Anti-pattern is a commonly used design solution that is counterproductive in practice [wikipedia]. There are few of them that seem to be trending in Android application design. I don't want to point fingers or demean the apps I've chosen as examples. They were chosen just to use them to explain each of the anti-patterns.
Forced login
I've written about not forcing users to login before but the problem seems to be getting worse in the Android Market so I want to bring it up again.
Users find apps on mobile platforms in different way than they do elsewhere. We shouldn't assume that users know what the app is all about. They might have stumbled on the app from an Android Market listing and everything they know about it is the app icon.
If the app only shows a login screen when first launched the app will lose a lot of users. If that is the first time a user sees the app it is likely that he or she won't go through the trouble of creating an account.
Podio is a good example of an app with this problem. They have tried to fix the problem by providing a link to their "about" web page on the landing screen. That doesn't fix the problem. Users would get much better understanding of benefits of signing up if they could simply try the app. Not many people are willing to read long text explanations about apps they don't know.
Bad defaults
Default preferences of any app will greatly affect users' first impression of the app. Designers and developers should be extra careful with notifications as they can affect user experience outside their app. Safe expectation is that user's don't want to see notifications unless they are from activity the user has initialised.
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| This app adds a notification by default. |
Confusing landing screen
The first page of an app is very important. If users are confused by the first screen it is likely that they will not continue to use the app. Apps with a lot of functionality should organise the functionality in easily understandable categories. Dashboard UI design pattern can often solve this issue.
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| This app's landing screen is overwhelming. |
Why not writing a piece about the unjustified use of the Navigation iPhone-like bar on Android? The market has several applications that use the navigation bar in a mere porting of the iOs app, and to hell the consistency with the system.
ReplyDelete@Francesco Couldn't agree with you more. Why do we need a back button on screen?! Angers me more than it probably should! The downside will be that people who are doing this clearly don't care about their UI, so they won't be reading this anyway.
ReplyDeleteGod I hate that on-screen back button.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the comments!
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree. An onscreen back button is a pretty strong indication of a failed iOS to Android port. I did mention it in a previous post "5 tips for converting iOS UI to Android" but it deserves another mention for sure.
Re: Forced Login
ReplyDeleteAnd what about Evernote forced login? AFAIK Evernote is regarded as application with one of the best UI.
Hi Juhani,
ReplyDeleteWhose landing page it is ? I think this is a serious design flaw . I will uninstall the app immediately after i see this landing page and save my time :P .
Thanks,
Tareq_sust
Hey Toxa, You're right. Evernote is probably loosing some portion of new users because of that. They do have good UI but not perfect ;)
ReplyDeletebdmapper, that app is called Photo Tools. Yes, it should definitely be improved.
Worst anti-pattern by far is the "Are you sure you want to exit this application?" dialog!
ReplyDeleteWhat if like Evernote there is nothing you can do without creating an account. I hate just as much apps that let you do all kinds of stuff without telling you that you can't save without creating an account. I usually just end up closing the app and going on to something else. I think the Evernote folks expect people to arrive at their app because they knew what they were looking for which is ok. A mobile app may not be the best way to introduce a new customer to your overall service.
ReplyDeleteHey PhilH,
ReplyDeleteI don't think there are many apps which you cannot use at all without an account. Evernote, for example, could let the user to use the app offline. Storing everything locally and letting users know that they could create an account or login to enable syncing. That way users who are not familiar with the service can evaluate it without having to go through the registration process. See Catch Notes which is basically the same service as Evernote but doesn't force you login.
In my opinion it is a wrong assumption to think that users are familiar with your service. Even in case of massively popular service like Evernote. At the time of writing this Evernote is one of the "Editor's Choice" apps in the Android Market. It has huge visibility to millions of Android users. Many of them have never heard of the service when arriving to the app from there. I don't think any business wants to ignore this massive potential for new users.
bse,
ReplyDeleteThat's a bit tricky one. Android framework has this problem of apps terminating when pressing back on the last page. As the back button is physical button it is very difficult for users to know that they're actually exiting the app. I wouldn't call the dialog an "Anti-pattern" as such but it isn't the optimal solution for the problem.
Hello, thanks for the feedback on the Podio App. We appreciate that in the vast majority of cases you do not want to launch into a login screen. I would however hold Podio as an exception. The Podio application shows you the current stream of information associated with your organisation. You first must register with organisations before you can use the app, this is a restriction both on the web and on the App. You cannot use Podio without context and so we could not offer a generic stream of info, instead we offer explanations so as to explain what podio is and guide people to sign up.
ReplyDeleteWe will take your comments on board, thanks very much! Maybe you would consider reviewing the application after the login screen?
Hi Kevin,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment (sorry for late answer.. a lot of work travel lately)!
I hopefully successfully communicated my intent for constructive criticism ie. not wanting to demean your work at any level. Your app is flagged on my todo as part of upcoming post for good pattern implementations inside the login screen.
You might be right in your case that there is nothing you are able to show technically but often that isn't really the case when thinking it a bit more. Could you for example have an example organization that would let user to see what the app is all about? Users would see the value of the signing up. Just one idea and maybe not even a good one. I do think, however, that the apps that cannot show even a limited functionality without user having to create an account is very low indeed.
Cheers,
Juhani
Hi Juhani, we love the fact that you have taken the time to review the app, any feedback is great. What you mention about the example organisation would definitely be ideal and allow the user to decide if this is something they are interested in before a forced sign up. Due to time restrictions we had to make the tough decision to satisfy the existing customers first and foremost. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteLet me vote against the “are you sure you want to quit?” confirmation. Users (mostly) don’t care about the difference between the “back” button terminating the current activity, or using the “home” button to push the activity to the background and go to the Launcher. Your app should be designed not to surprise the user in either case.
ReplyDelete