engagement and loyalty of your users can always be boosted with a redesign.
Compatibility Issues
Every minute or two, you will probably hear about a new operating system update release. This makes it hard for developers, as these releases might have fundamental changes that would require a redesign. Additionally, the new releases of smartphones with different requirements also add to this problem. In order to keep your app running smoothly on multiple platforms, you should redesign it as soon as it stops being compatible with new devices, OS updates, or screen sizes.
Slow Performance
Performance issues are always a pain in the neck for many users, as they compromise the whole experience for them and induce major dissatisfaction. Users have high standards for app performance. A redesign can fix performance issues and make your app more stable if it has slow loading times, unresponsive interactions, or crashes frequently.
Changing Business Goals
Businesses are always on the run to adapt to new market needs. This includes changing the vision, mission, and, most importantly, business goals. You may need to redesign your app if your company's business objectives or intended users have changed. Adjustments to the app's features and interface, for instance, may be necessary when transitioning from a consumer-focused app to a business-to-business model.
Competition
The app market has one of the most fierce competitions ever. In order to stay competitive in the market, you may want to reconsider your app's current design if the competition is releasing apps with more cutting-edge features, more satisfying user experiences, or more visually appealing designs.
New Technologies
Lastly, the most important reason you should redesign an app is the emergence of new technologies. Mobile app redesign may be necessary to take advantage of newly available technologies or platforms, such as augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), or wearables. This is an ideal and effective way to attract a larger audience and improve the user experience.
The Significance and Importance of an App Redesign Process
Enhancing The User Experience
Redesigning an app often happens to boost the value of the user experience. Keeping your app up-to-date is crucial for making sure it remains intuitive and enjoyable to use as user expectations change and competitors start releasing more user-friendly apps.
Staying Ahead of Competition
Because of how quickly technology and design trends can shift, users may look elsewhere if your app appears dated or lacks modern features. Maintaining market relevance and competitiveness requires constant redesign to keep your app on the line.
Bug Fixes and Performance Improvements
The stability and performance of an app can deteriorate over time. A more stable and responsive app is often the result of a detailed examination and optimization of the codebase, which is part of any redesign process.
Feature Expansion
An app's functionality and features may need to be upgraded as it gains more users. A redesign allows these updates to be seamlessly incorporated into the app's existing architecture and layout. This can make your users hooked, as you'd have the unique selling point of keeping up with all new features.
Rebranding and Image Enhancement
Any business might need a major transformation at some point. This includes the colors, logo, vision, etc. If your business rebrands or updates its visual identity, the app should be updated as well to ensure a continuous experience for users across all channels.
Adapting to New Devices and Platforms
To stay competitive as new devices and operating systems emerge, you must test your app extensively across multiple platforms. Redesigning makes sure that your app accommodates new screen sizes, resolutions, and device capabilities.
User Feedback Incorporation
Improvements can only be as good as the feedback received from users. Users can provide valuable feedback during redesigns, which can then be used to implement improvements that better meet their needs and preferences. And by incorporating such feedback, you are creating a loyal and strong user base in return.
Increasing Accessibility and Inclusivity
Redesigns present possibilities to improve accessibility features. This opens up your app to a wider variety of users to a great extent and makes it more accessible to everyone without running into any difficulties.
Security and Privacy Enhancements
Over time, both the nature of cyber threats and users' need for privacy and security measures have grown more urgent. The latest security and privacy best practices can be incorporated into a redesign to better secure user information and sustain trust.
App Redesigning Examples That Will Inspire You
There are some major app redesign examples and case studies that really can blow your mind. These apps went from being basic apps with limited functions and interfaces to robust apps with visually appealing interfaces that millions of users use.
The first and most subtle redesign example is Instagram. If you remember the early design of Instagram, it had this skeuomorphic design and only included three colors, which were blue, brown, and beige. However, a few years later, Instagram underwent a great transformation in terms of design, layout, and features. For the design, Instagram relied on a modern, minimal layout that made the app very visually appealing. They also included more dark and light, which really elevated the user experience. In addition, the app enhanced the features by adding features like Instagram stories, Shop, and many more.
The second example is Uber. The transformation and redesign that Uber went through were exceptional and very effective. The app went all the way to minimalism after sticking with an extremely professional design that lacked any engaging elements. The new Uber design relies on a user-friendly design and interface that creates a unique experience. The app also included flat illustrations that gave the app great and engaging vibes.
