Top 5 Reasons Why You Should Avoid Mobile App Usability Issues in 2021
Mobile applications have been at the forefront of business and there is no room for errors amongst tough competition. Mobile app usability is often the most important yet ignored factor that makes your app stand out from the rest. It is crucial to ensure that your mobile app is flexible for the end users and is able to fulfill the task easily. According to a recent report, more than 85% of mobile users do not return to an app if there is any usability issue. Apart from that, more than 70% businesses also face grave issues due to their own usability issues in the app.
Due to the competitive nature of business today, users do not give a second look at an app if something doesn’t work right away. This is due to the fact that there are hundreds of alternatives offering the same that you are trying to provide. Now, to ensure that users keep coming back to your app, you will need to eradicate the possibility of glitch, error or complex procedures causing these usability issues.
What is Mobile App Usability?
The most common stigma related to mobile app business is that Mobile App Usability and User Experience are interchangeable terms. It would be a surprise to many people but yes both these terms have different meanings. Mobile app usability is ensuring that particular users are able to achieve their objectives in a given environment. Whereas, User Experience is the wholesome experience of the user when going through the app.
Mobile app usability is focused on assisting the user to complete a given task conveniently. Here, you need to ensure that the users can achieve their results without any obstacles. When you think about mobile app usability, you work on particular elements to achieve a goal. And when you talk about UI, you need to take care of the entire flow and related elements for optimum user experience. To improve the UI, you need to ask for feedback from the users and work on it from time to time. Let us find out how you can tackle the most important mobile app usability issues.
Platform Usability
Platform availability still remains one of the top most app usability issues that is dreaded by most end users. The first thing to do is to ensure that your app is available and works flawlessly on all platforms. The app should not baffle the end users by not working on a different platform. iOS and Android are two of the most prominent platforms but they are vastly different from each other in terms of usability. Your mobile app should be developed according to the particular OS so it will match the expectations of the end users. The platform usability issue is one of the biggest flaws with the apps and it can cost your business dearly.
Ease of Onboarding
Sign up is the first step where the user interacts with your mobile application and it has to be right on point. The sign up process should be short and concise as users do not like a complicated sign up process. To make that happen, you can ask for a few basic information or ask for social media profile access to get that information. Sign up via social media platforms like Facebook or Gmail are the most preferred methods for new sign ups as users do not feel like filling out lengthy forms for each website or app. By doing so, you are saving the time and energy of the users and they will appreciate it immensely. As per a report, most users instantly close the app that doesn’t allow signing in the app through their social media profiles. However, if you still need to ask them a few questions then try to be as precise as possible.
Simple Navigation
Navigation is a major hurdle in mobile app usability. If your app has extremely poor navigation then it may prompt the users to scrap the app instantly. Your mobile app should have easy navigation which makes it convenient for the users to find their way and accomplish their tasks without getting distracted or irritated. By including complex features, you can end up frustrating the users to abandon the app. To combat this , try to offer dynamic instructions to the user to inform what you want them to do and how they can easily navigate in the app to meet their objectives. Moreover, try not to stretch anything and keep it short and simple.
Clear and Concise Content
Content plays a major role in the mobile app usability and imparts value to the app. Users go through the app using the content in the app and try to complete each and every task. Hence, you must take care when you add content to your app which can assist the users and guide them to achieve the tasks. It is best to keep it clear and try not to add unnecessary content which can confuse the user. For instance, when you are selling a product or a service, you must take care to include the description and ways to purchase in the shortest possible way.
User Feedback and Testing
The most critical tool to be used for enhancing your app could be the feedback provided by your users. It is one of the most effective ways to fix an app because it touches the pain points of the users involved and those who matter the most. You must not try to dismiss user feedback thinking it is just something an irate customer wrote about his/her experience with your app. It can act as a learning experience to help you improve your mobile app usability. Once it is accomplished, you can get back to the user and gain their trust back. The user will undoubtedly become a fan of your professionalism and will give good feedback to their friends and family. If you are worried about dismissing the actual users, you can also accomplish this task with mock users.
Final Word
When using the app for the first time, users can face a lot of issues. Mobile app usability is a crucial element of mobile app development and it must be taken seriously if you want your apps to flourish. We hope the above points will help you understand about mobile app usability better and make it better for your users. Let us know if we have missed any critical issue here. If you need any help with mobile app development then you can get in touch with us today.
Keval Padia is the founder & CEO of Nimblechapps, a fast-growing mobile app development company. The current innovation and updates of the field lures him to express his views and thoughts on certain topics.