“We need to build a mobile app!”
“Sure, boss. What exactly should this mobile app do?”
“Doesn’t matter! All our competitors have mobile apps, so we need one too!”
This is exactly the wrong way to launch a mobile app project.
Yes, you probably do need a mobile app because an increasing number of people do a majority of their computer activities on mobile devices. And yes, most or all your competitors have mobile apps available on app stores. These are necessary but not sufficient conditions for building a mobile app.
Your mobile app should do something useful; something that complements your existing product or service offerings. It’s an extension of your brand. If the app is buggy or useless, people will associate those poor qualities with your brand. You don’t want to go there.
If you have an idea for a mobile app that you believe is useful (whether to support your brand or for any other reason), the next step is to start building, right?
After all, it’s just a computer program.
Not So Fast…
A mobile app is indeed “just computer program.” The mobile device platform provides opportunities and benefits (such as the use of the device’s GPS, camera, near-field communications, and other gizmos) not available to traditional PC or web applications. But the process of designing and building a mobile app involves limitations to be considered before you start the development process.
In this article, we discuss some of these limitations, bottlenecks, and pitfalls to avoid in designing and building a mobile app.
Form Factor
The form factor of a mobile device presents a major constraint on the user interface (UI) design. Not only is the screen smaller than a typical laptop or PC screen, but the pointing tool—usually the user’s finger—is much larger relative to the screen than a mouse pointer. As a result, the on-screen controls have to be larger, but big buttons on a small screen lead to serious limitations on-screen real estate.
When you need to invoke the device’s on-screen keyboard, the available screen size becomes even smaller. Therefore, designers must think in terms of screen efficiency. For example:
- Only essential controls should be visible, and they need to be large enough to operate by tapping or swiping.
- Secondary controls should be hidden in hamburger or waffle menus until needed.
- Vertical scrolling is acceptable, but there should be some way to scroll to a specific point (such as a vertical scroll bar) and a way to return directly to the top of the screen.
Power
Getting a mobile app right requires teamwork from all stakeholders, from product ownership to system architects to UI designers, software testers, endusers, and developers. No single stakeholder knows everything about overcoming the limitations of mobile app design, but together you can come close.
The key is developers who have enough experience with mobile app design and development to avoid most of the pitfalls. AndPlus has many developers with many years of experience designing and implementing mobile apps of all kinds for all purposes.
