Mobile theme color guidelines

  • Release version: Xanadu
  • Updated August 1, 2024
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Mobile theme color guidelines

    This guide explains how to select and apply colors in mobile themes for ServiceNow mobile applications, highlighting considerations for creating visually effective and accessible app designs. It distinguishes between legacy theming used in Tokyo and earlier instances and the Next Experience theming introduced in Utah and later releases.

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    Key Features

    • Color Choice Considerations: Advises using simple color palettes of two to three colors to maintain clean and accessible layouts, ensuring compatibility with other app elements like icons, UI styles, knowledge articles, and service portal pages.
    • Emphasizes using high-contrast, complementary colors to direct user attention and improve readability, especially for low-vision and color-blind users.
    • Specifies that Android apps do not support #RGB color notation for themes; instead, #RRGGBB notation should be used for both iOS and Android.
    • Theme Color Locations: Details where selected colors appear across various mobile app components, including application launch pages, navigation bars, lists, virtual agent interfaces, search, actions, record screens, checklists, activity streams, links, and e-signature elements.
    • Explains how color choices impact different screen templates such as calendar and map screens, noting that pin colors on maps are controlled by the associated list stream record's pin color field.
    • Describes the influence of color selection on settings and notification screens, including notifications, offline mode, geolocation, PIN, and Siri shortcuts (iOS only).
    • Illustrates the appearance of colors in modal dialogs on both Android and iOS platforms.

    Key Outcomes

    ServiceNow customers can use these guidelines to create mobile themes that are visually consistent, user-friendly, and accessible. Proper color selection enhances user focus, ensures readability for diverse users, and maintains harmony with other app elements, resulting in a professional and effective mobile application experience.

    Learn how the colors that you select in your mobile themes are applied on your mobile applications.

    Important:
    Use legacy mobile theming on Tokyo and earlier ServiceNow® instances. For Utah and later releases, see Next Experience theming for mobile.

    Color choice considerations

    Consider the following information when you select colors for your mobile applications:
    • How your color choices look with colors in other parts of the app, such as your screen icons and UI styles. Avoid using too many colors. Simple designs of two to three colors result in a cleaner, more accessible layout.
    • How your color choices look with colors in other elements that may display within your app. Elements like knowledge articles and service portal pages may appear in your apps. Avoid color schemes that don't work well with your existing elements.
    • How higher contrast, complementary colors can guide your user’s focus. Use color selection to highlight areas of your apps that require your user’s attention.
    • How color can be used to provide contrast for greater readability. In areas where text appears, ensure that your text and background colors have a high level of contrast to accommodate both low-vision and color-blind users.
    Important:
    Currently, ServiceNow® mobile Android apps do not support using #RGB notation to specify theme colors for the apps. However, #RRGGBB notation is supported by both iOS and Android apps.

    Theme color locations in mobile apps

    This example shows the colors that are used in the default mobile app theme. Use the numbers in this image to see where these colors appear in the different areas of your mobile apps. Colors used in the default mobile theme

    Mobile Features

    Use the following figures to see how your color choices affect the elements within your mobile apps.

    Application Launch Page
    Diagram of where theme colors are applied in an application launch page.
    Navigation Bar
    Diagram of where theme colors are applied in the navigation bar.
    List
    Diagram of where theme colors are applied in a list.
    Virtual Agent
    Diagram of where theme colors are applied in virtual agent.
    Search
    Diagram of where theme colors are applied in search components.
    Actions
    Diagram of where theme colors are applied in action cards.

    Record screen and components

    Use the following figures to see how your color choices affect a record screen and its components within your mobile apps.

    Record screen
    Diagram of where theme colors are applied in a record screen.
    Checklist
    Diagram of where theme colors are applied in a checklist.
    Activity stream
    Diagram of where theme colors are applied in an activity stream.
    Links
    Diagram of where theme colors are applied in links.
    E-signature
    Diagram of where theme colors are applied in e-signatures.

    Screen templates

    Use the following figures to see how your color choices affect the various screen templates within your mobile apps.

    Calendar
    Diagram of where theme colors are applied in calendar screens.
    Map
    Diagram of where theme colors are applied in map screens.
    Note:
    The Pin color field in the list stream record that is associated to your map screen determines the color of the pins on your maps.
    URL template
    Diagram of where theme colors are applied in URL template screens.

    Settings and notifications

    Use the following figures to see how your color choices affect the various settings and notification screens within your mobile apps.

    Notifications
    Diagram of where theme colors are applied in the notifications screen.
    Settings
    Diagram of where theme colors are applied in the settings screen.
    Offline mode settings
    Diagram of where theme colors are applied in the offline mode settings screen.
    Geolocation settings
    Diagram of where theme colors are applied in the geolocation settings screen.
    PIN settings
    Diagram of where theme colors are applied in the PIN settings screen.
    Siri shortcuts settings (iOS Only)
    Diagram of where theme colors are applied in the Siri shortcuts settings screen.

    Modals

    Use the following figures to see how your color choices display in your Android and iOS modals.

    Android modals
    Diagram of where theme colors are applied in Android modals.
    iOS modals
    Diagram of where theme colors are applied in iOS modals.