Are Mobile Moments really the way forwards?
Designing an app with ‘Just In Time’ information in mind…
I’ve been working on a mobile application used by thousands of users for a few years now, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned it’s UX is incredibly subjective. So how can one app serve thousands in a personalised manner?
But how can we improve UX when restricted by;
1. A tile-based supplier
2. The vast amounts of information that needs to be surfaced
In running surveys around potential improvements and redesigns, it is clear users are against change, large amounts of information, but are desperate for more information.
So, where lies the line between an intuitive UI and a cluttered UI? Between easy to consume information and being drowned in information?
On mobile, customers have higher expectations for timeliness and relevance than they do on desktop. — @mkyurkchiev
Mobile apps are used on the go, that much is obvious. But timeliness is key. And when you’re developing an app with countless feeds of data, how do you know what to present to the user?
Features such as ‘Siri Recommendations’, which I use on a daily basis and am now at the point where I don’t even need to search for an app, show the value of understanding a user’s requirements and presenting this to them before they even know what they are looking for.
Perhaps, this is the way forwards in presenting users with the information they need in a ‘Just In Time’ (JIT) manner. So, whatever they are most likely to need at that time is the most prevalent on the app.
“The barrier to entry for any user is past experience and their ability to translate interaction patterns based on the affordances presented.” — @taterboy1
But as the above quote suggests, this would change the app each time it was opened, and a changing and adapting experience may raise more confusion than the help it would give.
We are creatures of habit and change can be frustrating, even if the intentions are good. So perhaps, the best way is to have a consistent layout, with adapting information in a per-user chosen consistent layout.
How should the information be laid out?
The layout should be user chosen. The only person who knows exactly how they want to see information is the user.
This should be easily navigated…
Users don’t want complex gestures, like three finger tapping or needing both hands to use the phone. A recent study of 1,333 people using smartphones on the street found that about 75% of smartphone use is one thumb. — @101
And as much information as is likely to be wanted should be shown within the order of configuration set by the user.
Are mobile moments the way forwards?
Yes. Users want JIT information, as quickly as possible. They use a mobile app on the go, if they wanted to explore information, this is much more likely to be on a desktop.
But it’s important to remember 2 contradictory things;
1. Nobody knows what users want more than the users,
2. Sometimes users don’t know what they want until they have it.
