Beauty Is Only Skin Deep But Not on Mobile App Stores

Beauty might be only skin deep, but this axiom does not necessarily ring true as far as the mobile app stores are concerned. In fact, gorgeous design and stunning graphics can make a huge difference. How come? Well, read on to find the answers for yourselves!

Hello enthusiasts! I hope you have been having a great week and if you still have not packed your bags and gone on holiday, it’s high time you did so! The summer will be over soon, so you have one of your last chances to enjoy it. Meanwhile, do not forget to spend a few minutes a day sharpening your marketing and entrepreneurial skills. It’s always good to stay up-to-day if you want to make it. Now, without any more wheeling and dealing, I want to bring to your attention the last topic of my mobile marketing series, which pertains to beauty and the eye of the beholder. Indeed, now that you are familiar with the different mobile apps business models including the importance of free apps][1], and the controversy surrounding in-app purchases, it’s about time we examined what goes into the making of a great mobile application. Before we go any further, get used to the notion that looks matter! Why is it so? Read on and find the answer for yourselves.

It would safe to assume that all (or almost all) of you have downloaded, used, or seen mobile apps. You know how a great one works, looks like, and most definitely, feels like! Indeed, if you think about what goes into the making of a great mobile application, a few elements stand out, including but not limited to original concept, great performance, flawless execution, and awesome visual design! In fact, I dare claim that awesome graphics could make the whole difference between success and failure on app stores. How come? Well, the answer is somehow obvious. Whereas beauty is only skin deep and it is in the eye of the beholder, you have to admit that the “wow” effect a gorgeously designed mobile application produces tops the frowns and disapprovals an ugly counterpart evokes. Indeed, in the mobile apps universe, design conquers all. Effectively, it is the one element that instantly captures the hearts and the minds of users and they are happy to keep on using your application, give it a positive review, and recommend it to their friends and colleagues. There are many explanations why this is so, but for the moment, let’s focus on the most important ones.

The beginning of a beautiful story

According to Apple’s Human Interface Guidelines user experience reigns supreme. Indeed, if there is one paramount difference between what you can do with your computer and what you can with your mobile phone or tablet, it definitely boils down to user interaction with the available content. Stunning graphics can stimulate, heighten or enhance users' perceptions and hence, create a memorable experience. In fact, if you let the genie of creativity out of the bottle of fear and doubt and if you invest in a good designer, you can do great things.

The beautiful mobile story does not end here. In fact, this is just its beginning as there are a few other factors, which make your visual design the centerpiece of the mobile apps game. Basically, almost all of them are rooted in the notion of creating a realistic, intuitive, and novel experience. Yet, there is more to that. Great design has the power to enthrall users. Instead of split views or navigation controllers, people should be able to see a beautiful story unveiling right before their eyes. Indeed, your visual graphics should tell a unique narrative and they should literally suck in the users of a particular app, make them part of its interactive story line, and let them experience the new creative way of getting engaged. Each and every mobile application should have its visual identity, which is in line with the overall mobile plot and in the words of Josh Clark, the author of Tapworthy: Designing Great iPhone Apps, it should make people “think about an app as content more than ‘software’, an experience more than a tool, and entertainment more than a task.”

In addition, there is no better way to reinforce your brand and identity than coming up with some amazing visual graphics that reveal a whole new universe of action and interaction. A mobile realm, where each tap takes you to a beautiful place (page) and enables you to discover marvelous vistas, coming to life right before your eyes. But this is not all! A little tap, swipe, or pinch could take you to the binary hills and meadows covered by digital textures that you can almost feel. A sensation, which comes close to magic! Before you know, you have created an emotional connection between your mobile application and the respective users. Such emotive relations, as Tapworthy: Designing Great iPhone Apps argues, are the very basis for marketing and storytelling. Therefore, visual design plays a very important role in the mobile apps world and it is one of the very basic building blocks that could draw the line between success and failure.

Well, kids, this is it! This piece effectively puts the icing on my mobile marketing cake. For the time being, I’ll leave mobile marketing aside and focus on some other topics that can help you with your business endeavors. It might be a good time to tell you that I am working on a book that features interesting marketing topics and enables you to tap into the contemporary marketing universe. But enough about it! You’ll get to read it in due time. For the moment, it suffices to subscribe to the feed that rocks, follow us on Twitter, join us on Facebook, enjoy the Stuff We Say, and stay tuned for more!