Did you know that mobile apps have higher engagement rates than mobile-optimised websites or desktop sites? In 2021, mobile phones generate 54.25% of the traffic on the internet, and 49% of people open an app more than 11 times each day. So it’s safe to say that things have changed a lot since 2015 when Google made it easier for users to find mobile-friendly web pages in the search results. With over 3.2 billion smartphone users across the world, it’s certainly no big surprise that the mobile app industry is booming, with mobile apps expected to generate over $935 billion in revenue by 2023. However, the real question is, are these mobile apps user-friendly?
Updated August 2021
In a research study carried out by Oracle, almost 55% of Millennials expressed that if the mobile app experience are poor, they would be less likely to use the products or services of that company. Additionally, due to a poor app experience, 39% would also be less likely to recommend a product or service. Lastly, 27% even said that a poor experience would adversely affect the image of a business.
Suhas Uliyar, VP Mobile Strategy & Product Management at Oracle says,
“An engaging and personalized user experience has become the new weapon in the battle to attract and retain millennial customers. Businesses that cannot add value for customers with a more convenient, functional, and relevant mobile experience have little chance of coming out on top.”
So if you haven’t already, now is a critical time to start heavily investing in your app. But what’s the best way to do that? We’ve got a few quick-wins for you in this blog.
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Provide an efficient onboarding
Delivering an efficient onboarding experience is the foundation for attracting and retaining users to your app. The issue most designers don’t realise is that user retention drops by 25 per cent within the first week of downloading an app. Therefore, it’s good to switch your view from user attraction to retention. Localytics observed, however, that retention rates increase by 50% after implementing a solid onboarding process. Do this by showing your users how they can complete their desired tasks quickly and efficiently. The app onboarding process is your user’s first impression of the app, therefore your design at this point is crucial to increasing the chances of your user’s coming back.
Offer Assistance
By providing great customer assistance, you can recoup customer acquisition costs and cultivate a loyal following that refers customers, serves as case studies, and provides testimonials and reviews. Offer your users’ assistance within the app by providing different support options. Users will often search for help in the toolbar or tab bar of an app. Offer multiple ways for users to receive support, including self-serve FAQs and live support through click-to-call buttons, or live chats.
Invest in usability
A lot can go wrong during the design and development phase of the app. The search function goes missing, content cannot be filtered, or perhaps icons are unclear. Usability relates to the layout of content, design, information, and other elements that enable users to achieve their goals within your app. Basically, it means how easy a system interface is to use and navigate through. Good usability is all about being consistent. So, if you use a swipe motion to delete something, make sure that it’s the same on all pages. Another tip is to consider the size of buttons and links by making sure they’re well spaced and easy to tap. So to prevent your customers from leaving the app, you must adhere to certain rules:
- Use a clear search bar at the top of the app that brings up search suggestions and search history
- Organise and label the ‘menu’ category so that your customer can take a quick glance and see which category they need
- With ecommerce apps, always make sure there are good filters for the products and services so that the customer can filter by price, color, size, etc.
- Do you work with ordering funnels and long forms in your app? Nothing is more frustrating than having to fill in all of that information again because you missed a section. It is better to highlight the data that is filled in incorrectly or not filled in at all so that your customers will see right away what needs to be adjusted.
Assure Security And Trustworthiness
According to Veracode’s State of Software Security Vol. 10 report, 83% of the 85,000 applications it tested had at least one security flaw. Though they identified a total of 10 million flaws, and 20% of all apps had at least one high severity flaw. It’s often said that data is more valuable than oil because of the insight and knowledge that can be extracted from it. However, if this data is not protected or secured, it’s incredibly easy for cyber criminals to breach your business. If your app doesn’t seem secure or trustworthy, perhaps because you’re asking for permissions to access location or bank details with no clear reason for it, then your users are likely to delete the application.
Don’t spam your users with notifications
You know how it goes: you unlock your phone and see all of those annoying notifications from a newly installed app. These kinds of apps are pretty much comparable to that one pushy friend that can’t take a hint. In short, (too many) notifications are irritating. Therefore, you should always ensure that your users can decide whether or not they want to receive notifications. And if so, what they want to receive. Otherwise, there is a big chance that they’ll quickly remove the app.
Use customer feedback
Nowadays, customer feedback collection is usually done via the (mobile) website, but why not in a mobile app too? The customer is the only one who knows what he/she wants to see so take advantage of their feedback. By using their feedback, things such as bug reports are solved much more quickly in the app. However collecting this feedback in an app is done a little bit differently than on a website. In this blog, you will find more information about how to gather the best in-app customer feedback.
Also keep in mind that the feedback button shouldn’t take up too much space, or worse, cover important content or app functions. An alternative is to incorporate it in the navigation of the app.
A user-friendly mobile app is just as important as a user-friendly website. So don’t wait too long to ask for user input, because that’s what it’s all about: a happy and loyal customer.
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Ready to see Mopinion in action?
Want to learn more about Mopinion’s all-in-1 user feedback platform? Don’t be shy and take our software for a spin! Do you prefer it a bit more personal? Just book a demo. One of our feedback pro’s will guide you through the software and answer any questions you may have.
