Are you wondering if your business needs a mobile-friendly website or mobile app?  Well, consider these statistics for a minute:

• As of August 2017, there are over 3.5 billion unique mobile internet users. Source: Statista
• Users spend on average 69% of their media time on smartphones. Source: comScore
• Mobile devices will soon drive 80% of global internet usage. Source: Zenith
• Mobile is the dominant platform for searches, as 48% of the buyers use smartphones to start searching with a search engine. Source: Google Research
• 78% of mobile searches for local business information result in a purchase. That’s higher than from any other kind of device. Source: comScore

With those kinds of stats, it’s clear that your business needs a strong mobile presence if you want to compete in the changing market.

Mobile App Design

So what all do you need in a mobile app and mobile website? You need everything your users want in order to connect with you quickly when they are on the go.

Due to the smaller screen size, the number one design element you need is clear, easy to understand user flow.  This is achieved by decluttering your pages and highlighting the important tasks (move other, non-essential items into the drop-down menu).

Great mobile design also makes completing tasks easier for users.  If you have forms, auto-fill whatever possible for the user, don’t make registration a requirement for browsing, use GPS to help present location-specific information, and make buttons super clickable (even by the thumb).

UX design carries a bigger role on mobile apps and mobile websites than their traditional website design counterparts.  This is due to both the screen size and the unique user behavior on mobile devices.  Mobile users expect fast answers.  There things you can do to help speed along load times and optimize user engagement:

• Use static images for large videos and audios — link off to YouTube or Vimeo if the user wants to watch them.
• Reduce the size and resolution of UI elements.
• Present users with loading images or content when the app is loading or calculating in the background to keep them engaged.

If your business is ready for a mobile app or mobile-friendly website, then contact SBOS Web Solution.  We are a St. Louis digital agency that understands great UX design and what it takes to make a mobile app work for business.