You're reading from 101 UX Principles – 2nd edition Actionable Solutions for Product Design Success

Product type Paperback

Published in May 2022

Publisher Packt

ISBN-13 9781803234885

Length 454 pages

Edition 2nd Edition

Concepts

Design

Author (1):

Will Grant

View More author details

Table of Contents (18) Chapters

Preface

1. UX Field FREE CHAPTER

2. Typography

3. Controls

4. Content

5. Navigation

6. Iconography

7. Input

8. Forms

9. User Data

10. Progress

Principle 61: Use a “Linear” Progress Bar If a Task Will Take a Determinate Amount of Time
Principle 62: Show a Numeric Progress Indicator on the Progress Bar
Principle 63: Show a “Spinner” If the Task Will Take an Indeterminate Amount of Time

11. Accessible Design

12. Journeys and State

13. Terminology

14. Expectations

15. UX Philosophy

16. Other Books You May Enjoy

17. Index

“Does It Work on Mobile?” Is Obsolete

In 2021, mobile browsing accounted for more than 56% of all web browsing traffic. In Africa, it’s over 60%—mobile has been the most popular browsing experience for several years.

Statistics sourced from Statcounter Global Stats: https://gs.statcounter.com/platform-market-share/desktop-mobile-tablet.

With this in mind it feels like the terms “mobile-first,” “mobile-friendly,” and “responsive design” have stopped being worth mentioning—they should be a given. Everything is now assumed to be responsive and mobile-first, and it’s considered a breaking bug if your web app doesn’t work on mobile, not to mention it being a death sentence for your SEO—Google will penalize sites significantly if they don’t work well on mobile.

Modern frontend frameworks make it simple to build a web app or site that responds to different viewports, makes controls the right size for mobile, and “gracefully degrades” (hiding elements that don’t work on smaller devices). Responsive design means that the UI will adapt to different device sizes automatically, so you don’t have to build a distinct “mobile version” of your product.

What’s more, web apps are often more convenient for the user than native mobile apps. This isn’t a strict rule, as there are lots of reasons why you might need a native app—access to device features or heavy-duty computation or logic—but always consider whether a web app might be a better choice. Web apps need no installation, don’t have to be submitted to an app store, work across any platform with a web browser, and can be updated instantly without a download.

Also consider that a mobile-first approach helps you to reduce and simplify the experience in the design phase. I’ve watched users, in user testing, opt to use the mobile version of the site because it’s cleaner and simpler.