The tab bar is the first point of contact for users to enter the app, most of which are fixed at the bottom of the device, allowing users to quickly switch between different modules in the app. As one of the most common elements in mobile applications, it is a topic that UI designers cannot avoid.
A good bottom label bar can convey Buy email list the core function, brand image and design concept of the product, and can also be used as a criterion for judging whether the app is refined. Users can feel whether the app is rough or refined through the first touch. So it seems simple, but in order to design a bottom tab bar that is visually beautiful and has clear feedback, there are a lot of places worthy of our study.
So why does the tab bar exist? What are the needs and scenarios behind it? What value can it bring to products and users? This article will dig out design highlights worthy of learning and reference from many excellent products, and think and analyze the label bar, hoping to help everyone.
1. Understand the tab bar
1. Why design a tab bar
Although we have seen that mainstream products such as Taobao, JD.com, and Meituan use the bottom tab bar, not all products need it. Some tools and taxi-type apps do not use the tab bar. So before designing a product, you should think about why it is needed and whether there are better alternatives.
Here, we first understand its role, then consider the fit with the product in combination with the needs, and finally decide whether to use it.
1) Communicate the core functionality
The bottom tab bar generally consists of 3 to 5 functions (entries) to form a complete product structure. These functions are basically the core of the product, which can help users avoid the interference of other information in the product, find these functions accurately and quickly, and use it. .
2) Highlight important features
Even if some are not the core functions of the product, the user's operation frequency is extremely high, which may be the preconditions or indexes of the core functions, and the entry will be placed in the bottom tab bar.
Common ones include scanning, searching, publishing works, etc. It should be noted that most of these functions will perform secondary page jumps after the operation, which is not parallel to the level weight of other tags.