According to Statista, the approximate number of Android applications has reached a whopping 3.48 million. As far as iOS is concerned, the number is more than 2 million. However, despite the skyrocketing number of applications flooding mobile users, not every one of them is successful or a customer favorite.
Not every mobile app owner considers UX monitoring the top priority. After all, there aren’t many successful applications out there. But when testers implement the necessary UX best practices for hassle-free and flawless product delivery, it results in better user retention, more conversions, and a better ROI. This post will take a detailed look at the top 5 mobile UX best practices for a flawless delivery. Let us dive right in.
In This Article
1. Implement Test Automation
It is no secret that testing automation enhances development and renders a superior quality product. That is why it’s essential to leverage its power and use it to improve UX. The best way is to use test automation with some manual tests. You can start with UI tests and move on to integration tests.
Moreover, nothing ruins UX more than outdated features and functionalities. But automation testing at each step enables previous test cases to be a foundation for consistent regression testing. This promotes frequent updates and saves considerable costs compared to starting from scratch.
2. Enhance DevOps Maturity
Faster releases are a crucial component of optimum mobile UX. DevOps maturity is all about preparation, activation, and optimization. In the first phase, preparation involves establishing visibility into the system and influencing people through activation. The last step uses your system data to fine-tune your process and resources.
Enhanced DevOps maturity consists of establishing baselines and performance objectives for your web applications and setting off proactive alerts against them. It also involves gathering performance statistics followed by remediating applications. As the DevOps team further matures, it speeds up deployment rates. The final level-up involves creating cross-functional operations that help track success and identify improvement areas. Improving CI/CD activities to facilitate support for daily releases and other components helps impart a flawless experience to mobile users.
3. Increase and Improve Test Coverage
A stubborn bug or a sudden crash is enough to scare a mobile user away. Increasing and improving test coverage for a better UX is necessary to prevent negative reviews and ratings from shooting out of the roof. Ideal test coverage helps in determining whether your app test cases thoroughly cover the entire application code and what measures you should take while running these test cases.
Another main reason behind increasing and improving test coverage is that there are a wide variety of browsers, devices, and operating systems with new releases on the verge. Both Android and iOS have been flooded with brand new features. Therefore, implement a higher test coverage using simulators, emulators, and real devices to deliver an overall and mobile UX.
4. Test The Impact of Load on Mobile UX
Think about the last time you were eager to grab the best deals at the Black Friday sale. Didn’t you get all your friends hooked to the desired mobile app simultaneously? Even the most smoothly performing mobile applications get a little antsy when they face an influx of unexpected traffic. This brings to the question, how many applications are actually prepared for sharp spikes when it comes to application usage?
Proper load testing reduces the risk of exposing customers to slow app performance and sudden crashes. Let’s face it; poor ratings can break your business. Therefore, it’s a wise move to implement load testing as one of the mobile UX best practices for flawless delivery.
5. Futuristic Innovation
After the unexpected rise in digitalization in the past two years, one thing is for sure. As part of digital experience monitoring, it’s essential to realize that every business has an expiration date if it doesn’t step up to stay on par with future trends and embrace innovation. That’s why besides making performance enhancements and bug fixes, it is also crucial to invest in futuristic trends that might not have become mainstream in the current scenario besides making performance enhancements and bug fixes.
For example, in the future, people are going to be able to perform a lot of processing and graphically intense tasks with technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, 5G, virtual reality, and assisted reality. This will lead to plenty of interface changes and a huge impact on the overall Mobile application testing scenario.
Here, anticipation is the key. As technology advancements keep rolling out, it’s vital to make predictions for the upcoming trends and implement as much innovation as possible before product features to the customer’s end. After all, future-oriented thinking in business helps stand out and have a competitive edge among countless others.
6. Have a Consistent and Concise Design
One of the top qualities of a good mobile UX is design consistency. Maintaining uniformity among images, typeface, controls, and colors in the application is a good practice. The user interface should also be concise with a minimal number of steps. This also involves removing doubts and communicating the expected result of user actions by eliminating uncertainty. For instance, if the user needs to wait, they should be able to see progress status.
Nothing should stand in their way as an obstacle when users are browsing through your app. Treat anything and everything that creates a hassle in the quick accomplishment of user goals as an unnecessary distraction. The best way to keep your interface clean is to stick to features that come under the category of essentials.
Users shouldn’t feel like they have to jump through hoops to achieve the desired result. For instance, you can add one-click functionalities, optimize the autofill feature, and eliminate long, never-ending forms. This helps in eliminating confusion from the mind of the user and improves usability.
