The more apps behave the way we expect them to, the more intuitive they are to use; the more intuitive they are to use, the easier it is for us to concentrate on our true objective.
The best user interfaces are so intuitive that the UI just disappears and lets us concentrate on what truly matters. People tend to be unaware of the user experience in an app unless it doesn't meet their expectations.
According to Wikipedia, an anti-pattern (or antipattern) is a common response to a recurring problem that is usually ineffective and risks being highly counterproductive. In this article we'll look at some anti-patterns and bad practices common in some Android applications, that get in the way of the user accomplishing their tasks, thus providing a poor user experience.
The Straight Port
The Straight Port is an app that was first made for another platform (usually iOS) and was later quickly and minimally made to work for Android. This usually results in Android apps that have the visual styling and UI conventions of other platforms.
The "design once, ship anywhere" approach rarely works. Different platforms have different rules and guidelines regarding UI and usability and you have to take this into consideration when designing for a particular platform. Your users expectation and behavior has been shaped and influenced by using other apps on that platform.
If your app doesn't meet these, it's bound to cause frustration. Android users expect Android apps, so it's worth looking through the Android design documents to be conversant with the platform's conventions.
A few common pitfalls of the straight port are:
1. Bottom Tab Bars
On Android, tabs belong at the top.
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2. Using iconography from other platforms
3. Right pointing carets on list items
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For more on this, you can read this guideline on how to design for Pure Android. There is also this article on designing from iOS to Android that is more recent as it covers designing for Android in the era of Material Design.
Designing for One Form Factor
Unlike other platforms where you can determine the device your app will run on - either phone or tablet and know the screen sizes, on Android, this isn't possible. You must therefore design your app to be adaptive so that it works well on phones as well as tablets. The screen sizes of these devices also vary so you must take this into account. A well designed Android app works well and looks good on any device and screen size.
Other than designing for phones and tablets, you should also ensure that your design doesn't break when the user changes the device orientation. You should design for both portrait and landscape modes.
Don't assume that the user will only use the app in portrait, and neglect landscape orientation. When the developer doesn't provide specification for landscape orientation, the Android system tries to lay out the UI as well as it can with what it has. This usually results in the same UI seen in portrait mode spread out to fill the larger landscape orientation. Elements are usually stretched out and greatly spaced out on the screen.
Small Touch Targets
Small touch targets can slow down a user as they increase the chances the user has of making a wrong selection if the target is next to other targets. The app may also seem to be non-responsive as a user taps on what they think is the area affected by the touch and see no noticeable action take place.
On Android, the ideal size of touch targets is at least 48dps. The material design specifications document provides guidelines for keylines and metrics you can use when designing your apps.
Neglecting Touch Feedback
Selections need to be immediately obvious. Touchable elements should have a pressed and focused state. Not giving a user feedback when they take an action increases the app's perceived latency - the app seems slower.
Selected items are made obvious by use of color and shape (e.g. making an icon/font bold). In material design, shadows are used to show that an element is at the forefront.
Material design has emphasized the use of touch feedback by not only making use of shadow, color and shape, but by also strongly encouraging the use of animations and transitions to give the user feedback. The following are some points from from the Material Design Guide.
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by Joyce Echessa via SitePoint
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