Josh Clark: Mobile Design Myths

    Today we offer readers tips from Josh Clark, an UX / UI expert, developer and author of five books that are popular in the international design community. Below you will find a translation of materials from the designer’s interview with representatives of The Next Web and Forbes magazine, in which he discusses traditions and innovations in the creation of mobile interfaces and criticizes some established ideas about the specifics of UX on this type of device.



    Myths about mobile design and why it matters


    At some stage of understanding the new concept, a layer of “generally accepted knowledge” will inevitably form around it. Gradually, it begins to be perceived as something unshakable and, instead of serving only as a guideline in our work, in essence becomes an undeniable dogma. In such a situation, it is worth challenging myths, striving to explore what is in the depths of the postulate and get to the truth. Only in this way can we find a more effective solution based on user experience, even if for this we have to challenge what everyone knows.

    Josh Clark, a well-known designer and developer, setting forth his view of the problem in Forbes and The Next Web, suggests looking at mobile design and development more closely and in more detail to analyze the myths that are rooted in this area. This is not to say that there is no truth in these ideas - it is only that if you recklessly rely on common truths, you can ultimately come to an overly simplified result that is unlikely to inspire the user.
    So, let's see what myths Josh stands out and what he suggests doing with them.

    Mobile users are always in a hurry and distracted

    Yes, it is often so - in short breaks between meetings, for example, or at a smoke break - but it happens differently. People "stick" into the phone for food, at home on the couch, in the airport lounge and so on. Very often we don’t rush anywhere when we use mobile Internet, but simply try to escape from boredom. This means that not every interaction with your mobile application should take a second or more. You should take some time to see how your users will use your product, and then tailor the design to their needs.

    Mobile apps and sites are doomed to be light versions

    The screen size of mobile devices is really smaller, you can not argue with that. However, Josh rejects the idea that the scheme of user interaction with the interface due to this should be simplified by default. On the contrary, you need to find ways to keep it in its original form, despite the new environment. After all, we do not throw out headings, indexes and contents from the book, even when it is published in a pocket format?

    The simpler, the better.

    Not at all. It is only necessary to be afraid of overloaded designs, and complex structures are quite successfully used in many mobile applications without compromising the user experience. The secret is to make the interface difficult to build in the eyes of the person who interacts with it.

    The number of clicks should go to zero

    According to Josh, the designer should not consider clicks, but think about what each of them gives the user. If key information is provided by click, and not just displayed in the process of interacting with the application, this can improve the usability of the design and positively affect the user experience.

    To each site - on the mobile version!

    Somewhere they are needed, somewhere not. In fact, the designer should consider the mobile environment as an opportunity to analyze the user experience on each of the supported platforms, simultaneously noticing how it can be improved by means of a particular platform. Your goal is not to create as many sites as possible, but to imagine the end result. Is it mandatory to make a mobile version of your site based on a shrunken desktop? Or, perhaps, the desktop version itself will not hurt to shrink if it is loose and clogged with elements that are more likely to interfere than help the user?

    The mobile application is better than the site

    Seriously? The approach, to put it mildly, is short-sighted. Do you really think that the user will download, install and deal with a separate application for each of the companies with which he has to deal? The mobile application market, of course, is growing, but with it there is growing suspicion that users can’t get through 700 new releases every day and that it would be better for developers to focus on mobile versions of sites again.

    Content and APIs are not our concern

    It is hard to say how widespread this myth is. UX designers cannot but understand that their participation in the project is not limited to work on the appearance and overall impression of the product. What distinguishes the mobile environment from others is the additional features that it offers: a camera, GPS, and so on. In theory, the designer does not need to explain this, but just in case, Josh Clark emphasizes: take full advantage of the platform on which you work.

    Conclusion

    The myths that Josh cites have a healthy grain, but they offer too narrow an approach to designing designs for mobile devices. The main thing is to think about the user experience as a whole and create interfaces based on it, instead of blindly following the “can” and “not” lists out of fear to go beyond the boundaries of the comfort zone that someone else outlined for you (and most likely, by mistake ) Users will only thank you for this.

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