Mobile UX: Study Guide
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Mobile UX: Study Guide
Summary: Unsure where to start? Use this collection of links to our articles and videos to learn how to write and present information that aligns with users’ needs and online behaviors.
Here’s a list of NN/g’s most useful articles and videos about the mobile user experience. Within each section, the resources are in recommended reading order.
The resources here are grouped under the following topics:
Designing for Mobile and Tablets: General Considerations
This section discusses some general considerations about the strengths and limitations of mobile as a medium. Start with this section to get an overview of the field.
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Description |
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article |
Strengths and limitations of designing for mobile |
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article |
Why following basic UX guidelines is even more important on mobile than on desktop |
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article |
An overview of the general state of mobile user experience |
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article |
Main design issues encountered in user research on tablets |
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article |
The common channels, strengths, and context of use for mobile (and other) devices |
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article |
Defining the different types of mobile apps |
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article |
The phenomenon of feeling out of control over the amount spent online and on mobile devices |
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video |
Mobile Interaction Design
The articles in this section discuss how to design basic user-interface elements for mobile.
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Format |
Description |
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article |
Recommended sizes for touchscreen buttons and other targets |
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article |
Pros and cons of accordions on mobile |
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article |
Research investigating the best icon to use for an accordion |
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article |
Guidelines for when to use sliders on mobile and how to make them usable |
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article |
Best practices for carousels on mobile |
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video |
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article |
Guidelines for designing a text field on mobile |
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video |
How help users enter information on mobile by taking advantage of camera, GPS, and other phone features |
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article |
Why dots, Submit at top, and the Plus (+) and Move icons create usability issues |
Mobile Navigation
Navigation can be a tricky subject on mobile due to the limited screen space that is available to the designer. Several of the resources below discuss mobile-navigation patterns and how to use them properly.
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Description |
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article |
A discussion of various mobile-navigation patterns and when to use each |
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article |
How crosslinking on mobile can alleviate some of the problems of hidden navigation |
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article |
Common patterns for implementing mobile subnavigation and when to use which |
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article |
Why split buttons for navigation work poorly on mobile and what to use to accommodate submenus and category landing pages |
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article |
Why text menu are preferrable to image grids at higher levels of the information architecture |
Content on Mobile
Content on mobile can be harder to remember and comprehend than on desktop. These articles discuss how to present a variety of content types on mobile so that they can be easily processed by users.
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Link |
Format |
Description |
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article |
A 2011 study that showed that comprehension was poorer on mobile than on desktop |
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article |
A 2016 study that found that the desktop comprehension advantage disappears for easy passages, but is still there for hard ones |
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article |
Research showing that mobile content needs to be trimmed down to the essential |
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article |
Why only essential information should be presented to mobile users, with less important content available only upon request |
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article |
Why designers should not waste space on mobile with big, uninformative illustrations |
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article |
Structuring information in individual content units that allow users easily select the right one |
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article |
Using in-page links to allow people to see the page structure and quickly access each individual content unit |
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Banner Blindness Revisited: Users Dodge Ads on Mobile and Desktop |
article |
How banner blindness prevents users from noticing information that looks like an ad on both mobile and desktop |
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article |
How to make ads more usable on mobile and prevent them from creating false floors |
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List Thumbnails on Mobile: When to Use Them and Where to Place Them |
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When to use thumbnail images for mobile lists |
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Research showing that visual indicators attract attention best when they use different colors and icons |
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article |
Diary study showing how people access newsletters on mobile devices |
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article |
How to make mobile tables more usable |
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video |
Why you may need to offer users more advanced table-manipulation techniques such as hiding and reordering columns |
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article |
A comparison of the book-reading experience on Kindle vs. iPad book-reading apps |
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article |
An example of a mobile-page redesign that follows several of our mobile-usability guidelines |
The Initial Experience on Mobile
When users first interact with a new application or website, they often encounter requests to log in or create an account, as well as walkthrough tutorials that get them familiar with the app.
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Description |
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article |
How to make registration and login less painful on mobile |
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article |
Why you should not ask users to log in or create an account before they use your mobile app or website |
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article |
An example of how to improve a poorly designed login wall |
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Mobile Login Methods Help Chinese Users Avoid Password Roadblocks |
article |
How to use QR codes to make login easier on mobile and desktop |
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Mobile-App Onboarding: An Analysis of Components and Techniques |
article |
When to use a separate onboarding walkthrough in a mobile app |
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video |
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Why most mobile onboarding walkthroughs are a waste of resources |
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video |
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article |
How to present tips and help in mobile apps |
Gestures
Touchscreen devices support a multitude of gestures beyond tap. These articles discuss some of the common gestures, with an emphasis on swipe.
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Format |
Description |
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article |
How the use of horizontal swipe exposes users to issues caused by swipe ambiguity |
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Scan and Shake: A Lesson in Technology Adoption from China’s WeChat |
article |
How QR codes and the shake gesture became widely adopted in China due to WeChat's popularity |
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article |
Why contextual menus triggered by a swipe gesture are less discoverable |
Other Mobile-Specific Features
Modern mobile devices come with capabilities such as camera, voice recognition, GPS, push notification, augmented reality, and a variety of other features. These features, when used properly, can make the user experience better and more delightful.
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Link |
Format |
Description |
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article |
How unique user needs and device features should be taken into account when designing for mobile |
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article |
Usability issues associated with including maps on mobile pages |
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3 Design Considerations for Effective Mobile-App Permission Requests |
article |
3 components of effective permission requests: communicating why the permission is needed, asking for the permission at the right time, and allowing users to take back a permission |
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video |
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article |
Guidelines for designing effective push notifications |
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article |
How to support short mobile sessions using push notifications, widgets, quick actions, and shortcuts or routines |
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article |
How AR features help users visualize a product in the environment where it will be used |
Multitasking
Combining information from multiple applications at the same time can be challenging on mobile. This section discusses multitasking and application switching on small screens.