7. Declutter and Prioritize
When it comes to the mobile application user interface, less is really more. Do you remember the last time you experienced the frustration of working on a cluttered desktop screen? It’s annoying as heck having to squint your eyes through bundles of icons and dealing with the frozen screen. The scenario must have made it impossible to work. Now imagine the same thing happening on the much smaller screen of a mobile device.
The more buttons, images, and content you have, the more complex UX gets. But targeting minimalism in the name of decluttering won’t do you any good if you’re compromising on app usability. Make the core objectives your foundation and prioritize features accordingly. Follow it up by an in-depth analysis of how users utilize different features and keep on refining the design. As a result, your application will become more pleasureable to use and intuitive.
8. Focus on Legibility and Touch Target
Great legibility is an important component of UX. How users are able to consume content directly determines the long-term success of a business. This makes it crucial to impart a consistent interface across different mobile devices. For that, you should select the typefaces compatible with different weights and sizes.
For example, most successful applications use a minimum of 11 points to keep eye strain at bay. Spacing and touch targets go hand in hand with legibility. Creating a touch target such as links, buttons, and controls to a minimum of 8 to 10 mm aligns with the average width of the fingertip.
There should be enough space between different user interface elements to avoid touch screen overlap. After all, it’s best to avoid the frustration that comes with wanting to perform a certain function and getting an unexpected output in return!
9. Use Gesture-Driven Guidance System and Various User Paths
Even though millennials and Gen Z don’t need much guidance if they are familiar with what you’re offering, older generations or total beginners might need some hand-holding when they are just starting. Different users have different levels of knowledge and familiarity with devices and software. That’s why it’s a good practice to use a gesture-driven guidance system to help new users with seamless app interactions.
Every application has some hidden controls the users won’t automatically try out. Some of them also lack standardization which makes locating them even more challenging. Assist your users with animations or similar visual aids that demonstrate how they can make the most out of your app.
Also, users have a variety of UX preferences, even if their end goal is the same. This makes it a wise move to offer various methods of input, such as multiple logins and sign-up options. This allows users to choose the option with which they feel most comfortable carrying out interactions in your application.
10. Minimize Information Filling and Offer Assistance
No user is a fan of the idea of selling a load of data before accomplishing the desired outcome. In fact, the more effort users have to put into entering data, the higher is their likelihood to quit the app and switch to a computer. Moreover, too many data requirements make users concerned about the privacy.
Therefore it’s a wise practice to mention where the data the need to input is purely optional. Strip the data input down to the bare minimum as a sign of respect for their time and privacy. Also whenever they feel stuck, users should easily be able to find troubleshooting options and access support through FAQs, live chats, chat bots, email, and calls.
11. Lay Special Emphasis On Font Size and Style
Earlier, we discussed that the font size shouldn’t be smaller than 11-pointers for a comfortable read. Although, 16 px is the standard recommendation when it comes to selected the font size for mobile applications. To differentiate between paragraphs and different headings, you can use two or three font sizes. Anything more than that can cause unnecessary clutter.
Be extra careful with the font size of headings as too big a size can make your heading appear disproportionately. This is something testers should keep in check before releasing the product. Topography goes hand and hand with font size when it comes to mobile UX. While different font styles can make a page look lively and interactive, using too many styles can backfire.
Avoid using all caps or too many italicized phones since they pose a reading challenge for people who have dyslexia. They also have a lower scanning speed and therefore, you shouldn’t use them for all titles except for acronyms and logos. Remember, nobody likes squinting their eyes to decipher what’s on the mobile screen. But users also don’t appreciate a blasting large bunch of alphabets bombarded onto their eyes. Balance is the key when it comes to font size and style.
Summing It Up
From a top-notch display to simplicity in the mobile app interface and navigation, intelligent businesses consider the required factors before rolling out their product into the market. Every time you feel like creating a long-lasting positive impression on the users, offer them the best possible UX.
Mobile screens increase a person’s cognitive load due to their smaller size. Therefore, for easy understanding its important to remove friction and simplify controls as much as possible.
Attaining perfection in delivering of the best mobile UX can be a tough nut. However, keeping these top 11 mobile UX best practices for flawless delivery in mind, you can create an engaging and attractive app for the target audience.
This way, you’re able to earn more loyal customers and referrals, which has the potential to make your ROI reach unimaginable heights. So, are you ready to fulfill your business goals and simultaneously offer immense value to your mobile users? Sound off in the comments section below.
