Mobile navigation patterns are a set of actions aimed at navigating and guiding users within the app’s navigation. It guides the user. Mobile navigation patterns find their place in almost every app. It is important in terms of user experience. In the mobile app, a navigation bar is a group of links given to the main screens that are, the most important screens in the app.
1. Tab Bar
The tab bar is a component that guides the user to the most important screens in the app. When the user tries to explore the app, they will first interact with the tab bar. The screens directed by the tab bar are where users will spend most of their time. If we associate it with web design, the tab bar will replace the header menu or full screen navigation.
When designing tab bars, try to present only the most important screens. Usually, you can see 3 to 5 screen layouts on app designs. Sometimes it’s okay to offer 2 tabs. But offering more than 5 tabs is not recommended. When considering mobile screen sizes, the following problems will occur; Difficulty clicking the tab, cramped interface, and poor user experience. Increasing complexity increases the time it takes for the user to interact with the screen. It is necessary to make it easier for users to make decisions and show them only the most important screens.
Another issue that should be considered in the design of the tab bar is that the user can understand where he/she is in the app. There is a simple method for this; Separate the tab screen the user is on from the rest. Users will be able to easily distinguish between tabs that are different. At the same time, using the icon and naming the tab creates a roadmap for the user. The icon provides a mental model, and naming the tab is helpful when just the icon is not enough. If the icons are clear enough, the user will be familiar with the app and can provide intuitive navigation. Designers make their designs for users.
2. Search Bar
If the app you are going to design is content-heavy and it is difficult for the user to find the content just by browsing, then you need a search bar. Due to user habits, the search bar is usually located at the top. There may also be a separate screen for searching.
The scope of the app determines how detailed the search bar will be. When you design the search results following the visual hierarchy rules, the user will easily find what he/she is looking for. Users expect to see the visual hierarchy.
In an eCommerce app, the search bar is essential. Because visitors try to find products by searching. The search bar is as detailed as the product detail. If there are many products under different categories, categorising the search results will help the user. This design used in search screens is one of the information architecture methods, grouping according to categorisation.
If you take social media platforms as an example, visitors may want to search for content, topics, categories, and hashtags. The most frequently used method here is to divide the search results into detailed tables.
The last example is a music streaming app. In the search detail, results such as songs, playlists, singers, and users can be found. At this point, the content most relevant to the search text is ranked at the top. And as users scroll down, other content that the user may have searched for is listed in categories.
It may be nice to give a technical detail; Autocomplete the text entered in the search bar — if technically possible — provides a great user experience.
3. Drawer
The drawer should not be compared with the tab bar and the navigation bar. But it has similar features. It is like a hamburger menu in the mobile view of websites.
It is a mobile design pattern that can be preferred if there are many important screens, which are called the main screens. The drawer usually appears in Android apps. It’s not mean that you will never see it on iOS, but it is usually possible to see it in custom, cross-platform apps. While iOS does not add the drawer menu to the guideline, on the Android side it shows its use with the Material Design navigation drawer name.
Finally, there are many navigation options that will guide the user. But be careful not to use the tab bar and the drawer menu together.
4. Pagination
It is a sort of filtering method. Imagine that there is a lot of content on the main screen of the mobile app. The user will scroll constantly to see the contents and a lot of content will be loaded at the same time. This may cause the user to miss content or not be able to see content they are interested in again. From a technical point of view, loading all the content at the same time will significantly increase the load time.
Using pagination is the solution to these problems. Dividing the content into pages can only allow a certain number of content to be loaded at a time. In this way, users will not miss content and will not wait for long loading times.
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