Learn to Design “Backdrop” from Discord, Vimeo, Chrome, Lyft, Coinbase, etc.
By: Jaskaran Singh
Tags: UX Design, Design, UX, UI, Apps

Backdrop is an element that is used to make one screen pop up onto another screen. Its uses are very broad, basically can use anywhere you wanted to pop up one screen onto another which have some specific task to perform.

this article is all about learning how to design a better backdrop, many apps use the backdrop but without knowing the base case to use it, therefore, this article is written for all those designers who wanted to know exactly what backdrop screens are and how can we use them effectively.

What Backdrop Screens Are?

As said above, Backdrop Screens are screens overlayed on another screen which makes the user do things easily. the apps use backdrop screens to specifically focus on something that is important but doesn't have too many things inside it.

For example, many shopping apps use the filter backdrop screen to provide the filtration options separately on a screen instead of embedding them into the search page which works really great.

How To Design A Perfect Backdrop Screen

Now, we know the basics of why we use a backdrop, which is to make something look specific so that the user can perform the task simpler but now its time to learn to design backdrop from other great designers and let’s learn how to design backdrop screens by the help of some pro tips given below..

#1 One Screen is Best for Backdrop

While designing the backdrop try to put one screen as a backdrop, let me clarify. while designing not try to put whole payment screens including screens from cart to payment to track package screens, instead use one screen things as a backdrop. the best example of that is everywhere.

For Example, Many apps use the filter screen as a backdrop which includes the specific task of filtration and it makes the task more focused and great to do as well as many companies make use of backdrop screen to show the pricing page which includes the specific task and help user to maintain the focus on the pricing screen and many times it works great.

For better use the backdrop at the place of screen which includes only one specific screen instead of using multiple screens as the backdrop.

#2 Elevate it

As the name suggests the Backdrop must drop the background and do that you have to use the shadows. I prefer using drop shadow with 4px+ for X and Y axis , 15px+ as Blur and 30px+ as Spread. Modify it accordingly to your requirement and size for better contrast and dropping effect.

For Example, Many apps including Discord, Vimeo prefer using a backdrop with some kind of elevation to separate from the background. This is a kind of basic but you have kept this tip in mind while designing a perfect backdrop.

#3 Make It One-Handed

The backdrop should work best when you make it one-hand useable, which basically means that the user doesn’t use both of his hands to close and open a backdrop because it turns out that most of the users prefer using mobiles with one hand and to make the backdrop ease to use for them try to make a button close to the finger instead of buttons on the top.

Many apps use one button at the bottom of the screen which makes the backdrop best for one-handed usage. As well as they try to give users the second option to quit backdrop which is not important but they give for the better usage of any kind of audience by simply providing a cancel button.

Bonus: Use It as Browser

The backdrop can be used as a simple browser that can help users to easily signup or check the website without leaving the app and hustling around different apps which saves the auth work in the app because sometimes the website auth on the browser doesn’t work properly and this might be the best solution for the website authentication.

I hope you love to read this article, as I’ve tried something new that nobody is talking about basically backdrop. while researching I found less information about it therefore it takes time and effort to find the right things to teach. Thanks a lot for reading.