Icons have long held an important place in the design of mobile apps. But beyond using them to create larger and more attractive touch targets, there are other ways mobile app designers can use these tiny elements to make an app more engaging. This post will explore four ways to do this.

There’s nothing novel about using icons within mobile apps. From the home screen icon to the navigation menu, they’re pretty much a standard part of the apps that designers build.

They come with big benefits too:

• Minimized distractions,
• More attractive UIs,
• Empowerment of users to easily engage with the app,
• Elimination of language barriers,
• Improvement of brand recognizability.

But are we using icons as best as we can or are there ways to improve the mobile UX even further with iconography? Today, I want to look at a number of ways you can creatively add icons or icon-like elements to your apps and bring more life (and engagement) to them in the process.

Making The Most Out Of Icons

Icons are super useful design elements for mobile interfaces. While we do have to be careful with icons (like making sure navigational icons are always paired with text as well as not using so many that the interface becomes like a puzzle to be solved), there are some additional use cases I want you to consider:

1. Show Hints Of Branded Icons Throughout The App

Users will first get a glimpse of an app’s branded logo icon from the app store. Once installed, this icon will become a persistent presence on the user’s smart device, which will foster greater awareness of the app.

What I’ve noticed with many apps, though, is that the brand icon doesn’t often appear past that point. In some cases, it makes total sense. An app isn’t like a website that needs that steady logo anchor so users can always quickly get “Home”. But…

I can’t help but feel like small branded elements throughout could add a unique touch to the experience. They wouldn’t detract from the experience. Instead, they’d show up in bite-sized chunks that add something extra to the experience.

#mobile-apps #developer