The Importance of UX Strategy For New Mobile Apps

There are many different things to consider when launching a new mobile app. Target audience, marketing, price; the list goes on. But something that is often overlooked is UX strategy. If you were to look at the most successful mobile apps currently available, you’d find that they all have one thing in common, a fantastic UX strategy that offers a seamless experience for the user. Here are some things to factor into your UX strategy if you’re about to launch a new mobile app.

What is Mobile UX?

In its simplest form, mobile UX is the experience of a user when using a mobile app. Factors that contribute to the overall experience of a user include things like speed, responsiveness and ease of use. It’s one of, if not the most important thing to consider when launching a new app. Don’t just take our word for it, research suggests that 90% of smartphone users will keep shopping if they are receiving a great user experience whilst 50% of users will use a website less if it isn’t mobile friendly, even if they like the company.

To satisfy users in today’s mobile-first world, it’s imperative that new apps and websites go to market with a thorough mobile UX strategy. While UX has long been considered in the digital world, the current preference for mobile devices has reshaped how design teams should be thinking about their UX strategy.

How does mobile UX differ from desktop?

The most obvious difference between desktop and mobile is screen size. While this may not seem like a huge factor to consider, they require two separate approaches when it comes to UX and UI. No longer is it acceptable to simply size down your desktop app into a mobile one, a mobile app needs its own UX strategy and a bespoke mobile interface design.

Here are a few things to factor into your UX strategy when designing on mobile.

Size

If you were to shrink a website or app from desktop to mobile, you’d find that the majority of text would be unreadable, and buttons would be extremely small, making them hard to click for a mobile user. As a result, if your app is available on both desktop and mobile, it’s imperative that your mobile version is built to scale.

Structure

Mobile interface designs tend to be designed as one continuous column to ensure all content fits onto a mobile screen. Having your UX and UI work together and ensuring your user can scroll vertically from one block of content to the next will make for an overall smoother experience when using your mobile app.

Features

As a result of having less space to play with, you must prioritise your most important features when it comes to a mobile UX strategy. This also means considering which less important features can be hidden from your mobile designs. A common tactic often seen in mobile interface designs is replacing the top/side navigation bar with a hamburger menu that brings up a magnified version of the navigation bar when pressed.

Notifications

A good UX strategy isn’t just about your users’ experience when using the app, consider how mobile notifications can be used to bring users back to the app more frequently. Consider the frequency of notifications as they can be a massive weapon within your UX strategy, but spamming your users with notifications will simply lead them to disable notifications.

How to test a UX strategy on mobile

Testing is arguably the most important part of your UX strategy when launching a new mobile app. It’s a great way to identify potential gaps in UX and ensure your target users are satisfied with your app’s usability and performance. Usually, prototypes and user testing are used to carry out UX testing.

When it comes to the people testing your app, the most important thing is variety. You’ll want trained UX designers who are experienced in implementing UX strategies and know what to look out for. You’ll also want to test your app using people who match your target audience regardless of their knowledge of UX. Testing your app’s UX using people who have limited knowledge and experience of app design is a great way to ensure your mobile app is usable for everyone.

It’s also important to incorporate different types of testing into your UX strategy. Consider both moderated and unmoderated testing. Moderated UX testing involves a facilitator guiding participants through a series of tests while unmoderated user testing leaves participants to complete tasks on their own.

Your app should also undergo a series of explorative user testing as well as comparative user testing. Explorative tests don’t set predefined tasks and allow the tester to explore the app whereas comparative user testing is when multiple UX solutions are tested against one another.

Examples of successful mobile UX strategy

TikTok

TikTok is a great example of an app being built with mobile in mind. The recommended video size for TikTok videos is 1080x1920 pixels which allows the videos to take up the full mobile screen.

Shazam

Shazam is a mobile app that helps users identify the name of a song from the audio - a concept that only really works on mobile. Impressively, the designers of the Shazam app found a way for users to arrive at their desired destination with just one tap after opening the app.

Uber

Uber took a task that was performed on the phone and redesigned it using a mobile-first approach. Ordering, tracking and paying for a cab can all be done through the app while the mobile interface design displays real-time updates for optimum convenience.

Are you looking for assistance with your UX strategy? As a UX agency in Manchester, our team here at BGN have a wealth of experience when it comes to designing for both desktop and mobile so feel free to get in touch if you have any further questions about the importance of UX strategy.