Developments in the world of mobile app development are happening at the rate of knots. There is something happening daily whether it’s in the realm of programming, applicability or something else. Today, mobile applications have tremendous scope and are being used to satisfy many different requirements, including the needs of business organizations.

Less than a decade or so ago, the very thought of using such applications for satisfying certain specific business needs and requirements would have sounded like a flight of fancy. But not anymore! The situation is such that there are plenty of organizations that have moved on to being mobile app dependent as compared to being enterprise desktop dependent.

Replacing Enterprise Desktop

The enterprise desktop was the old warhorse that no matter what the challenge, could always meet the demands made from it. Nobody ever expected it to be relegated to the backseat and the fact that this has happened has come as a shock to many people. But, the transition from an enterprise desktop to a mobile app is very logical and driven by business necessities. The increasing affinity of business for mobile apps is a result of the increasing sophistication of mobile phones especially smartphones. They are highly miniaturized versions of a desktop, performing the same functions, but with the added advantage of mobility.

Mobile OS are becoming more enterprise friendly

The BlackBerry OS was always focused on the needs of the organization and the business user. But, now even companies like Apple have an iOS Enterprise Developer Program, which is focused on helping companies not only host but also distribute iOS application through the iTunes store to its employees. At the same time this program also offers engineering support. Developers now have the opportunity and resources to bring to life business centric applications that have all the functionalities and features that were associated with native business apps. In fact, many mobile apps tend to go one up over the existing native apps.

Diverse Applicability

Mobile applications are being used by businesses across diverse domains, irrespective of their size. Both big and small enterprises are using mobile apps for everything right from offering field support to supply chain management and procurement. In fact there are some companies that operate their very own in-house app store that helps their employees’ access the apps that enable them perform their business functions in the best possible manner. The fact that everyone is carrying a mobile device these days means they are emerging as decision making tools, decisions that are facilitated by the use of specific mobile apps. They have made data more accessible and its use more engaging, simple and highly interactive. This is helping increase productivity and in turn improving revenue generation.

Choice of Platforms

Whatever the mobile OS, a successful enterprise application can be built on the same. So, if you want to build an application for Android phones, android application development will help you configure an app that is not only secure but also structurally sound enough to handle the needs of the particular business process that you need it for. Just about every phone manufacturer is turning its smartphone into a universal enterprise tool and more and more businesses are making use of such tools in order to become more nimble footed as far as decision making is concerned, and also more competitive. And it is mobile applications that are the driving force of this usability.

For many, an ecommerce shopping cart is more about its design, visual impression, and easy navigability than anything else. But, a successful website selling products and services is not just a product of giving importance to these three elements. Quite obviously a lot of its success depends on these elements, but there are also other elements that are doing their bit to encourage shoppers to buy from the site. Efficient ecommerce website development is a coming together of diverse elements that make for a site that is the absolute word in attracting visitors and also ensuring high sales figures.

One such element is the call-to-action button. Let’s take a look at how the design and placement of call-to action buttons is important for helping online shoppers take a call regarding the products and services on a site.

Size does Matter

A lot of forethought and planning later, ecommerce website designers have come to one important conclusion regarding call to action buttons – Size is important as it attracts user attention! Now, you might wonder why something as obvious as this needed a prolonged thought process. Well, the answer lies in not ‘overdoing it’ when it comes to such buttons. Designers were worried that large call to action buttons will only serve to send the wrong message to online shoppers. But, concerted and sustained thinking, threw up an answer - The size of call to action buttons must be bigger in relation to the other elements that surround it, enough to give an indication of its importance. But, the button mustn’t be so big that it creates a negative impact. Online shoppers are a notoriously impatient bunch of people and it’s only the larger size of a call to action button, in relation to the various other design elements on the web page, that can help grab their attention. In some of the better ecommerce websites out there, you will find that, at times, the call-to-action buttons get more prominence than the website logo.

Another thing, there might be a case where there are more than one call to action buttons on a particular page. The size of the button also helps distinguish the important call to action buttons from the rest.

The Placement Dilemma

Prominence of a call to action button can also be achieved with placement. Now, most designers face this problem of position as the placement must be done in a way that compliments the overall design of the website. If you want to draw the attention of website visitors to the call to action buttons, these buttons must be placed in their line of vision. One such location is the top of the page. If the call to action button is placed right on top of the page, there is no way in the world that it is going to be missed. But, again the focus should be on placement that does not impact the other elements at the top of the web page.