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Number |
Link |
Format |
Description |
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article |
An analysis of the usability of the Back-to-App button in iOS |
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article |
An analysis of the UX of foldable-screen smartphone |
Responsive Web Design
Many websites today are responsive: their layout adapts to the screen size on which they are displayed. These articles discuss the challenge of designing for multiple devices and how it should be done properly.
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Format |
Description |
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article |
A definition of responsive web design |
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Scaling User Interfaces: An Information-Processing Approach to Multi-Device Design |
article |
How to approach design for multiple devices by taking into account the capacity of the human-device communication channel |
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video |
Why simplicity is overrated and design should take advantage of each device's strengths |
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article |
How to adapt images intended for desktop to mobile size |
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Small Pictures on Big Screens: Scaling Up from Mobile to Desktop |
article |
How to adapt images intended for mobile to desktop size |
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article |
Research showing that hamburger menus do not work on desktop |
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article |
Research showing that hamburger menus are used more on mobile than on desktop |
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article |
The impact of responsive web design on mobile user experience |
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article |
Discussion of when it makes sense to optimize for each platform vs. repurpose an existing design |
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Mobile Websites: Mobile-Dedicated, Responsive, Adaptive, or Desktop Site? |
article |
Different kinds of mobile websites |
Cultural and Individual Differences
This section includes articles on the use of mobile devices by people with disabilities or by people in other countries.
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Number |
Link |
Format |
Description |
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article |
An analysis of how screen readers work on touchscreens |
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article |
Research looking at users' mental model and usage of WeChat, a platform that hosts a plethora of services ranging from social networking and messaging to mobile payment |
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article |
Guidelines for designing mini-applications embedded within a larger mobile platform like WeChat |
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video |
Examples and tips for adding social features to your product |
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article |
Research looking at the primary concerns of mobile users in India |
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article |
How app lockers are used to ensure privacy, parental control, and data safety for phone owners in India |
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article |
Using phones in restaurants in China to order food with no or little involvement from human servers |
Other Devices Beyond the Smartphone
These articles include findings related to the usability of the Kindle ebook reader, Windows 8 tablets, Kindle Fire, smartwatches, and large touchscreens (tablets or car dashboards).
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Link |
Format |
Description |
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article |
Comparison of reading speeds on iPad, Kindle book reader, desktop monitors, and paper |
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Windows 8 — Disappointing Usability for Both Novice and Power Users |
article |
Findings from a usability study on Microsoft Surface tablets |
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article |
Usability analysis of the Kindle 2 ebook reader |
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article |
How optimizing for Kindle ebook reader involves balancing the demands of 3 different media: the web, print, and mobile |
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article |
Usability analysis of the Kindle Fire touchscreen tablet |
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article |
Usability analysis of the Kindle Fire HD touchscreen tablet |
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Smartwatches Are the Future—But Samsung Galaxy Gear Only Partway There |
article |
A UX analysis of the Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch |
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article |
A UX analysis of the Apple watch |
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article |
Designing for large (24-inch) touchscreen tablets |
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Very Large Touchscreens: UX Design Differs From Mobile Screens |
article |
An interview with a touchscreen-kiosk designer |
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Tesla’s Touchscreen UI: A Case Study of Car-Dashboard User Interface |
article |
An analysis of the UX of Tesla's touchscreen UI |
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video |
Advice on how to use usability testing to alleviate issues with current VR technology |
Mobile Ecommerce
Shopping on mobile is pervasive today. The articles in this section all relate to mobile ecommerce.
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Link |
Format |
Description |
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article |
Guidelines for designing the checkout process on mobile |
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video |
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An analysis of the sales data on mobile vs. desktop, revealing the poor state of mobile UX |
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How Community Can Drive Commerce: A Lesson from China’s Little Red Book |
article |
How China’s popular social-ecommerce app succeeds in building a mutually beneficial user community and bringing in a smooth shopping experience for users |
Usability Testing on Mobile
This section helps you with the setup of your own mobile-usability study.
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Link |
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Description |
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article |
How to set up a mobile usability test |
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video |
History
Over time, we have written many articles chronicling the usability of various mobile devices. If you are a history buff and want to see how mobile devices and mobile usability have changed over time, this section is for you.
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Number |
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Description |
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article |
The UX of the early mobile phones (cca 2000) |
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The advent of more sophisticated phones such as Blackberries |
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article |
A usability study of early mobile phones |
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article |
Why the traditional key-based telephone interface is not suited for the mobile web |
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article |
Early Japanese mobile phones with a decent user interface suited for browsing and viewing photos |
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2001 trends in mobile devices |
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Early SMS-based interactions that respond to simple user queries |
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article |
A review of the Sidekick, a combined PDA and cell phone |
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article |
A study reporting that it's more annoying to overhear other people's phone conversations than their in-person conversations |
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article |
A review of the Palm Foleo, an early device in-between a laptop and a cellphone |
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Findings from our first mobile usability studies with iPhones, Android smartphones, and feature phones |
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article |
State of mobile user experience cca 2009 |
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Findings from our first user research study with iPads |
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Why mobile apps should not ask users to register |
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An overview of the iPad usability 1 year after the iPad was launched |
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Findings from our second big study of mobile usability (2011) |
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An analysis of the UX of iOS 7, including a discussion of swipe ambiguity |
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The use of 3D touch on touchscreens and how it compares with long press |
Reports
For a comprehensive set of guidelines and findings related to mobile usability, check out our reports:
Course
For hands-on training, check out our full-day course Mobile User Experience.
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