Stunning Social Design Patterns For Mobile
Design patterns can help you implement solutions to issues and functionality needs of your mobile application or website. Social design patterns often concentrate on sharing, ranking and communication between users. Review these stunning social design patterns to see which ones could be of benefit to your mobile web project.
Import Contacts
Most social applications will benefit from an ‘Import Contacts’ option. This design pattern will allow your users to easily invite others, which will grow your user base exponentially. There are several options for the common import contacts design pattern, including incorporation in your sign-up process, and as an option in your setting menu. Take notice of the well crafted example of an ‘Import Contacts’ feature that SnapChat puts forward. Through their “Add Friends” menu, you can select to upload your phone contacts with a single touch, or scan saved Snapcodes with your phone’s camera. The camera option is an impressive feature, worthy of implementing in your own mobile projects if you have the appropriate web hosting for storing ID image files and a corresponding user database.
Notification Systems
Notification systems such as that found on the Facebook mobile application can make your standard mobile app a thriving social platform instantaneously. That’s because notifications make your app or website interactive, engaging users and encouraging them to constantly check for updates and activity. Check out the particularly stunning notification system found on the Instagram app for example. It has a dual icon system, letting you know from your home screen if you have a new follow request, or a like on your photo. It uses a minimalist black and white design with an appealing icon set.
Consider implementing this type of notification system in your mobile project to entice users to check and even gain notifications. Other uses of notifications include badges, banners, alerts and sounds. These can be pushed or fetched, meaning they can be updated through your app’s background services, or manually called for by the user. As a developer or designer you may not have much say in the aesthetics of the lock screen, badge and banner icons through the iOS and Android platforms. You can however use creativity in your text and sound files to enhance your notification system.
Share and Recommend Buttons
A great solution for social sharing within your application is to install share buttons that envelope multiple other social platforms or communication methods. Consider using a solitary button that gives users the option of sharing through Facebook, Twitter, Email or Text message. One stunning example of a well designed social share button is that found in the eBay mobile application. It uses a footer style responsive button to call for your phone’s sharing options. If you have Facebook or other social applications installed, you can select them as a venue to share the item you’re looking at. Make sure your web hosting is optimized for mobile users so they can share your content with confidence that it will load quickly and securely on other mobile devices.
Voting and Ranking Design Patterns
A great example of a simple yet outstanding ranking system is the one found in Reddit’s mobile application. It uses a thumbs up and thumbs down system to rank every post in each sub-reddit. This allows users to move interesting content to the front page, or send less valuable content into obscurity. Such voting and ranking systems are a common theme among mobile applications and sites. YouTube uses a similar method to let users rank videos. Voting systems allow users to interact without much effort, and also offer a chance to anonymously voice an opinion on any subject. This is in contrast to the system of “likes” found on Facebook and Instagram, where users are identified with each interaction.
Private Message Systems
Design patterns for private messaging are prevalent among social apps. Some apps have outgrown an in-house system and offer a secondary app for messaging. Facebook is an example of such an app, and their messenger is nothing short of amazing. It’s well designed and full of graphical icons, stickers and communication options including live video calls. Another perhaps lesser known, but no less stunning example of a standalone messenger, is WhatsApp. This application uses a green and black color scheme and a bubbled format familiar to anyone who’s sent a text message. WhatsApp has also implemented the common design pattern of screenshot notifications, which allows users to know if the person they are messaging has taken a screenshot of the conversation.
Social design patterns for mobile applications and sites are created to fulfill the needs of your mobile project and lets users find more utility in your product. These design patterns can turn your static, basic mobile application into a platform for viral social sharing or a lively social community. Install one or more of these stunning design patterns to stay current on the mobile web.
