Useful literature
when creating an app or mobile site
7 usability
guidelines for websites on mobile device
1.
Reduce
the amount of content
2.
Single
column layout – use the whole width of the screen and scroll downwards not
across
3.
Different
navigation – place navigation at the top or bottom, dropdowns, back-bottons
4.
Minimize
text entry – minimize typing, use stored details, pin instead of password,
5.
Consider
more mobile sites – for mobiles with different screen and processing power
6.
Design for both touch screen and non-touchscreen users – separate object
to be clicked on
7.
Take advantage for inbuilt functionalities – calls, map, GPS, QR-codes
How to
study mobile behaviour – an ethnographic perspective
Qualitative
study of peoples’ mobile behaviour on the go
Insights
about mobility (quoted)
· A powerful motivation for using
smartphones is the need for civil
inattention, i.e. to appear engaged with something while travelling,
waiting, or in situations when we are forced to be together with others while
on our own.
· Activities undertaken on the go are often
interrupted and performed in short spurs, sometimes while also doing
something else.
· The time between stops is, in a
subjective way, both the commuter's unit of time on the tube and also the
length of their attention span when consuming content or performing a task on
their phones.
Findings
about mobile shopping behaviour (quoted)
· Participants wanted to see some
products in a big screen or, even better, in store before buying them, but some
participants used their phone to buy something online soon after they saw it in
a store!
· Smartphones were used for
"having a little browse" anytime participants felt too lazy to go
downstairs and switch on the computer, but they still used their computer to
carry out "important" tasks such as purchasing something very
expensive.
· As with most things designed,
participants took "ownership" of their apps and used them in a way
that makes more sense to them: we talked to people that use Foursquare just to
read the reviews instead of checking in, or Twitter to find cheap flights.
· Many participants were keen to
use apps that replace human interaction, such as paying a their bill via
the Pizza
Express app instead of waiting for the waiter to come back with a
card machine
· People struggled a bit to find
the right apps among all those installed on their phones, or at least to
find them fast enough to use them on the go. Some of them devised interesting
strategies to classify and remember them.
Six
mistakes to avoid in mobile usability
Most known
mistakes that people make when they are creating a mobile presence for their
business
1.
Not
adapting to the mobile platform – making mobile web-sites as if designing for
at normal web site
2.
Missing
the point – conduct a survey of what your customers want
3.
Failing
to ask the target audience – test on target users!
4.
Over
complicating things – keep it simple, used the most up-to-date software, limit
hyperlink on each page to max 10
5.
Bloated
sites – make it quickly accessible, not too much content which is slowly
downloaded
6.
Jumping
in without research – see what your competitors are doing (benchmarking)
