Mobile Usability: Why Great UX Matters More Than Ever

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The forecasted numbers are astonishing – market research firm IDC projects that BY 2014, mobileapp revenues will hit $35 billion ! ABI Research has another study, projecting $133 billion in revenues for the mobile enterprise service industry alone. However you slice and dice the data, the numbers are big, the market is BIG. But it’s not just big, it is also very DIVERSE…spanning every industry, discipline, and space.And what’s interesting here is that many of these apps began as Outsourced projects for Point solutions, but they are now becoming Strategic, coming in-houseand becoming mission-critical.

We’ve established that this space is BIG AND DIVERSE, but the fact of the matter is we’re also in the early phases – only the 3rd inning if you’re baseball fan, or the back 9 if you’re into golf.In other words, it may be tempting to think of mobile as “here” or “piquing”, But in truth, major growth is ahead of us…Crucial inflection point in 2011: In 2011, more smartphones sold than laptops/desktops combined… And in 2015, more tablets than laptops/desktopsInteresting fact about increasing rates of adoption:It took AOL 9 years to get to 1MM subscribers… It took FB 9 months… It took Draw Something 9 days. (mobile game)Increasingly, there are shorter runways, visibility, and you could miss the window of opportunity in a short period of time.

We begin by looking at the obvious: mobile web versus native app, and there are pros and cons to both; each brings about unique challenges. Single vs. multiple platforms – multiple codebases and release schedules; native apps provides a more controlled user experience and rich media functionality; app store ratings and distribution. And increasingly, it’s not an either/or decision for many companies.Regarding input/output, we’re no longer in the era of a keyboard, mouse, and monitor. For the first time, we need to address UI from a much bigger, holistic point of view – in addition to physical keyboard controls, touch screens now allow for pinch/zoom/rotate, tap, swipe, and other gestures. Finally, voice controls add yet another layer of complexity, needing to work seamlessly with other mechanisms.On top of all these challenges, functional issues matter more so in mobile than web, and can easily cripple your user experience with a loading or rendering issue.Example: arrived late in Orlando, cheap, shuttle service to hotel, check website for schedule after midnight. Pricing tab was overlaid on top of the schedule tab.

As eluded before, we’re experiencing a “back to the future” phenomenon. For the first time in a decade, form factors matter again. It really feels like a return to the late 90’s in web…with a lack of standards across the board. But the problem is, many of the skills we’ve picked up in the past, having to deal with the desktop to web transition, have largely decayed from lack of use. And finally, the mobile landscape is extremely fluid – spanning endless combinations and permutations of…

Based on very rough data and trend analysis, here are several different scenarios that could play out in the next year.1 & 2: Here at uTest, we’re seeing just under 50% of our projects fall under the world of mobile; iOS and Android are always at the top of the list in popularity, BlackBerry and Windows Phone are hanging in there and Symbian is largely extinct. But by far the most popular of late is Mobile Web. 3. There’s an alternative to the native app and mobile web battle, and that’s Hybrid Apps or Wrappers: unique front-end with shared back-end data, content, functionality. These are still downloadable apps, that run all or some of its user interface in an embedded browser component.What are your predictions?Regardless of your predictions, the big question is: Are you willing to bet your product roadmap on these predictions? Are you willing to invest all of your dollars on one outcome?As we’ve seen in the last year, most of uTest’s customers are hedging their bets and diversifying their app portfolios. You need to have an iOS app to address one audience, and there’s no doubt an Android app is also necessary. And it doesn’t stop there…what about other devices besides smartphones? This leads us to the next slide…

There are various ways you can segment the approaches, some traditional, others more progressive:We begin with On-site versus Remote: For obvious reasons, the on-site option is the most controlled, typically living in a sterile environment, but increasingly, the remote option is becoming more popular – and not just for cost reasons. How many of you are familiar with the Hawthorne effect? With remote, you’re able to meet end users in their own environment, as opposed to a sterile one.Moderated versus Unmoderated: Do you ask leading questions? Do you probe or have your users run through the maze by themselves?Survey-based versus Recorded: Different from moderated versus unmoderated, how are you soliciting their responses? Explicit versus Implicit: Lastly, are you observing how users interact with your software? For example, where do they get stuck? How many false paths do they pursue? Or are you using the implicit approach, using heat maps and path analysis to drive your conclusions?Explicit (pre-launch): This method involves observing naïve users as they interact with the software, and recording their experiences. Where do they get stuck? How many false paths do they pursue? Such testing can become quite elaborate – careful observation through two-way mirrors, cameras, etc.Implicit (post-launch): Performed by the end user himself or herself, implicit testing through actual use is how most usability testing is done. It doesn’t require a separate test phase, but it does require you to pay close attention, notice when the program is frustrating you, and write up a bug report.

