Every day a lot of apps are being published with somewhat similar concepts. From dating apps to taxi booking apps there are numerous applications but most of them struggle to find and retain users.

User engagement and retention is highly dependent on the user interface of any platform. These days, when user attention span is in sub-seconds, it has become imperative than ever before to deploy design techniques that will help users scan and get the most information from any platform in the shortest possible time.

Below are some of the user interface design techniques that help in keeping users engaged on your platform.

Streamline design and fonts

Using minimal and sustainable designs and typography represents a professional and clean app or a website. The choice of designing, layouts, alignment choices and fonts all work together to improve user experience and portray strong image of professionalism.

An interactive website design does not have to be flashy or even striking to the viewers. The most effective modern website designs actually make use of open space, fluidity and simple organization to connect with visitors. For websites with a clean design, converting visitors into leads is all part of a functional, seamless user experience.

Show context-specific information and visuals

The main goal of any platform is to provide relevant information to its users. And this is can be only achieved when a platform has a clear order of how visuals are presented to make content comprehensible. Removing of unnecessary flashy design to keep the attention focused on product content increases user engagement and retention. The main focus is to increase the quality of content, and also improving visual elements so as to keep the reader focused. Making proper use of white spaces to give content some breathing room helps grab user attention. Video content at the right places like training videos can also increase engagement.

Animate the wait time and use progressive image loading

An instant response from any platform is the best. But there are always times when your platform can provide slow response. In order to minimize user abandoning the app or website, you must reassure the users that the app is working on their request in the background. Animating the wait through progress or load spinner provides system status to the user. Similarly techniques like progressive image loading is useful to provide quick visuals. Some other techniques like showing the dominant color of the image into the image box or an outline matching the streaming content messages while content is loading provides instant visual feedback while the user is waiting.

Show progress towards goal

When taking users through a long process of filling multiple fields, always show progress indicators so users know how far they are from completing it. Such indicators provide predictability and allows user to set aside enough time to complete the process.

Customize and personalize

The main goal of customization and personalization is to deliver the content that matches specific user needs or interests.

Customization is done by the user and it involves moving items around an interface to reflect the users’ priorities and interests, whereas personalization is done by the system being used and can be done at different levels be it at the individual level, or at group or audience level.

Both customization and personalization show content and features to specific characteristics of users, so that different visitors see different things on the same page.

Humanize digital experiences

User interfaces using text chat bots and voice assistants that mimic natural human conversations are more engaging than traditional form-based user interfaces. Such user interface design requires deep understanding of natural language interactions so as to guide user through proper choices without causing confusion.

This article is a part of series of articles related to Design Thinking and User Experiences. At 47Billion, we specialize in helping companies build awesome products. If you are looking for an experienced team to build your solutions, please contact us at hello@47billion.com.