Article

Udesh Jadnanansing
Udesh Jadnanansing 2 March 2017

What makes a good mobile app user experience?

Today most businesses use responsive and adaptive websites. However, these same businesses are also considering using mobile apps – but are these mobile apps user-friendly?

When it comes to online shopping, the smartphone has now surpassed desktops. In October 2016, nearly 51.3% of the global population browses online using a tablet or a smartphone, compared to the 48.7% that use a desktop. Starting in 2015, Google began rewarding mobile-friendly websites with higher rankings in the search results; a good reason for businesses to have a strategy in place for mobile.

Today most businesses use responsive and adaptive websites. However, these same businesses are also considering using mobile apps – but are these mobile apps user-friendly?

In a research study carried out by Oracle, almost 55% of Millennials expressed that if the mobile app experience are poor, they would be less likely to use the products or services of that company. Additionally, due to a poor app experience, 39% would also be less likely to recommend a product or service. Lastly, 27% even said that a poor experience would adversely affect the image of a business.

Mopinion: What makes a good user experience for mobile apps? - Millennials

Suhas Uliyar, VP Mobile Strategy & Product Management at Oracle says, “An engaging and personalized user experience has become the new weapon in the battle to attract and retain millennial customers. Businesses that cannot add value for customers with a more convenient, functional, and relevant mobile experience have little chance of coming out on top.” Therefore now is a critical time to start heavily investing in the usability of your app. But how do you do that?

We’ve got three quick-wins for you in this blog.

1. Provide a good and efficient interface

A lot can go wrong during the design and development phase of the app. The search function goes missing, content cannot be filtered, or perhaps icons are unclear. So to prevent your customers from leaving the app, you must adhere to certain rules:

  • Use a clear search bar at the top of the app that brings up search suggestions and search history
  • Organise and label the ‘menu’ category so that your customer can take a quick glance and see which category they need
  • With ecommerce apps, always make sure there are good filters for the products and services so that the customer can filter by price, color, size, etc.
  • Do you work with ordering funnels and long forms in your app? Nothing is more frustrating than having to fill in all of that information again because you missed a section. It is better to highlight the data that is filled in incorrectly or not filled in at all so that your customers will see right away what needs to be adjusted.

Mopinion: What makes a good user experience for mobile apps? - Interface design

2. Don’t spam your users with notifications

You know how it goes: you unlock your phone and see all of those annoying notifications from a newly installed app. These kinds of apps are pretty much comparable to that one pushy friend that can’t take a hint. In short, (too many) notifications are irritating. Therefore, you should always ensure that your users can decide whether or not they want to receive notifications. And if so, what they want to receive. Otherwise, there is a big chance that they’ll quickly remove the app.

Mopinion: What makes a good user experience for mobile apps? - Notifications

3. Use customer feedback

Nowadays, customer feedback collection is usually done via the (mobile) website, but why not in a mobile app too? The customer is the only one who knows what he/she wants to see so take advantage of their feedback. By using their feedback, things such as bug reports are solved much more quickly in the app. However collecting this feedback in an app is done a little bit differently than on a website. In this blog, you will find more information about how to gather the best in-app customer feedback.

Also keep in mind that the feedback button shouldn’t take up too much space, or worse, cover important content or app functions. An alternative is to incorporate it in the navigation of the app.

A user-friendly mobile app is just as important as a user-friendly website. So don’t wait too long to ask for user input, because that’s what it’s all about: a happy and loyal customer.

Please login or register to add a comment.

Contribute Now!

Loving our articles? Do you have an insightful post that you want to shout about? Well, you've come to the right place! We are always looking for fresh Doughnuts to be a part of our community.

Popular Articles

See all
The Impact of New Technology on Marketing

The Impact of New Technology on Marketing

Technology has impacted every part of our lives. From household chores to business disciplines and etiquette, there's a gadget or app for it. Marketing has changed dramatically over the years, but what is the...

Alex Lysak
Alex Lysak 22 September 2020
Read more
The Carrot of a Bigger Market is More Powerful Than the Stick of Legal Action in Driving Web Accessibility Investment, New Research Finds

The Carrot of a Bigger Market is More Powerful Than the Stick of Legal Action in Driving Web Accessibility Investment, New Research Finds

Getting web accessibility right is a massive commercial opportunity. The World Health Organization estimates that 1.3bn people worldwide are living with some form of impairment. The benefits of making it easier for...

Michael Nutley
Michael Nutley 30 November 2023
Read more
It’s Time For Brands to Move From Personalised, to Personal

It’s Time For Brands to Move From Personalised, to Personal

At a time when almost every brand is tailoring content and offers to individual customers based on their demographic data, purchase history, and online behaviours, are these personalisation efforts still adding value?...

Shafqat Islam
Shafqat Islam 27 November 2023
Read more
The 3 Most Important Stages In Your Presentation

The 3 Most Important Stages In Your Presentation

If you want to deliver a presentation on a particular topic and you have to prepare yourself for it you should make sure that you go through several very important stages in order to craft a compelling, persuasive and...

Nicky Nikolaev
Nicky Nikolaev 16 February 2016
Read more
McDonald's: the History and Evolution of a Famous Logo

McDonald's: the History and Evolution of a Famous Logo

McDonald's logo is one of the most recognizable in the world. What does the logo of this brand mean, how did it evolve and what is the secret to the success of McDonald’s fast food network?

Anna Kuznetsova
Anna Kuznetsova 24 October 2019
Read more