6 Signs That Your Mobile App Needs Usability Testing

The mobile app development industry is continuously grappling with usability issues. We love the fact that more and more people are browsing the web via mobile devices because that speeds up transactions and commerce, but we also want to make sure that they don’t have issues with usability.

If you have potential usability issues on the mobile app you are trying to develop, you need to solve them quickly. If you do not have any idea where to start, or what is the first thing to do, or how the problem can be resolved in the best possible way, you have usability testing services you can run to. 

Take the help of an expert if your app is experiencing these issues below:

Visual Clutter

Perhaps this is an issue you can solve on your own. Otherwise, get the help of an expert to de-clutter your interfaces. When there are too many elements on the interface, all of these elements compete for the user’s attention and therefore present obstructions in the buyer’s journey. 

To de-clutter your interface, do these steps: 

•   Trim all the fat – Get rid of items that are not necessary. 
•   Prioritize content – What does the user want to do using your app?
•   Design for scannability – Shorter paragraphs and bulleted items are easier to read
•   Progressive disclosure to reveal more features/content – Allow your users to access content on-demand.

Unclear Navigation

Your app must have a clear hierarchical navigation structure. Every category and clickable sub-categories are included in the menu. This helps users navigate effortlessly, which should be a high priority for every app. If users have a good navigation experience with your app, they are unlikely to switch to a competitor app that offers a better experience. 

If unclear navigation is a problem with your app, the testing service will likely check on the following to improve it:

•   Predictability – Users have a stronger sense of control if they think that things work in the way they predict. 
•   Number of navigation options – Minimize your number of navigation options. Check your tap bars, for example. Limit the options on your tap bars to 5 options. 
•   Ability to communicate current user location – The interface should be able to tell the user where he/she is at any given moment. 

Too Many Steps

Simple engagement and transaction are keys to a good user experience, so avoid making your users perform too many steps to accomplish a task. The simpler you make it for your users, the more it is likely that they are going to stay longer engaging with you through your app.

Asking your users to register using their Facebook or Google account is one good strategy in place instead of asking them to type their email addresses.

Another is the one-click payment system, which is a user-friendly technique to use compared to requiring your users to enter in their credit card numbers and other personal info.

Unclear Content

It should be clear to you from the beginning that you should not directly copy and paste content from the web for your mobile content. The trick is not to include too much information displayed in the content.

It is also clear now that pop-up content works for better usability. If you can do this strategy right, your users can get additional info and instant feedback on what they are currently accomplishing through your app.

No Auto-Fill User Data

The usability testing service will also ask you if it will be helpful for your app to feature this system. The auto-suggestion system is another way of reducing data input and helping users to get search results quickly. For this part, you can consider items such as user search terms, related searches are previously done, and trending searches. 

Too Many Images

Images on mobile website versions (instead of desktop versions), can be heavy and slow to load. This can be annoying to users. If you ask them in the testing to select between a site that loads fast and one that loads rather slowly, you can bet they will surely choose the fast one any time. One strategy you can use is to use hypertextual links without images. In place of using images to enhance the visual, you can use the power of colors instead.