Another favorably regarded placement area is right in the middle of the layout. Don’t worry, if your call to action button appears right at the center of the page, you really don’t have to ensure that it is large in size or has some other distinguishing factor. Such buttons also stand out, if they are not as large as the other design elements of the page. So, don’t use those color contrasts for providing differentiation. If they placed right in the thick of things, they will stand out no matter what their size or color.

 Ecommerce website designers are a harried lot these days. With more and more businesses opening shops online, designers are being asked to come up with unique designs that don’t just help create a powerful online presence, but a highly effective sales presence as well. Online merchants want their ecommerce website to play a dual role that can be defined in two words – Attract and Convert.

These two words can look and sound innocuous enough but they shouldn’t be taken at their face value. They hide great depths and the design of any ecommerce website must be able to explore these depths. A designer or a designing team that is in charge of crafting an ecommerce website must be aware of certain crucial aspects that will go a long way in helping them build a website that not only attracts visitors but also converts them into customers.

Knowledge of the products/services up for sale

It is the products or services that are going to be sold on the website, which play a huge part in determining the design of the website. As a designer, it’s your knowledge about them, their visual strengths and weaknesses, their color, shape etc. that will help you determine your ecommerce website’s design. Say, the website is selling bright colorful clothes for kids. The design must be aligned with the products on offer and use bright colors and textures that are a USP of the products that are being sold on the site. Using dull colors isn’t going to be able to highlight the product in the best possible manner. Let’s take another example of a website offering legal services. Garish colored images, bright background etc. are just not going to suit the purpose of this site at all. The designer needs to know about the colors, design elements and visual triggers that a website visitor expects from a website selling legal services.

Therefore, knowledge is paramount.

Understanding the Purpose

If there is anything that decides the fate of all ecommerce solutions, it’s their levels of customer engagement. When it comes to ecommerce websites, there are numerous options that an online shopper can choose from and it’s only an engaging website that can capture the attention of the user and nothing else. When a shopper lands up on a site, he/she should immediately be taken in by it and over the course of time, they must be so engaged that they end up buying the products and services up for sale on the site. If the site doesn’t engage and hold the online shoppers attention for a sufficient period of time, there are all chances of the prospective customer closing the website and moving on to some other site that is far more engaging.

So, in effect its customer engagement, that helps determine the success or failure of the ecommerce website and nothing else. So, let’s take a look at the various elements that have a bearing on the site’s engaging nature.

A Niche Driven Blog

Why not integrate a blog with your ecommerce website? Say your website is selling a casual clothing line focusing primarily on Tees and Jeans. You could have a blog that offers information on the Tees and Jeans worn by celebrities and discuss your opinions on the same. This makes for an interesting read. I have come across plenty of ecommerce sites that have a blog, but all that the blog talks about are the various discounts and coupons available on the website, and nothing else. This doesn’t make for an engaging read. So, it’s important to get out of the cubbyhole and think different. If you are selling cakes, use a blog to talk about the various types of cakes available for special occasions such as weddings, corporate celebrations etc, if you are selling stationery, talk about the latest developments taking place and the choices available, but not necessarily available on your site and so on and so forth. The key is to make the blog as interesting as possible.

Engaging Products Details Page

What does a shopper need for a product details page? The answer is information about the products. You now have a choice. You can offer this information in the usually tried and tested manner that is not bad, but cannot be considered engaging by any stretch of the imagination or you can try to do something different. You can start off by making the page more intuitive. One of the simplest ways of doing this is by highlighting the various important features of a particular product. You can also offer some great product images to shoppers that help them view the product in great detail. A great product image also helps you attract a shopper’s attention to a product. You can also offer a nice little description that is both unique and something that the users will enjoy reading. You can be selling something as boring as wooden planks, but a well written description can even make them sound interesting.

