Best UI/UX Design Practices for IoT Apps

IoT, Internet of Things, has become one of the most talked technologies of the 21st century. It has drastically changed our lives from how we manage and operate our homes to automating jobs across nearly all industries. But before talking about IoT, let us briefly discuss how the advent of the internet has remodeled our lives.

Earlier, when there was no internet, mobile phones were just used to answer a call or send a text, but with the arrival of the internet and smartphones, the game has completely changed. From ordering your favorite food and clothes online to paying all your bills and expenses via e-wallet apps to sharing important business documents, the internet has made everything so simple and easy. Everything seems so easy which was not possible earlier. Be it a desktop or mobile phone, everything that you use these days is connected to the internet. Especially for entrepreneurs, the internet has changed the way a business operates, and these days more and more businesses are looking for a company offering proficient product engineering services, to get a smart and innovative solution developed.  

What is IoT?

The term 'Internet of Things' was coined in 1999 by Kevin Ashton, but before this technology made its way to our life it has evolved a lot. IoT is all about extending the power of the internet beyond desktops and smartphones to a whole new range of other things and environments. It facilitates various devices to interact and collaborate from each other’s experiences just like humans do. IoT enables business automation and hence, reducing the labor cost. 

IoT solutions are everywhere around us. From smart home appliances to wearables to healthcare and a lot more. Amazon's Echo and Google Home are also the examples of IoT, which we use at our home and connect to the outside world. This technology is known to bridge the gap between the digital and the physical world.

Going by the statistics, in a single year, the number of internet-connected devices went from 5 million to billions. Also, as per Business Insider Intelligence, approximately 24 billion IoT devices would be installed by the year 2020, generating revenue of over around 300 billion. Also, as per the business analysts, the IoT market is expected to show accelerated growth in the coming years, and it is estimated that there will be approx. 64 billion IoT connected devices by the year 2025.

The Must-Haves in IoT UI/UX Design

Having an app that offers an intuitive user experience is a must, and the same goes for IoT apps. Designing creative and attractive IoT apps can be quite challenging as there are too many complexities involved. But you must hire UI/UX designer that can solve this issue.

UI/UX for IoT includes more than what the standard paths and tricks required to design a website since you won’t just be designing the actions your users take. The most important thing to keep in mind while designing these futuristic products is personalization. Users must be able to integrate all of their IoT devices. Creating UI/UX design for IoT mobile applications is quite delicate, hence, one needs to consider the following UX design decisions when creating a new, totally in-the-real-world Internet of Things solutions.

Also Read: 101 Guide to IoT: All You Need to Know Before You Start with This Technology 

So, without wasting much time, let's see some of the must-haves of UI/UX design tips for IoT apps.

User Experience

When creating the design for IoT applications with multiple groups of end-users, it is important to take care of the user’s experience. Businesses that do not take user experience too seriously are unable to retain their users. It is essential to target the audience and understand what kind of experience those customers are seeking. Just having UI is not enough, if users can’t easily access, control, and interact with your IoT solution, it will fail. The development team working on it should always focus on engaging consumers and providing value in the first three clicks or actions.

Data Management

The existence of IoT devices revolves around a good internet connection. A designer needs to keep in mind the prowess of data science and what to do to generate the relevant actionable insights for stakeholders. IoT developers must ensure that the network services are not crowded or have a poor connection. Developers must choose much safer options like HTTP, MQTT, and CoAP.

Security at the forefront

Web development companies need to design IoT solutions smartly keeping security in mind. Though no one expects them to act as an expert in this area they should be considering the basics and continuing to advocate for the user by designing with security in mind. Since the app interacts directly with the internet, hacked is a loose term when you do not secure your devices. Hence, you need to focus more on architecture security so that any data breach won’t endanger the user as well as tarnish the company's name.

Interface

Customers always strive to have some unifying elements in their IoT devices so that they can intuitively navigate the functions of each product with little knowledge of it. No one wants to spend their time reading the 100 pages of the manual. For example, in Amazon Echo, the top 4 buttons, itself explains the functionality of the device. 

Smart Notifications

There's a slight difference between valuable and irritating when it comes to push notifications. A few irrelevant pings are sufficient to make a client turn them off totally. This is, indeed, a major test of planning user experience and UI for IoT ventures. On some occasions, these mobile notifications come really handy as it facilitates users to simply respond to the events quickly, which is an incredible advantage of versatile innovation. Then again, companies offering IoT development services should ensure all warnings are for sure significant, otherwise, users start ignoring them.

Context also plays a significant function in settling on plan choices for these notifications. Based on factors like area, time, individual timetable, notifications can be quieted or enhanced. 

Also Read: The Future of IoT - An Era of Ubiquitous Network

Responsiveness of the UI

At times you also need to do extensive testing across different browsers like Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Internet Explorer; different tablets like the iPad and Microsoft Surface; and different phones including varied models of iPhones and Androids as many IoT solutions use a dashboard to provide the user with information and insights. When designing UX and UI for IoT app, it is important to ensure the dashboard shows exactly the data that a user needs and should work flawlessly across all the devices. Which is why it is important to hire an experienced mobile app designer to make it happen.

Takeaway

IoT is a fast-developing and growing sector. Hence, companies need to scale up end-user tools and create clever IoT application design models for different sets of devices. There is no set of rules, hence designers need to work with a continuous process of the trial so that they can be a part of this revolution. Considering the above-mentioned points and with the help of an IT consulting company, you can successfully launch your IoT devices. This is a mobile age and everyone wants to get access to the maximum that is possible at any time and from any place. Thus, the goal of creating a homogenous environment for natural, seamless interactions between a user and a system is necessary, and IoT devices are just for this.