Spotify is the final app redesigning example. Spotify is a music streaming app that is favored by millions of people. The app also relied on the skeuomorphism that was very popular in the last few years. Spotify adopted the neumorphism design primarily in 2020 for all elements of the app. They also implemented many personalization options in addition to algorithmic systems that made precise recommendations to users. The app's interface was simplified to place more emphasis on user-created playlists, podcasts, and customization. Redesign goals included making the app more visually appealing, streamlining the user experience, and increasing user engagement with music and podcasts.
Exploring the Exciting Process of Mobile App Redesign
Setting Goals
The first step in redesigning an app is always setting goals. This process is all about establishing new goals that can solve what your app couldn’t accomplish. And that is why it is important to set a list of goals that you need to follow to not fall into the mistakes of the past.
Analyzing Competitors
The next step of the redesigning process is analyzing competitors. As one of the main reasons why developers go through this process is because of competitors, it is logical that they should fully analyze them. This includes getting a better picture of their strategies, technologies, features, and tactics to be able to outdo them or at least be able to compete.
Gathering User Feedback and Reviews
One of the most important steps in this process is gathering user feedback and reviews. As we mentioned earlier, a large number of bad reviews could get you into some serious problems. Developers can’t experience applications the same way that users do. That is because, in the end, they know everything and how to get around fully since they created it. Gathering feedback about the pinpoints of the app will help developers see things from different perspectives and avoid overlooking some details that may be major to users. This will lead to a more effective redesign of the product with a robust result.
Establishing a Redesign Strategy
The next step is developing a mobile app redesign strategy. This strategy will comprehensively include everything that developers need to alter. For instance, it will have the list of features that need to be added, the layout and design direction they are going for, and many more. It is briefly a detailed plan of where to go, add, change, and how exactly they should accomplish all that.
Wireframing and Prototyping
I know this is a lot, but we are one step closer to the end. This step is all about wireframing and prototyping. Now that developers know what they should do, they have to apply it and try it out to get a glimpse of the final product. Wireframing and prototyping are two processes that include creating mockups of applications with all the added modifications that developers can interact with and try to ensure their effectiveness. Wireframing and prototyping are mainly used for visuals, interfaces, and layouts, but they could be used to showcase features as well as high-fidelity mockups.
Conducting User Testing
One step closer. This step is all about conducting user testing. Wireframing and prototyping are also considered types of testing. However, they don’t also provide the complete experience that users will go through later; it is more of a showcase. User testing is getting a group of real users, who can be existing users of your app, and allowing them to test the app initially. They get to experience everything, from the interface to new features, visuals, etc.
Developing and Releasing The Revamped App
We have reached the end! Phew, that was one hell of a process. The last step is definitely developing and releasing the newly redesigned app. After either getting a straight-up greenlight from the user testing, or getting some red flags and making additional alterations, developers can start developing and releasing the app. Now, all users can enjoy a new and revamped application where they can find everything they asked for.
The Ultimate Question: Is It Easier to Redesign an App With No-Code?
So, let us put this question in a better way: is redesigning an application using no code easier than redesigning using traditional development? In a straight answer, definitely!
Since mobile app redesign can happen to all elements of the app like features, layout, design, visuals, icons, etc. Redesigning would be a tedious process if using the traditional method of development. That is because making adjustments to such elements, especially features, would also require major alterations in codes. This, of course, would require much effort, time, and money
Now, compared to the other side, No-code development relies greatly on pre-installed and established features that only need to be dragged and dropped into the application. This makes it much easier to redesign the whole app, as the process can take only hours. To further explain, let us put an example using the nandbox app builder.
Now, you have created your application using the nandbox app builder. Everything is sunshine for a while, but you can see that the app is not gaining the expected return. By analyzing some of the feedback, you can see that you have some problems with your features and layout. You go through the normal redesigning process with the goals, competitor analysis, wireframing, and everything else. When it is time to implement those changes, it is as easy as pie.
All you have to do is change your layout using the branding section, add or remove features using the drag-and-drop interface, and release the new version with a simple click! Impressive, isn’t it?
Now that you know which is easier, the answer to this question is definitely no-code (specifically, the nandbox app builder)