16 Effective Tips For Building A User-Friendly Mobile Website Or App

In 2022, a number of PC manufacturers reported falling sales, and in recent years, the percentage of U.S. website traffic coming from mobile devices has been steadily rising. It’s clear that businesses that want to continue to reach and sell to a broad audience have to ensure the user interfaces of their mobile apps and websites ensure a smooth, easy experience.

But the secret to succeeding on mobile is complicated; designing a user-friendly experience for the variety of mobile products on the market requires considering everything from screen sizes to device capability to accessibility (and beyond). Below, 16 members of Forbes Technology Council share their tips to help companies ensure their mobile apps and websites provide an optimal UI and UX and help users do exactly what they’re looking to do.

1. Start With Thinking About How Users Want To Use The App

Truly understand how the user wants to use their app. Research shows that most users don’t want to use business apps (such as those for insurance, banking, utilities or government) any more than they absolutely have to. The customer finds the most value by getting in and out of the app as quickly as possible. Remove all cumbersome additions to the app and make it as easy as possible to complete transactions. – Laureen Knudsen, Broadcom

2. Consider Visual Forms Of Navigation

One issue that can arise is the use of dropdown menus or hamburger menus, which can be difficult for users to access or understand. These types of menus can be helpful in conserving space on a small mobile screen, but they can also be frustrating for users if they are not clearly labeled or organized. Instead, companies should consider using more intuitive and visual forms of navigation. – Aaron Vick, AaronVick.com

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3. Create Personalized Features

Engaging end users on mobile is not easy because there are so many distractions. However, the moment you make a feature or service personalized, it changes everything. It’s also important to carefully consider where to position such a feature; we have noticed that in-player response is higher than out-of-player. Check where the eyeballs are spending most of the time, and make it personal. – Giovanni Punzo, Streann Media

4. Include Mobile-Native Capabilities

When companies copy a mobile site experience from a website, it results in a forced design and diminishes the point of the consumer’s use of the mobile device. Companies should focus on identifying native capabilities that expand the experience of a mobile app or site. Design is also a key feature—remove any friction to make it easy for the consumer to complete the task of discovering a product or making a purchase. – Velia Carboni, VF Corporation

5. Ensure Customers Don’t Need To Switch Devices To Access Services

Amid a shifting power dynamic and a trend toward self-service, customers now choose where they interact with brands, and companies’ mobile sites often aren’t meeting expectations for seamless service. For conversations on mobile sites, companies must ensure that customers are able to get help, make purchases and receive personalized experiences without needing to switch devices or channels. – Adrian McDermott, Zendesk

6. Incorporate Bottom Navigation And Search Bars

Companies often struggle with mobile navigation, including the use of different kinds of menus that are not very effective pieces of UI. This can make it difficult for users to use the site on their devices. To improve mobile navigation, companies should consider using a bottom navigation bar, which is easier to use on a small screen, or a search bar to help users quickly find what they are looking for. – David Bitton, DoorLoop

7. Make Sure To Test The Site Thoroughly

When building their mobile sites, many companies do not do a good job when it comes to software testing, leading to a number of problems related to the user interface, navigation, performance, response time and more. Failing to test thoroughly will ultimately lead to a poor user experience. – Vasudevan Swaminathan, Zuci Systems

8. Test On The Device(s) Your Users Will Be Using

Reconsider all avenues of usability for mobile. Many concepts don’t work as well in a mobile experience. For example, a 12-card grid of images with a hover state is great on a desktop—you can see it all. But turning that into a column of the same number of cards—with no hover state—is simply unworkable. Test what you build by using what your users will be using. Validate the experiences you create! – Andrew Siemer, Inventive

9. Don’t Use Your Mobile Site To Aggressively Push Your Mobile App

Mobile sites are often given the lowest priority, which leads to poor usability. A recent scenario I encountered was when I was looking for recent Brad Pitt movies on a website. Whether I tapped on the home or search results pages or clicked on his name, I always got a pop-up suggesting I download a mobile app. The goal of the business is to encourage you to do that, but that persistence doesn’t make me feel like coming back. – Nadya Knysh, a1qa

10. Standardize Navigational Patterns On Desktop And Mobile

Often, one of the biggest misses on mobile sites is navigation. The techniques for navigation used on full-screen browsers don’t work on mobile devices. Coming up with standard, easy-to-use navigational patterns that are consistent with both regular browser usage and mobile devices is key to helping your users be successful with your mobile site. – Michael Adler, N-able

11. Be Clear About What’s Available Outside The Mobile App

Be explicit about what’s not available to do or to configure on mobile. I often find myself unable to do certain things on the mobile app that are available on a website, but the functionality may simply be missing. Be transparent with users about what else is possible outside of the mobile app. – Sayer Martin, Conga

12. Don’t Hide Purchasing Information And Options

Too often, industrial companies don’t offer pricing on their mobile sites because they think, “Mobile is for TikTok.” Their call to action on mobile is, “Click here to request a call.” They keep valuable information hidden, making potential new customers work for it. Instead, offering clear pricing and availability, along with consumer-preferred purchasing options, will drive traffic, engage more new customers and build trust. – Rhonda Dibachi, HeyScottie.com

13. Incorporate Progressive Forms

Don’t overlook the submission process via forms. One way companies can help mitigate abandonment rates and improve the user experience and conversion rates is through the use of progressive forms, which allow users to complete the form in multiple steps and provide the option to save their progress and come back later. – Avani Desai, Schellman

14. Don’t Overload The App With Content

Excessive content kills the message. There is no room for fireworks in mobile apps. Make sure your service information is concise and readable. Be careful with the selection and order of information (the whole architecture)—the screen is small, so the wrong order can annoy the user. Test it before you release it to the world. – Robert Strzelecki, TenderHut

15. Always Build Mobile-First

We build all of our websites mobile-first, meaning we design the mobile website before we design the desktop version. We also make sure everything is coded to scale by percentage so that the website looks amazing on all devices and at every height and width. – Adam Ayers, Number 5

16. Ensure The Site Is Fully Accessible

As urged by the W3C, companies should design and develop mobile websites that people with disabilities can use. Optimizing a mobile website to make it accessible to users with visual impairments makes sense for any business. The golden rule should be that people with disabilities can perceive, understand, navigate, interact and contribute to the Web. – Cristian Randieri, Intellisystem Technologies