Introduction

The world seems to be changing faster than lightning.

New mobile app design trends are springing like mushrooms, making you feel like you don’t know anything at all about specific subjects you once mastered.

You probably feel lost about a great number of different topics.

Product design - and how it relates to mobile app development - is surely one of them.

It’s time for you to get some information about new trends in product design that will shape the future of mobile app development and influence top mobile app development companies to boot.

What is Product Design?

First and foremost, it’s important to define product design before we start analyzing the different trends.

Product design is the group of tactical and strategic activities used to create a specific product.

From initial ideas to mass commercialization, product design is basically a systematic approach that allows product designers to effectively conceptualize ideas, making sure masterful innovations can become concrete products.

A product designer has one mission: to ensure they mix artistic quality with both technical skills and scientific method, coming up with products that people can actually use.

The digital landscape has made it possible for product designers to have a whole plethora of new tools available, something which effectively allows them to optimize their time and create something special.

At the end of the day, these new tools bring about new ideas which allow designers to communicate clearly, master visualization, perform a thorough analysis, and produce remarkably complex solutions in a few months.

The ultimate aim of product design? To both generate and prioritize functionality above all things.

This means that a product designer is concerned with creating something which delivers essential value to users - a value that has to be connected to the product's purpose.

A product designer will basically spend time thinking about different user flows and experiences, making sure they get to understand how users can actually find the specific product at different periods of their life, what they are supposed to create or do when they find the product, and how that product manages to provide concrete value to users.

This essentially means that product designers must be aware of the crucial importance of systematic prioritization.

Not every single idea can be turned into a gem.

This means that a competent product designer must be able to efficiently map the product prioritization, making sure it's aligned with the company's most critical business goals.

Now that you know what product design is all about, it's time for you to learn about mobile app development.

What is Mobile App Development?

Mobile app development is the array of different processes and procedures that are enacted to write software for wireless computing devices, like the ubiquitous smartphones or the all-encompassing tablets.

Mobile app development is similar to web development, even though it is more deeply rooted in traditional software development.

One of the main differences between web development and mobile development is the following: mobile apps are written to take full advantage of all the features showcased by a mobile device.

The most striking issue when it comes to app creation software is performance. Ultimately, it all depends on whether or not the app can be natively developed for a specific device.

Native development means that the code is designed for the specific hardware of a particular device.

What lies ahead in the future of mobile application development? What will you need to dive into to succeed as a developer?

Apart from mastering app demo power, you should also focus on creating browser-based applications that can be device-agnostic.

These browser-based applications are basically websites that are created for mobile browsers.

The main goal? To make sure the websites can have both a fast page loading speed and a user-friendly navigation.

The top iOS/iPhone app development companies know that they must continue innovating in order to succeed in this fiercely competitive market. That's why the future of mobile app development looks brighter than ever.

Now that you have learned what product design and mobile app development are all about, it’s time for you to get to know 7 product design trends that will shape mobile app development in the near future!

7 Product Design Trends that will Shape Mobile App Development

1. Smart Products

What are smart products? Basically, smart products are specializations of hybrid products that have physical realizations of product categories as well as digital product descriptions.

A smart product can virtually create a digital representation of almost any entity.

Smart products are a form of product service system since they actually create a sum of physical products with additional services.

This makes sure mechanical products are becoming much more than just that.

In the majority of instances, mechanical products include electronic parts or software.

With the dawn of the Internet of Things (IoT), our mechanical world is being changed.

From consumer goods such as home appliances or cars to industrial products or cell phones, products are now becoming much more intelligent and completely dependent on technology.

This means that product designers must work closely with development teams to create actual bridges between different departments, using product design ideas and app development software to take smart products from simple niche ideas to world-conquering technology.

Companies which invest in galvanizing the connection between product designers and developers will get a whole new edge, becoming able to better carve the products that shall be tomorrow's widely-preferred favorites.

2. Engineering Simulation

Engineering Simulation is something which is going to have a major impact on product design trends and the development of mobile applications.

Why? Because it allows companies to create products that are cheaper and better than ever before, taking advantage of Computer-aided Engineering (CAE).

