Why Simplicity Matters for Mobile App Developers

“Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.”

—Steve Jobs

Clean code. Minimal interfaces. Simple services. The mantra of “keep it simple, stupid” is heavily ingrained into startup culture. (Alongside late nights and lots of coffee.) iPhone app development companies have long known that simplicity is key to success in the Apple App Store and Google Play.

But why is simplicity so important? And why is it so difficult to achieve?

Simplicity drives revenue

Simplicity is important to iPhone app developers because it creates a competitive advantage when onboarding users, which drives revenue in both the long and short term. Studies have shown that users judge the “quality” of an interface based on it’s visual appearance within a 1/20th of a second. Even if your app’s performance is flawless, that initial judgement — based on elements as “superficial” as navigation placement and font choice — can prevent young startups from ever getting the chance to win users over.

Simplicity is more than “fewer choices”

“Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.”
—Antoine de Saint-Exupery

While it’s easy to understand why simplicity matters for Denver iPhone app development companies, implementing simplicity in UI and UX design is another challenge altogether. This is because simplicity means more than just removing choices or cutting down a color palate; simplicity extends all the way to the root value proposition of an app.

Developing an iPhone app is, in many ways, like stacking blocks. If the first block is uneven, counter-balancing becomes increasingly difficult as the stack grows. iPhone app developers who keep simplicity in mind from day one have a much greater shot at success because their core concept is equally as understandable as the UI on top.