The user experience of mobile websites and apps has improved since our last research, but we still have far to go. A dedicated mobile site is a must, and apps get even higher usability scores.
- Jakob Nielsen
Mobile usability (specifically in application development, but also applicable to web design) is about to change the world. In an app-world of hundreds of thousands of mobile applications, it is more important than ever to build technology that is easy to use. Mobile technology is designed to make a persons life easier—therefore it’s essential to introduce workflows that allow the user to complete tasks quickly. Many great examples of usability in mobile phones include very common characteristics: fast load time, saving data in a cloud, limited error messages, and streamlined interactions.
Now that “touch” has been introduced in mobile technology, things have changed in terms of mobile usability. Usability guidelines change very slowly because they derive from human behavior, not technology. Also, devices are no longer limited to a keyboard and mouse—but accelerometers, gyroscopes, front and rear view cameras, voice-commands, and GPS can also be factors that can improve the application’s usability.
Some of the ways that mobile usability differs from traditional media are:
- Typing – Our research tells us that users do not like using mobile mini-keyboards or virtual keyboards. Limiting this interaction is very important to making a mobile application usable. Registration might be better to do on a regular computer, then synced with a device later.
- Because the screens are so much smaller (and there isn’t a scrollbar), it’s very easy for a user to avoid scrolling “below the fold”. Content positioning is very important to test.
There are many web 2.0-style features, like carousels and mouseover navigation, that many application developers are using improperly—not to mention the use of these technologies with Flash and HTML5. It’s important to test websites for mobile usability and to also test mobile apps. Gathering together a panel of users to do a qualitative study is one of the best ways to assemble the data needed to make important design decisions.