We’ve collected a few of the best, most innovative and inspiring iPhone app user interface designs which highlight the benefit of tackling common UX design problems with unconventional methods.

It’s too easy to get comfy and use familiar solutions to solve design problems that crop up time and time again. We all know that sticking to conventional, tried & tested mobile UI patterns is an easy way shave valuable time off the design phase of an app – why would you want to reinvent the wheel, right?

Stepping outside your comfort zone once in awhile can be one of the most valuable and rewarding things we can actually do as designers. In fact it very often results in the production of our most creative and best concepts. Check these out…

• Gabi iPhone app

  Gabi is trying to change the way we use Facebook. It makes use of a very unconventional but clever layout, which allows you to filter content by a range of different methods, displaying posts beautifully.

  → GoGoGabi.com | App Store

  

• Clear iPhone app

  Clear stripped common to-do list apps down the the bare bones. There are no buttons, no menu bars and only flat colours (no gradients here!). All interaction & navigation is done with gestures, such as swiping an item to cross it out, and pinching to create tasks (see the picture).

  → Realmac Software | App Store

  

• Path iPhone app

  Path has inspired several other apps with its ingenious ‘flyout’ menu (recreated here in HTML + CSS). The UX is also wonderfully crafted and the whole app, while very unconventional, is a pleasure to use.

  → Path.com | App Store

  

• Deal in

  iPhone app Deal In features a beautifully designed menu, which appears to unfold from the left hand side of the screen. Other sweet features include being able to drop items into your ‘I Want’ bag, as well as an innovative login.

  → dealinapp.com | App Store

  

• National Parks by National Geographic

  I was seriously impressed by the National Parks app, made by Rally Interactive. There are some really novel animations and transitions between the various screens; modal dialogues slide upwards from the bottom of the screen, pushing the active screen backwards on the z-axis – clever stuff!

  → Nat Geo | App Store

  

• Circle

  Circle is a stunning app, there’s no doubt about it. In fact, it’s probably best you just go and read this behind the scenes article, which discusses the many decisions they made throughout the design process. There’s also a neat promo video there too.

  → Discovercircle.com | App Store

  

Are there any other Android, iPad or iPhone apps you think we should include in this list? Let us know in the comments below!

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