I was given the task to create three thumbnails for three different apps. These show the layout of Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest in a simple form. They are all quite similar, with the navigation at the bottom and the main content in the middle. Both Facebook and Instagram have ‘story’ features which are both at the top, making it more visible. Most social media have similar layouts to improve user experience as it is easier to use because it is what people are used to. Their simple layout makes it more visually appealing and it enables users to easily navigate the app.
Designing simple thumbnails like these when creating apps is beneficial because it gives you an idea of where everything should go. It also means you can focus on the layout before thinking about colour, icons etc.
The apps also use the golden ratio. This is important as our brains seem to prefer layouts using the golden ratio as it is more visually appealing. It can attract the audiences attention to the right places. For Facebook, the users attention will be drawn to the ‘stories’ and the main content.