Website Design

5 Common Mobile App Development Mistakes to Avoid – 2020 Guide

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Been thinking of a good idea for a mobile application is easy these days. The market is massive. There always be a type of customer that will be interested in a certain kind of application. But, thinking innovating something unique or thinking of an idea is not actually be hard part creating an application. The hard part is the mobile app development or finding someone that will do that part of the process for you. There are so many common mistakes that a lot of developers make when creating a mobile app.

When talking about common mistakes, there are probably thousands of them. One way or another, you will make those mistakes. But, that is not always a bad thing. The best way to learn mobile app development is if you make mistakes along the way. That is completely healthy and normal for any business. But, there are some mistakes or problems that can set you back financially and with time. Considerable setbacks that are very difficult to come from. Especially, if you are working with a tighter budget or if you have a start-up company.

To help you make this part of this entire project a little less stressful and smoother, I decided to write a 2020 guide for the most common mobile app development mistakes that you have to avoid. Make sure you read through the entire article to understand why avoiding them is so important.

Source:alphalogicinc.com

Making the UI similar to a desktop program

Whenever I download applications from the PlayStore, I noticed that developers always make that same mistakes that ruins the experience for me. Obviously, this is my personal experience, but I also believe that objectively has an impact on the experience of an average user.

You are creating something that needs to be optimized as much as you can for a small device such as a tablet or phone. Everything you know about desktop UI, you can forget about that. Of course, there are some elements that are the same or very similar between these two platforms, but most of them are not.

So, if you want a smooth UX for everyone, I would suggest focusing on creating something that will be functional for phones and not for larger moderators such as computers or laptops.

Copying the website design/style/UX

Source:jswebdesign.in.rs

Online websites are very useful but only when you are working from a laptop or a desktop. Once you open up the website from a phone or tablet, the whole experience is much worse. It is not too bad, especially the website has been optimized for phones, but it can never be good as an application.

Applications are made for users that prefer or completely rely on mobile devices. The entire point of these programs is to make the access toward certain services and products be easier for customers that try to buy from their phones.

Have you ever tried to check out on any kind of website on your smartphone? If you have then you probably know that the entire checkout experience is not exactly smooth.

However, when trying to make the user experience smoother and better by creating an application that will completely replace the website for certain devices, it is very important not to copy the websites UX, its design and style. In fact, you should aim to make it as different as possible from your webpage.

People are coming to use this app because they hope it will provide better UX. They did not download it to be greeted by that same UX and the same design.

If you are having trouble getting creative and creating an application that will be a lot more unique and different from your website, you should probably consider hiring a professional team that can help you develop an iOS, Android, or a web app as suggested by EGO Creative.

With the help of a professional team, I am sure that you will not make these common mistakes.

Long animations

Source:themmit.com

Almost every developer I know loves the idea of creating animations that are satisfying to look at, smooth, and very stylish in some unique way. They believe that such a complex animation makes for a better UX. And sure, that is true. Well-designed animations make users happy.

However, there is a certain threshold that should never be overstepped. This is not my opinion or something subjective, this is entirely subjective. That threshold is about the length of animations. Sure, they are pretty, but if they are too long, they can easily become frustrating to users, especially when they are applied to mobile applications.

That is why it is so important to avoid making animation that lasts too long. Otherwise, you might actually lose a lot of your clients just because of this.

Developing only for Android or only for iOS

These days, I regularly see that developers are planning to build an application for either one or the other platforms. Not often do you see someone planning to push the release for both Android and iOS. I know it is probably less work to build apps for two different platforms, but you also have the possibility to obtain twice the number of customers.

So, if you do have a plan to release on both of these operating systems, I would suggest that you do it at the same time. You should not prefer one operating system over the other because that might have an impact on your customers. Everyone deserves the same treatment.

Too many features

Most developers want to make their own mobile application with rich with as many features as possible. But, in reality, there is no need for them. Cluttering a nap with unnecessary features will only make it slower and very unresponsive. So, keep it simple and if there is a need for such a feature in the future, you can always add it later.

As you can see, there are a lot of jumps and hoops that you need to get through during app development, but if you avoid these mistakes, I am sure that everything will go smoothly.

Drupal for Business: Undeniable Benefits 

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Today, businesses need well-designed websites that work flawlessly on any device. Without an online presence, impressive sales are unattainable. Drupal 8 is a powerful system used by hundreds of corporations and small businesses worldwide. With this CMS, the creation and management of content is a breeze.

