Delving into the world of app navigation, I’m uncovering a wealth of opportunities to refine the user journey. Through sharpening my product sense, I’ve spotted some key trends:
- Search Supremacy: Navigational searches are steadily becoming the go-to method for users to discover content. By making search boxes immediately visible and enhancing their functionality (think improved autocomplete, barcode, audio, and visual search), we’re pivoting to meet this shift.
- Simplified Navigation: While it’s premature to bid farewell to the hamburger menu, I’ve noticed a clear shift towards more streamlined, bottom-of-the-page menus. The emergence of two-tiered navigation further supports this, enhancing accessibility and facilitating instant discovery.
- Personalized Touch: Personalization is king in app navigation, particularly given the user is typically logged in. This can be explicit (e.g., ‘My Wishlist’) or implicit (e.g., ‘Recommended For You’), drawing on user browsing and purchase history, cross-selling opportunities, or location-based relevance. The more aligned the offerings are to user preferences, the higher the likelihood of conversion.
- Graphical Guidance: Graphics and icons are now integral to navigation, serving as signposts for users. They’re also frequently used to spotlight and clarify promotional elements, and we see this trend playing out on homepages too.
These are a few of the trends and patterns I’ve noticed, which may be worth considering for your own experimentation. What other trends have you observed?
Brendan McNulty 