Regardless of which approaches you take, here are consideration that are likely to permeate your design process. One that’s extremely important is that many familiar tactics and tools still apply as they did with the web era – in other words, they don’t necessarily break with our new mobile era. These include the use of wireframing, prototyping – both on paper and building digital/interactive ones. And there’s also the need to iterate and test frequently, both before and after your product launch.Additionally, our customers have taught us that native apps are not the end all be all – although they are the popular option in 2011, there is an increasing shift towards mobile web, and potentially towards hybrid wrappers as well.Another tip is something I heard at CTIA last year, and that’s forget about making the mobile web; begin by making the web mobile. What you see on the screen is an embarrassment if you try to access it via your mobile browser. PRIORITIZE content and functionality, SIMPLIFY the user experience, and DELIGHT your users while they’re on your site.And finally, we recognize that there’s only so much you can simplify, so be sure to include a link TO and FROM your web and mobile sites. It’s the 80/20 rule – you may not have all of your web content on for mobile users, so why slow down their experience for 80+% of their use? Again, this is not a recommendation, but rather a consideration, especially if you’ve already made your web, mobile.

To start, there are varying axis’ we can evaluate these services against. In this slide, you have the option to go self-serve/DIY or getting an expert involved in your usability testing and analysis. In the lower left-hand corner, you’ll find a cluster of offerings – these provide the quick and dirty approach, relatively inexpensive, and perhaps sufficient for some companies.On the other extreme, you’ll find usability labs such as Bentley Labs in the Boston area, or Usability Sciences in the Austin Texas area. And to give you an idea of the scope and price, usability labs could run 13-weeks costing you $100k; uTest could run 10-days costing $5k; DIY options could run 30-minutes costing $300.

Moving along, we have Remote versus On-site. We have a similar clustering in the lower-left, with a few additional vendors listed. One interesting option that’s different in this slide, is the use of two desperate tools – utilizing tools that you may already use, such as WebEx or GoToMeeting, for real-time communications, to coordinate screen recordings with another tools such as Morae.As we mentioned before, we need to take into consideration the Hawthorne effect,aka the Observer or Big Brother effect.

Next, Moderated versus Unmoderated. In the past, moderated was synonymous with on-site, while unmoderated with remote. Now that we have the tools to perform online coordination, narration, even recording and eye-tracking, remote moderated is an increasingly popular option.

And finally, Explicit versus Implicit. The cluster of tools in the upper-right hand corner demonstrate the ability to utilize analytics, implicit data to deduce user behavior. Interesting fact, most of these tools were, and still are, primarily used for load and performance evaluations. But given the information these tools collect, usability experts can take outputs such as heat maps and path analysis to deduce end user behavior. With that said, explicit is still the more popular choice, coupled with remote moderation.

Given various offerings and solutions just discussed, let’s now look at specific Mobile Usability considerations.One critical consideration with mobile is, you need to think of your RESPONDENTS and whether or not they match your end-user base. This includes demographically, geographically, technologically – you may have an Android app, but does it look and feel the same, let alone function the same, on an iPad vs. Galaxy Tab vs. Xoom. And if your app is location-dependent or geo-aware, you need to test in real-world environments, as opposed to inside the lab or anywhere else irrelevant. All of this is pointing to an increasing need to test “In-The-Wild” – with real devices in real world conditions – complementing the testing that happens inside your lab, under sterile conditions.

Bottom line, every situation is different – every industry, market, product, brand – but here are several recommendations.Begin with the end in mind. What’s your mobile playbook, and how does it fit in with the rest of your product strategy? Depending on your answer, one or multiple options may apply.Next, there’s a range of desired deliverables that you should be familiar with, but you’ll need to ask the question – what’s meaningful to me and what’s actionable? Depending on your answer, this will influence which deliverables you require, which tools to select, and which vendors to partner with.Finally, determine how to get there. Typically, there are three ways…buy, build, partner. You can buy a product, as we’ve seen through various offerings in the previous slides, and DIY or hire a usability expert to run the show. You can also build your own in-house lab to completely own the process from A to Z. Or you can also partner and utilize services from vendors like a usability lab, or remote usability options, where you can still quarterback the entire game, but have the option to team up with a usability expert and select from a user base of profiled personas. And how you select your path could be based on resources available at your disposal – what’s your capacity, what level of expertise do you bring to the table and based on timing/expertise/cost/flexibility, do you need to build your own solution or would the buy or partner option make more sense.

And finally, some key takeaways. First, mobile has forever changed the landscape of usability. No longer is it sufficient to design an app for one site. And thanks in large part to Apple, users expect your app to “just work”. And due to the fluid nature of the mobile landscape; of hardware and software, OS and browser, location and coverage; there’s an increasing need to test your software In-The-Wild – in addition to continuing your testing inside the lab.And here’s something that’s very important – Test, Listen, and Iterate. You still need to go through existing processes, but increasingly important is the decision to iterate all the time. If you’re in post-launch, think of it as pre-launch for your next release. And finally, leave the heavy lifting and interpretation of results to a Usability Expert, but just as important, find respondents that mirror your user base. Eliminate the bias upfront by finding respondents that mirror how/when/where your end users work, live, and play.So that’s a wrap, and I close with a brief comment: At the end of the day, the people that win, the teams/companies/brands who succeed, are those who utilize traditional, lab-based approaches with more progressive in-the-wild Usability Testing to create mobile experiences that delight their users…