Approximately 75% of users that open an app never come back.
Think about it: Will you stay with an app that has several issues? Definitely not!
After all, there are plenty of apps in the market. This means that you can always find something better.
This shows that no matter how fancy your mobile app is, it will be naught if you do not provide an excellent user experience (UX).
Understanding Mobile UX
User experience is more than just making your mobile app look visually appealing. It also has something to do with making your app easy to use.
Remember that mobile does not work the same way with desktop. Hence, mobile UX can be tricky. That said, we have listed nine best practices you should follow to provide excellent mobile UX to your app users.
1. Create a great onboarding experience
Imagine what it's like to be on the first day of your job, and nobody tells you what to do.
That's almost the same with onboarding. If you don't tell users right off the bat what they can do with your app and how it works, then they'll end up stuck.
By implementing onboarding, you can raise the retention rates of users to up to 50%. However, never promise anything that you can't deliver.
Onboarding isn't just about showcasing the functionalities and benefits of your app. It's also about finding out whether you made the right decision with your app.
2. Good navigation
It doesn't matter whether you have the best content or the most remarkable features if users can't look that up.
That's why you should have simple yet intuitive navigation. Utilize easily recognizable elements so that it's easy for the user to switch from one screen to another without any problems.
Because mobile devices have small screen sizes, you should tailor the navigation menu to take up a lot of space on the screen.
3. Consider readability
Because mobile devices have much tinier screens than desktops, trying to fit in all that information on a small screen can be challenging.
Excellent readability, combined with several elements in a design, makes an outstanding UX.
4. Limit user input
This means not asking too many unnecessary questions from your mobile app users. Doing so limits the number of files that they need to fill out, shortening the sign-up process.
There should be minimal user input on mobile. That's because a lot of users can easily get frustrated with smaller screen sizes.
Try to limit the number of fields and ensure that you include all the necessary information. This is to avoid having high drop-off rates from users.
You can also streamline the whole process using auto-complete or sign-in via social media accounts.
5. Assure security and protection
Many users can feel overwhelmed with many permissions that they need to accept before using an app. However, do you even need those access permissions?
For instance, do you really need online banking access when your app does not have any in-app purchases?
This affects the level of trust and comfort users feel when using your app, which affects their overall loyalty to your brand. So, see to it that the permission policies are transparent. Include direct links with your privacy regulations page, especially if you're a retail app.
Doing so allows users to control personal information shared within the mobile app.
Then, try to reinforce it by displaying security badges. This is vital, especially when you ask for sensitive information like banking details and addresses.
6. Integrate behavioral gesturization
Behavioral gesturization means allowing user interaction through small gestures. Examples of gesturization are pinching, scrolling, or swiping.
For instance, swipe actions in an app often involve "sharing," or "deleting." Knowing how users behave is vital to give you insight into what steps they're familiar with.
This allows users to feel more comfortable using your app and the whole onboarding process so much easier.
7. Design finger-friendly buttons
Accidental taps frequently happen, primarily because of small touch controls. To avoid this, ideally, the buttons should be around 10-12 mm (40px) so that they're tapped accurately with a finger.
Try to think about all the ads that you see on the mobile experience. With these ads, you'd often notice that the buttons here are a lot smaller (and often not so easy to spot or difficult to reach).
The primary purpose of CTAs is to prevent any accidental touches.
8. Provide user assistance
Offer user assistance through the app by providing numerous support options. You'd notice that users will often look for help using an app's tool or tab bar.
Also, provide various customer channels. It can be through live chat, phone and email support, FAQ page, and knowledge base.
9. Seamless user-experience
We live in a world where information overload and multitasking are a thing.
Many users rarely use one device, too. People can be using your app using a smartphone, switch it to a tablet, personal computer, and then vice versa.
That's why one of the characteristics of a great UX design is seamless usability. Meaning, using the app is the same, regardless of the device that people are using. You can also partner with reputable designers like Michelle Dipp that specialize in UX/UI design.
Over to You
Listed above are the best practices you should follow to provide excellent mobile UX design.
If you care about your app users, you should make it easy for them to access your app. Thus, you should strive to provide them with the best user experience possible by enhancing usability and design.
Otherwise, you are giving your users away to your competitors.