CAE basically allows users to virtually analyze, optimize and test different products quite early in the designing process by using what is known as numerical analysis and is being steadily and surely adopted by different companies from diverse industries.

From the auto industry to consumer goods, energy, heavy equipment, or civil engineering, there are many different examples of CAE coming about to change the way products are conceptualized and built.

Companies are now starting to use these advanced technologies to test and shape new products, and this cost-effective solution is sure to change the way product design and mobile app development interact in the coming years.

3. Augmented Reality & Virtual Reality

Writing an article about product design and mobile app design and development without mentioning the wondrous world of AR and VR is virtually impossible.

What was once thought of as a staple of science fiction is now becoming true, and both Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality are changing the way we look at businesses and new products.

These remarkable innovations have been able to create a ground-breaking revolution in the world of technology in general and gaming in particular.

Think about the phenomenon of Pokemon Go.

It drew 147 million active users (May 2018) and was a game that managed to take advantage of virtual reality to create a popular experience that connected with both millennials and older generations alike.

The possibilities for AR and VR seem to be endless.

One thing is certain: product design and mobile application development services will both have to take this exciting new technology into account, joining forces to come up with ingenious solutions that empower new products.

4. Cloud Computing

Cloud-based solutions seem to be all over the place.

The world of cloud-based product design is here to stay, making sure people can actually access apps online, instead of having to go through the motions of installing the apps on their servers or computers.

These new services offer a huge deal of flexibility, enhanced collaboration, and the blessing of automatic updates.

Moreover, the initial investment is not pricey, which means this solution is also cost-effective.

The cost really does turn cloud computing into one of the main trends for product design and mobile application design in the next 5 years.

Coupled with the notion of Software as a Service (SaaS), this solution is going to change the world for both designers and developers alike.

Indeed, the ability to rent a license or an app instead of having to purchase it will effectively allow companies to be more flexible, reduce overhead costs, and save precious resources.

5. Wearable Products

The market for wearable products is set to explode in the coming years.

Right now, the goal is for this market to be able to offer a wider range of cost-effective apps, accompanying the increasing product demand.

The price of wearable products has been dropping, making sure that the market is now being flooded with diverse wearable products such as fitness or banking apps.

There already are smart sneakers and smartwatches, and the future brings a whole new world of possibilities for both product designers and mobile app developers to come together and create some much-needed wearable products.

6. Globalization and Product Design

We have all heard the idea that the world is a village.

We are all irrevocably connected, whether we live in New York City or deep in the south of Cambodia.

Globalization is the story of the 21st century, which means companies need to start leveraging concrete product development investments by being able to deliver their range of products to each and every market under the sun.

What is the trend of the future, then?

Global cooperation when it comes to product design and cross platform mobile development solutions.

The market is almost forcing all companies to invest in innovative ideas that can turn the scale, change the game, and alter the equation of the future.

This means businesses need to understand the importance of optimizing resources and collaborating, making sure they can meet the demands of both aesthetic mastery and high-quality products.

Sharing the process of concrete product design ideas and development solutions is not only a trend for developers but a remarkably important step that all companies should take in the near future.

7. 3D Printing

The 3D printer has become part of the lives of so many different people that it’s bound to make a huge mark in the realm of mobile app creation software and product design.

Since it is now more affordable than ever, 3D printing is kickstarting the creation of cost-efficient prototypes quite early in the design process, making sure that products are becoming more refined and detailed than ever before.

The 3D printer is useful when it comes to expressing an idea of design to different manufacturers, enabling them to better estimate the costs of a potential product.

Moreover, the 3D printer allows products to come to life, which means the task of identifying possible issues during the manufacturing process becomes much less complicated.

This product design trend is going to get more popular in the years to come, helping product design and mobile app development to conceptualize and create something special.

Conclusion

From wearable products to 3D printers and even to Virtual Reality, the possibilities for product design and cross platform app development to explore seem to be endless.

Now, it’s time to create competent teams, forge an environment of exciting creativity, and see new ideas come about that can both change the way we look at old products and create revolutionary new ideas to market.

It’s essential that CEOs understand the importance of creating cross-functional teams and galvanizing creative sessions so that both product designers and mobile app developers can work together on the types of products that will engage tomorrow’s most coveted target audiences.