Businesses that use Drupal enjoy growing revenue, as clients are attracted to their sleek sites and apps. Cutting-edge development solutions from Gole.ms are impressively profitable. As many popular programming languages are supported, the potential for digital expansion is undeniable. This is not limited to the internal market. Drupal allows you to add languages with ease and extend business for the foreign partners. This is one of the many benefits delivered.

1. Improved SEO 

Source:groupknots.com

Websites are promoted through Search Engine Optimization. This set of tools and practices is aimed at pushing sites to the top of the Google ranking. This means users see your brand in their search results when they type in a relevant keyword. Higher positions translate into boosted traffic and revenue.

Google ranking is based on a sophisticated system. If your site uses on HTML5, it automatically ranks higher. This is because its subject is more easily deciphered by the algorithm. As Drupal 8 and Drupal 9 supports HTML5, the advantages are clear.

Drupal allows you to create efficient URLs based on the content. In the past, URLs like “abc.com?p=news&id=123” were common. Now, SEO-friendly addresses look like “abc.com/news/article-title.” These URLs are preferred by search engines. An automated module for Drupal called Pathauto generates special URLs that match the content they lead to. Overall, Drupal is one of the most SEO-friendly systems for content management. 

2. Sites Fast Loading

Source:androidcentral.com

Drupal 8 and Drupal 9 are highly optimized. They allow using the minimum efforts of the server. Powerful caching features and the BigPipe ensure speedy and smooth operation. As the cache stores the necessary data to re-use it for the next session, unchangeable elements (such as the corporate logo) remain immediately visible. As a result, pages are quick to load. 

Faster loading time brings two-fold benefits. On the one hand, users can browse through your catalog and place their orders quickly. Eventually, this results in higher revenue for your business. On the other hand, higher speeds contribute to customer satisfaction and loyalty. 

The connection has been confirmed by both Walmart and Amazon in two separate studies. This established correlation between page load speed and revenue. For Walmart, the latter rose by 1% for every 100ms of speed improvement. Amazon found out that an additional second of loading time may cause $1.6 billion in lost revenue. 

Consumers expect a website to load quickly. If it does not, they are likely to leave it. In a study conducted by Econsultancy, just under half (47%) of respondents said they expected to wait no longer than two seconds. Moreover, an overwhelming majority – 88% – of visitors faced with loading issues are less likely to make any purchase on the site in question. Drupal can ensure this does not happen to you. Today, page loading cannot be underestimated. 

3. Connection to Third-party Systems 

Source:abdulmoeedkhan.com

Online stores are conglomerations of diverse functions. A successful e-commerce site is connected to multiple third-party systems. These allow payments, control of inventory and management of orders, etc. 

A Drupal-based website can be easily integrated with multiple solutions, such as BigCommerce. The technology has been evolving to provide improved integration. In the past, it required contributed modules. Now, even the Drupal core gives opportunities for seamless integration. Drupal sites communicate with third-party applications through dedicated web services. Importantly, this works for any programming language or operating system.

Enjoy smooth communication with other systems and reach several goals at once. Thanks to CRM integration, employees cope with multiple tasks with minimal effort. Meanwhile, the payment gateway prompts visitors to spend more, and delivery services make your e-store their favorite. Drupal is powerful enough to cope with multiple areas at once: e-commerce, email marketing, relationships with clients, planning of enterprise resources, etc.

4. Easy Editing of Content and Features 

Source:userhelp.silverstripe.org

As the Drupal admin panel is so responsive, opportunities for customization are unlimited. Creators may perform in-line editing without leaving the page. Thanks to the modules, available images are easy to resize, and the media is embedded with little effort. The same applies to any layouts and blocks. 

In-line editing is an important benefit for content creators, as it saves time and effort. Previously, they would click through to every element they wanted to change. Now, editing is a piece of cake, as it is achieved directly from the front end. 

The Drupal Core includes a handy feature called Quick Edit. This allows content editing on the live website. Another core feature, CKEditor, has a special Media Embed Module. As the name suggests, its purpose is embedding of external resources (e.g., images, videos, tweets, etc.).

5. Engaging the Mobile Audience

Source:userhelp.silverstripe.org

Nowadays, consumers prefer to interact with companies via smartphones. Drupal is used for web-based and native apps for both iOS and Android. Thanks to REST API, communication between apps and sites is smooth. 

Portable solutions form the core of this system’s philosophy. Drupal is a convenient and flexible CMS, which means developers may create and enhance web resources with ease. Drupal-based sites are responsive and pleasing to the eye whatever the screen size. 

