Whether you’re the face of the Android operating system, a mobile app developer, or a Google Play Store consumer, you will benefit from the new UX principles for apps. UX is an acronym for “user experience.” Optimal user experience is every website or application developer’s priority. In short it is the description of how easy or hard, how annoying or enjoyable, and how complicated or intuitive a program is.

Developers at Codigo Del Sur strive to make all of their apps simple and pleasant to use. Now Google has updated its recommendations that help developers accomplish just that.Google knows that how it is perceived as an operating system is determined by the apps their customers purchase. These apps don’t necessarily intend to represent Google but they do so by default. Therefore, Google wants developers to be successful so that it will be, too!

The goals of the Mobile App UX Principles can be broken down into four categories: adoption, usability, convenience, and engagement.

Adoption refers to the user’s ability to use the app for the first time. The user should have no problems identifying which buttons do what. He should be able to tell if he needs to tap or swipe or tilt his mobile device without having to be told. He will “adopt”the app if there is zero hassle. Usability is a reference to variety, not quality.Assuming that the app already is a quality one, the usability is measured by how many options the consumer has to make purchases, download additional levels of a game, and how easily it syncs between different devices. Goal number three, convenience, is all about the effort needed to purchase something through the app. The customer wants to get as much as he can from the app with minimal effort. To help with that, developers need to make sure that there are no useless distractions on the account page, no unnecessary information required to access the shopping cart, and that there are appropriate prompts and clear instructions.

Finally, Google knows that customers are more likely to approve of an app if they can easily engage with customer support. To satisfactorily meet the goal of “engagement” an app must give consumers a sense of control over push notifications and alerts, assurance that their information is private and protected, and that both Google and the app developer are mere clicks away when they need assistance. For the layman, try to imagine that Google is the real estate agent trying to sell your house. Both you and Google want that house to sell, so you have a checklist of things to do before that first showing to potential buyers. That might include replacing broken shingles on the roof, giving the front door a fresh coat of paint, cleaning all of the windows, and rearranging the furniture. Google has a checklist for developers, too.

Success is not guaranteed but following the App UXPrinciples will undoubtedly help!