How would I go about designing a home screen whose sole purpose is navigating to other [5] pages?

Question

The homescreen really only needs 5 buttons that navigate to other screens. there isn't much more to show in this page since they are static screens.

This is what the homepage looks like:

I've tried messing around with how the buttons look (giving them colors, border/no border, etc.) but they don't fix the problem, The homepage looks empty. I've tried looking at other apps to get inspiration from them but they usually have much more functionality so they have more stuff to put in the homepage and it never looks "empty".

So what can I do to fix this problem?

Answer 1

Start with a thorough understanding of the application context and application users—rather than generalizations. Once that is established develop an interface that first serves the needs and mindset of users and second takes advantage of UI conventions.

With that in mind, some generalizations...

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The homepage looks empty

"Empty" is not a UX problem. In fact, depending on context, empty-looking may be a better user experience than a full screen. Lack of orientation, navigation, and supporting information, having confusing elements, inconsistent controls, unnecessary steps, distractions, and absence of priority-cues...etc., are UX problems.

Some missing page elements in the question example are:

• Location confirmation, (I'm in the right place),
• Orientation, (I know where I'm at in the process),
• Support navigation, (I need additional information, e.g., who are you?, help...),
• Elaborate primary navigation options.

 

These are the additional elements: