8 Things You Must Do For Mobile

| Mobile / Apps

8 Things You Must Do For Mobile

 

With Google having rolled out the mobile-first update recently, you are likely to have put at least some thought into your mobile website.

Mobile web design isn’t easy as there are many factors you must consider when building for mobile.

Here are 8 things you must do when it comes to mobile web design:

1) Do Your Research

Before any project, you should start with at least a bit of research. We know it’s tempting to dive straight in but you need to understand your audience before you get started. Ensure you understand who your users are and what they really want from your website.

You should aim to create a truly immersive and engaging experience for your users, which means you need to understand what they want from you.  

2) Do Prioritise Crucial Features

It can be tempting to jam as many features onto your website as possible, however despite your intentions this doesn’t usually result in a better user experience. Too many features results in a lot of clutter which leads to confused users.

Busy pages are awful for user experience especially on a mobile device, so it is vital that you limit the features on your website to keep it simple and clean. Stick with what’s important, prominently position things like the property search function and remove all the features that have little value to the majority of users.

3) Declutter

Cluttering your web page will overload your users with too much information, every button, snippet of text, image and/or video will add more distractions to your website. Not only do you need to prioritise essential features but everything else too. Mobile devices have limited space which needs to be used wisely, so get rid of anything that isn’t absolutely essential.

4) Do Use Clear Navigation

Your users should be able to navigate your website easily. They should be able to do this without even thinking about it.

If you have the most captivating content you want your users to be able to find it and if they can’t then it’s useless.

5) Do Be Finger Friendly

Buttons and touch targets that are too small are always problematic for mobile users. Miss taps lead to frustrated users, who are more likely to back up and leave your website than persist with miss tapping.

All buttons and links must be big enough for your users to tap it easily. Make these elements at least 7-10mm.

6) Do Make Content Readable

Another common issue with poor mobile experiences is small text. It is crucial that your content is easily readable as small text will result in straining your user’s eyes. Text should be at least 11 points so users can read it without zooming in.

7) Do Minimise Typing

Typing on a mobile device is slow and prone to errors. You should limit the amount of typing required to use your website as much as possible.  

So, remember to ask only what you really need to know on forms, and keep it as short as possible. No one likes to fill in forms, so the longer and more complicated they are the less likely they are to fill them in.

Where possible, give the user choices instead of input fields to make it easier and faster for them to fill in.

8) Do Create a Seamless Experience

Mobile doesn’t necessarily mean just a smartphone, a typical user will have several devices such as laptops, mobile phones, desktops and tablets which means you have to create a seamless experience across all of them.

Although this new Google update is called Mobile-First, it doesn’t mean you should neglect everything else!

Luke Stanley