Reviews and Ratings

The power of both positive and negative reviews cannot be ignored. Yes, ‘reviews’ do help make the ecommerce website more engaging. And yes, even negative reviews do their bit to not only prop up the engagement quotient, but also to improve website credibility. The fact that a series of negative reviews is put up on a website, tells prospective shoppers that the merchants isn’t afraid of criticism and takes it constructively. This improves credibility, which prompts shoppers to take a closer look at the website’s products and services. Even online shoppers need a channel through which they can narrate their experience of using a product or service, whether good or bad. The ability to post reviews directly on the website presents such an option and in turn helps the website become more interactive and engaging.

There might be some shoppers who don’t want to spend time offering their review of a product, but wouldn’t mind giving the product or service a rating. This is yet another way of improving the engagement quotient of site, and that too in a way that doesn’t interrupt the shopping process in any way or form.

In Conclusion

As can be imagined, this is not the be all and end all of the various elements that make for an engaging ecommerce website. There are many other website development factors that are responsible for improving the interactivity, intuitiveness and user engagement of a website. Different ecommerce websites demand different levels of engagement, which must be put in place only after identifying the expectations of the target users.

The design of a web application determines its levels of user experience. No web design whether it is for a web or mobile application is perfect. Some of these mistakes can be glossed over by designers and developers while others can’t. But, there are certain mistakes or designing pitfalls that need to be avoided at all costs.

Let’s take a look at five common web application design mistakes that if avoided can ensure a design that offers a very high level of satisfying user experience.

1. Thinking a Prototype is the same as the Final Design: The interesting bit about this mistake is that it is the designing mavens who are usually accused of making it. The problem begins at the very beginning of the design process, when the designers are working on the web application wireframe. They are so good at both ‘lo fi’ and ‘hi fi’ wireframe that they believe that the prototype they have developed is as good as the finished product. Let’s face it. It is their ego at work here. They are not willing to question the fact that there might be some polishing required to the prototype before the process of creating the actual design can be undertaken. A prototype is all that the design is going to look like but it is not the actual design in itself.  A web application has both a GUI, as well as, a backend and a prototype doesn’t suffice for both. But, it’s a mistake that many designers tend to make.
    
2. Design Inconsistencies: Inconsistent design is a mistake that plagues many web and mobile applications. When it comes to mobile application development, where the margin for making designing errors is minuscule at best, such inconsistencies become glaring. Inconsistent methods of displaying data cause problems with user experience, which is never a good idea for any web application, whatever the platform. Some designers tend to ignore the well documented user interface guidelines of major platforms, which leads to major designing errors. This is illustrated by problems in the lexical units of the UI, such as scroll bars, command links, check boxes etc.
    
3. A Visual Blow Out: Something that even the most experienced designers are susceptible to, is a problem known as overdesign, which leads to two basic problems – It takes the users for granted in terms of them appreciating visuals over functionality and it also leads to concept overkill. Whatever the designing convictions that drive your approach towards design, it’s important that they follow some of the common design and usability conventions in place. Over-blown visuals tend to make the application look more complicated than it actually is which affects its usability. So, in an attempt to help an application stand out from the crowd by ensuring it looks different, the design actually has an opposite effect.
    
4. Focus on non-conventional approach – This is a problem if you allow it to become one. There is no harm in giving your own take to the design of an application. But, it doesn’t make sense to entirely break from conventions. If you want your web application to be intuitive, it needs to have a design that looks familiar. This helps users recognize its parts and ensures that they are able to optimize its use. There is absolutely no doubt that breaking conventions when it comes to web application design only works if, it’s not implemented throughout your app. It’s important to understand that users have never seen your web application before and its first look must serve to comfort them rather than confuse them.
    
5. Thinking like a Designer:  Designing doesn’t work if a designer thinks from the perspective of a designer. As a designer, you won’t think twice about adding a certain design element that is complex and isn’t very user friendly. The fact that a designer is able to understand the design is of very little consequence. It’s the users who must be able to understand it. Designers, right from the time they work on the wireframe up to the time they come out with the final design, must put themselves in the shoes of the user. They must design a particular web application from the user’s perspective. This fact remains true for mobile application development as well. At every stage of the designing process, they must ask themselves one essential question, “Will the user understand this particular feature/element”? If there are any doubts in their minds, they must rework the design element to ensure that it meets the needs of the user.

These are five mistakes that many web application designers are prone to making. These can be avoided with very little effort, which in turn ensures that the application is truly cutting edge and in line with the expectations of the users and the clients.