Guiding Principles for Mobile App Usability
Mobile app usability is an important factor in the success of any mobile app product and design. It affects the product's interactivity and in turn, its overall quality—something that any mobile app designer must pay attention to and strive to achieve to succeed in the mobile app business. Here are some guiding principles for mobile app and general usability for experience designers:
Have a full understanding of the problem before you try to solve it. Usability testing is largely about determining issues and problems that ought to be fixed before the product goes live. This said, you should be careful in making adjustments before getting to the core of the issue, because you might be spending a great deal of time and effort fixing a problem that goes deeper. Don't waste time fixing the wrong problem, instead get to the bottom of things before you start making adjustments—proper usability testing can help you determine these things.
Simplicity is key- In mobile apps, the simpler and more intuitive the design is, the more usable it will be for more people. Create a design that is easy to learn, use, find, and adapt to.
Not all users are the same. And remember—they are less likely to think like you. What is obvious to some might not be as obvious to others, which is another reason why usability testing is such an important step to take when developing these kinds of products.
Limit distractions -While people are known to be great multi-taskers, avoid complicating the design with too many distractions. Effective app designs allow people to focus on whatever task is at hand. Tasks are better carried out consecutively instead of concurrently so they can keep users in the moment.
