Usability in Mobile Applications: What is it, and Why is it Needed?

One of the primary keys to an application’s success is the usability of that mobile app. Over the years, smartphones have evolved drastically from simple tools to connect with others to everything you need to manage your daily tasks.

Nowadays, users are more familiar with gestures of faster touch through elements such as a keyboard or mouse as compared to the old methods of using a phone. No matter what age group people might belong to, they are able to handle different devices without much hassle.

However, all mobile applications have not been able to impress their target audience and reap the same kind of success for multiple reasons.

One of the most significant reasons includes the difficulty of application usability or gestures that have a poor organization of the elements of app design as well as other usability flaws.

What is Mobile Application Usability

Mobile application usability is basically the ease and accessibility with which a user can interact with an app. From a business perspective, it can also refer to how smooth a user’s transition turns out to be toward using your mobile application.

The usability of your app can turn out to be a key indicator of the success of your mobile app. For this very reason, you should always be concerned about the ease of access or usability of your app at the time of development.

It can also have a major impact on your app’s conversion rate, making it one of the most critical performance measures when calculating the outcomes of your mobile application in the market.

Efficiency and Effectiveness in Mobile Applications

The first thing to consider in terms of usability is that an application must be easy to use and effective enough to retain its value to stay installed on the target users’ mobile phones. This means you need to cater to the users with the same level of efficiency and effectiveness that they have been looking for.

An application must meet the quality standards, and user needs in the fastest possible time without requiring the user to go through a long learning process.

Applications must reach effectiveness and efficiency through a good experience. The only way to generate an extensive user base and to give the client confidence of the user repeating the use is by reaching the usability standards of mobile applications.

Importance of Mobile App Best Practices

It is very important to understand the application context and determine the degree of usability of the application. Furthermore, it is also necessary to identify the audience you are trying to reach and understand how they might like to use the mobile applications.

The easier an application is used, the greater the probability of it not getting uninstalled from the mobile phones. A well-integrated application contributes to a good level of usability and thus facilitates the user experience.

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Mobile Applications Usability Stats

Here is a forecast of the number of mobile users worldwide from 2020 to 2025:

Here are some facts and figures regarding how app usability can have a strong impact on a user’s behavior:

Indicators to Measure App Usability

Every business application tends to have its own key performance indicators or KPIs that can help you establish that your app will be a hit or a flop in the market. Some of these indicators regarding the UX of your mobile app are:

• Positive/negative reviews
• Time spent on the app
• Number of installs per week
• Number of conversions
• Number of downloads per week

Common Usability Issues

Since the major parts of our lives these days include smart devices and mobile phones, it is necessary to come up with new ways to engage and interact with potential prospects at the time of development of the mobile application.

While it is true that the UI of the app holds a lot of importance in enhancing the user experience, usability can also turn out to be one of the deciding factors for the better performance of your app in the market.

This means that if your mobile application does not have a modern design that makes it difficult to use, it can certainly create a negative perception of your app among your target customers. So, here are some of the common usability issues:

Incomplete Onboarding

The primary goal of any business at the time of developing an app is to make sure their app is there to stay and impress the potential users. However, it is also one of the most common facts that almost 20% of users abandon the app only after a single use.

The most common reason behind this can e the onboarding of your app, which is the process of getting new users to engage with your app instead of abandoning it. It is crucial to design an interesting onboarding process that will help users interact more with your app.

Unresponsive Gestures

Nothing can be more off-beat for a user than a button in an app that does nothing. This raises the common question, “Why is the button there if it doesn’t work?”

Well, this might be because of different reasons, such as the app might be unresponsive at that time or really “broken,” or the app might also be navigated by the user in their own logical pattern. This eventually leads to frustration.

Rejecting Different Resolutions

Everyone knows that iOS and Android are two different platforms with different development processes. This is why you need to develop an app that is simulated in a way that is suitable for a certain operating system.

Also, ignoring the resolution factor of different mobile screens in the usability of your app can also make users lose interest in your app.

Poor Navigation

Most of the time, app developers build excellent features. However, sometimes these features might not completely align with each other when organized in a certain way. Your user should be able to quickly understand how to navigate your app as soon as they enter it.

Avoid adding too many unnecessary links or unnecessary buttons in your app. This is because it can lead to confusing the user and memorizing the functions to reach a certain place in the app.

Confusing Content

The commonly used phrase, “content is the king,” also applies to the mobile application’s usability. You should never copy-paste the content for your app directly from the web because of its difference. This would require you to first adjust the content according to the mobile screen.

Whether it is about pop-up content or any other content in the app, if it is done right, it can do wonders for the success of the mobile application. Also, adding too much information might frustrate the users and ruin the UX design.

Mobile App Usability Best Practices

To avoid the failure of your app and increase its chances of creating a solid impression on its target potential prospects, here are some of the best usability practices that can help you efficiently achieve your goal:

• Offer Immediate Values
• Reduce Scrolling
• Short and Clear Content
• Platform Compatibility
• Simple Navigation

Mobile Usability Testing Tool

Efficiency is the key to retaining the quality and standard of an app in any industry or business sector. For this very reason, the UI and UX of the app hold a lot of importance. To test if the usability of your app effectively meets the quality standards while keeping the costs low, here are some usability testing tools you can use:

Treejack

Treejack is one of the most popular usability testing tools that allow you to input the sitemap and render it in its simplest form as a tree.

Solidify/ Helio

Solidify, also known as Helio, is an easy-to-use and quick app for prototyping Uis for testing quality standards. It enables you to hotlink and upload a series of mock-ups.

Mouseflow

This app is also a fast method of recording how a user might interact with your mobile application without having to use any physical observation or external cameras. This app lets you track scrolling, keystrokes, actions, and usage.

FiveSecondTest

FiveSecondTest allows you to design the landing pages of your app that helps you to encourage users to make the right decisions by showing mock-ups or screenshots for five seconds only.

End Note

The accessibility and usability of yor app can help you take the market by storm if you effectively meet the quality standards. For this very reason, it is important to special importance to the UI of your app and make your app a hit. You need to specifically keep it in mind at the time of development of the app.