One Big Reason Why NOT to Start App Dev with UI

You’re excited about your amazing idea to modernize your complex business application. You’ve scoped it, you know that it will solve a problem for your target users and it might even make you more competitive. You’ve identified your UI libraries and are ready to get started. Right?

Not so fast. Let’s take a step back and go a little deeper and think about what will make your application unique and better. What will make users want to come back to it again and again? What will make it stand out against the competition? You already know the answer, which we explored in our previous UX-related blog posts (blog.servoy.com).

Why selecting UI frameworks @ the start = no bueno

An easy, intuitive user experience is essential to making your application a success. In large, established enterprises, this philosophy is shepherded by a product manager, but in smaller organizations, developers can get carried away by looking at the process primarily from a development perspective. Maybe KendoUI is calling your name. Maybe it’s Twitter Bootstrap or Google Material Design that you prefer. But you must resist.

How an MVP Becomes Your Most Valuable Asset

What better way to put your users first then to let them drive how the application evolves, to let them help create the application they need? The best way to do this is through starting with an MVP, or minimum viable product, build it in an Agile way, with constant end-user testing, exposure and feedback. Think of it as efficient crowd sourcing to build your application, a way to enable rapid application development, and a product that is, by design, successful. Stay tuned for more on MVPs in the next blog post.

Here’s What Not to Do

Take a look at the video about “Best Practices: UI/UX Modernization,” which shows you where NOT to start in the application development process. There are plenty of similar recommendations from various industry experts to support this philosophy. Additional references about UX first as a best practice are included below.

Learn More about a “UX First” Approach

Here are additional sources around this approach:

• ZDNet: “First Comes UX, Then UI Design” ZDNet
• Quora: “Which Is Done First Between UI and UX?”
• Quora: “Does UX Come Before UI in the Design Process?” (The answer is yes, by the way.)
• CrazyLeaf Design: UI or UX: Which Comes First in Design?

Want to learn what this would mean to you, Get a free UX consult here.