The Bottom Line

Drupal is an incredibly flexible and powerful CMS. Customization is simple, as features are easy to replace or add. Developed and enhanced by a global community of experts, Drupal 8 and new Drupal 9 have plenty of benefits. 

Businesses that build sites on Drupal are bound to see impressive results. Smooth navigation and quick loading not only contribute to visual appeal, but they also bring a revenue boost. With this system, companies grow their customer base quickly. Consumers order products and services through efficient sites and apps. They become repeat buyers, as their experience is enjoyable.

5 Free iMac Mockup Designs for the Workplace

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Professionally speaking, the iMac Mockup is the most professional way a web designer or web developer can showcase their digital output to a client. It helps that the iMac screen is large and so photos, texts and videos are magnified and become more attractive—that is if the web designs are attractive. Any faults or errors will also be magnified. But if you are already on the cusp of presenting the prototype of your digital output, then it is understood that you have already perfected the project. This means that only the positive aspects will be magnified.

There are a lot of free iMac mockup designs or layouts available online. This will provide a lot of versatility for a designer or a web developer to showcase their work. For designers who will be creating web designs that working people do, the iMac is going to be the ideal mockup subject because most workplaces work with a desktop. Even those who have home offices prefer to work with a desktop. So here are some of the best iMac mockups that showcase workplace settings.

1. Vintage Workplace Mockup

This is just perfect for any creative person. The layout of the mockup feels like a home office for a person that does design—mostly interior design. The free mockup features vintage-looking desk and chair with the iMac atop the table. There is also a design tablet lying down on the table. Completing the accessories on the work desk are the notebook and pen, book on the “History of Design,” some other books, more notebooks, a keyboard, and a sticky note on the screen. The wall also features some simple decorative sheets.
So if you are creating a website for an interior design company, or maybe you are offering a web application that an interior designer can very well use for work, then this is a mockup template that you can work with. Click here to get this and many other iMac mockups right now!

2. Clean and Minimal iMac Pro Mockup

Source:mockupworld.co

This iMac Pro mockup features a clean desk, the iMac Pro with keyboard and mouse, as well as a potted plant. This clearly evokes a paperless environment that values minimalism—no unnecessary items on the desk and definitely no paper documents, not even notebooks. It is professional and it is sophisticated.
Create a photorealistic iMac website depiction on this mockup using PSD file. It is just easier to edit that way, especially if you want to present more than just a landing page during the demonstration. Working on a mockup PSD means easy editing, especially when you have to convert the items into smart layers. This way, every editing done on smart objects will not affect the other layers.

3. iMac and MacBook Clay Mockups

If you are offering a minimalist look, which is best when you want to showcase the functionality of the website, then Ramotion has a great versatile collection for you: four iMac Clay mockups and four MacBook Clay mockups. You just have to find the right kind of layout for you to showcase your digital project. The mockups are all in high resolution and in black and white colors, which are the best ways to emphasize minimalism as both are technically not colors. The files are available in both Photoshop and Sketch, providing more flexibility. Smart objects are included.

4. iMac Home Office Workspace PSD Mockup

Source:psdmockups.com

A home office is just as important as a corporate office. The Apple iMac, of course, is the ideal technology for any office because of the power behind it. The large screen is the most basic advantage of having a desktop in an office. It is just easier to work when your fonts are large and the images and videos are clear. But the iMac is more than just a desktop with a large screen. It offers a Retina 4K display, which means that everything you see on the screen will be nothing short of spectacular. There are also 25 percent more available colors when it comes to the Apple iMac.

TechRadar reviews the 21.5-inch Apple iMac and calls it one of the hottest all-in-ones in the market. Indeed, the iMac provides a very professional look and will make a perfect technology for you to showcase your professional design. In this specific workspace mockup, the layout only consists of the iMac, the accompanying keyboard and mouse, atop a wooden desk. It is as simple as that. It is up to you to wow your audience with your creative and functional design.

5. Man at iMac in Home office Mockup

This will generally show how your website will look when a person is actually working on it. This provides a more professional feel and looks realistic. It would seem like the actual scene when the website is already live, and a person is using that website. This mockup comes in PSD file, which makes it easier for you to paste your design on the iMac screen in the photo-based mockup. The file also comes with a smart layer for easy editing.

There are other similar free mockups available online. This particular mockup shows a man working with the iMac. But if your website is more feminine, then there are other mockups that feature a working woman with a more feminine background. This is why a mockup is important. It doesn’t just help you showcase your design to clients, it also conveys the theme of your overall design.

Working with free iMac mockup

Source:colorlib.com

As a designer, you want to be able to concentrate on making the most extraordinary website design. The presentation aspect is just secondary. However, for a lot of businesses, being wowed during the presentation could be just as important. Website design can be improved through feedback. But a great presentation can actually mean getting the deal or not. Having free iMac mockup means getting the presentation aspect done in the shortest time possible. It will save you time and effort as you can just drag your design to the mockup templates. Because of the hundreds of designs online, you can even choose the best one that would fit the kind of design you want to impress upon clients.

What Makes a Good Website Design

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It is no news that there are generally two ways most people assess and determine how a good website design is. They are—first—usability (which addresses functionality, the effective presentation of information, and efficiency). And second, there is the purely aesthetic perspective, which is all about presentation, compelling animations, and hot graphics.

Some designers are usually more focused on the aesthetics and graphics that they forget about the user, while other usability professionals get caught up in their user testing that they give little or no thought to visual appeal. So to reach or capture the interest of a vast majority of people, it is essential to maximize both approaches. And if you are looking for a good program that will give you a proficient handle on that, then visit CareerFoundry.

Source:webalive.com.au

Communication

The most crucial thing to bear in mind when designing is that design is all about “communication.” If you go through the hurdles of creating a web site that functions and presents information well but looks bizarre or is in contrast to the customers brand, no one will be willing to patronize it, likewise, if you create a lovely web site that is not usable or readily accessible, the public may not be able to use it. In truth, the attributes and functionality of a well-made website design should work as a single harmonic unit so that users are immediately drawn and pleased with the design, but at the same time drawn to the content.

Reading Time

One significant concern for usability gurus is the time it takes for users to look at a page and deduce the information they want, be it a backlink to another page, a piece of content, or an offer page. The design should not be a stumbling block, but rather should act as a catalyst between the user and the information they are after.

Source:semrush.com

Navigation

A navigation block should be a clear and concise indicator that allows the user to know exactly how to browse your website. Imagine you are going on the road to an area you have never been to before without any road signs or map for that matter—there is no second-guessing that it will be more of a nightmare than an enjoyable trip. Similarly, when a new user is visiting your web site for the first time, he or she wants to be able to see the conspicuous navigation block that will allow for easy maneuverability on your web site environment.

Basically a navigation structure that not only changes appearance when the mouse is hovered above it but also one that indicates the active page, section or sequence in order to enable the users to know where they are and how to get to where they want to go (on your web site).

Fluidity

In the case where there is a big difference between the homepage and the rest of the site, a harmonious theme or pattern should cut across all the pages of the site to help hold the design structure together. It is understandable that sometimes the content blocks on some sites might be divided differently, but there should still be several visual indicators that let users know that these are pages from the same sites.

A trick to always achieving this unity is to make sure that there is a repetition of the identity and navigation blocks. And this can easily be achieved by using very limited colour palette like black, white, cyan and green in unifying the pages.

Containing block

All web pages often have a container. And these containers can be in the form of the page’s body tag, an all-encompassing div tag, or a table. It is obvious that without some sort of container, we would have no place to put the contents of our page. The attributes would float beyond the bounds of our browser window and off into the void.

The breadth of the container can be fluid, meaning that it expands to fill the width of the browser window or stationary, so that the content has a similar width no matter the size of the window.

Logo

Source:brandingstudio.co.uk

When designers make reference to an identity, they are often referring to the logo and colours that exist across an organisation’s various marketing forms, such as complementary business cards, letterhead, press releases, white papers, etc.

The identity block that is visible on the web site should contain the company’s logo or name, and rest at the apex of each page of the web site. The identity block does the job of radiating the brand and letting users know that the page they are viewing is still part of a single site.

Content

I’m sure you must have come across the saying; “content is king.” This is not surprising, as the internet has become over saturated and flooded with both useful and useless information on a daily basis. These have precipitated the demand for valid and useful content to be on the rise.

A classic web site visitor will enter and leave your web site in a matter of seconds if they can’t seem to find valuable content on your site. This is a normal response,—-just take a minute and put yourself in their shoes. If you were to visit a site searching for valuable info which you don’t happen to find, you will undoubtedly close the browser or move on to another site.

That is why it is essential to keep the main content block as the centre of interest of a design, so that priceless time isn’t wasted as visitors scan the page on your site for the information they need.

Source:techolac

Footer

In conclusion, this is often situated at the bottom of the page. It is usually reserved for information such as copyright, legal information, terms and conditions, as well as some links to the top of the page or the main parts of the site. When the end of the content is separated from the bottom of the browser window, the footer should clearly indicate to users that they have reached the bottom of the page.