Interface Design for Mobile Applications

Interface design is arguably one of the most important issues in the development of mobile applications. Mobile users often suffer from the poor interface design that seriously hinders the usability of those mobile applications. The major challenge in the interface design of mobile applications is caused by the unique features of mobile devices, such as small screen size, low resolution, and inefficient data entry methods. Therefore, there is a pressing need of theoretical frameworks or guidelines for designing effective and user-friendly interfaces for mobile applications. Based on a comprehensive literature review, this paper proposes a novel framework for the design of effective mobile interfaces. This framework consists of four major components, namely information presentation, data entry methods, mobile users, and context. We also provide a set of practical interface design guidelines and some insights into what factors should be taken into consideration while designing interfaces for mobile applications

An investigation into the problems of user oriented interfaces in mobile applications

The purpose of this paper is the analysis and evaluation of the mobile interface design. This study consisted of a random sample of 55 user interfaces for mobile applications. In addition, the restriction of all the components of the user interface quantified. An analysis was conducted of these interfaces, in order to represent graphically. Then, evaluated and produced the following results: First, the smaller number of pages in the application is better. Second, decreasing the navigation bars, buttons and menus in user interfaces for mobile applications gives additional space on the screen, making the application easy to use and maintaining the context. Third, diversity, the use of tools ensures good interaction with the user. Finally, a range of results for the design of the user interface and some ideas are provided about what should be taken of these results in mind when designing interfaces for mobile applications

User interface design for mobile-based sexual health interventions for young people: Design recommendations from a qualitative study on an online Chlamydia clinical care pathway

Background: The increasing pervasiveness of mobile technologies has given potential to transform healthcare by facilitating clinical management using software applications. These technologies may provide valuable tools in sexual health care and potentially overcome existing practical and cultural barriers to routine testing for sexually transmitted infections. In order to inform the design of a mobile health application for STIs that supports self-testing and self-management by linking diagnosis with online care pathways, we aimed to identify the dimensions and range of preferences for user interface design features among young people. Methods: Nine focus group discussions were conducted (n=49) with two age-stratified samples (16 to 18 and 19 to 24 year olds) of young people from Further Education colleges and Higher Education establishments. Discussions explored young people's views with regard to: the software interface; the presentation of information; and the ordering of interaction steps. Discussions were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. Interview transcripts were analysed using thematic analysis. Results: Four over-arching themes emerged: privacy and security; credibility; user journey support; and the task-technology-context fit. From these themes, 20 user interface design recommendations for mobile health applications are proposed. For participants, although privacy was a major concern, security was not perceived as a major potential barrier as participants were generally unaware of potential security threats and inherently trusted new technology. Customisation also emerged as a key design preference to increase attractiveness and acceptability. Conclusions: Considerable effort should be focused on designing healthcare applications from the patient's perspective to maximise acceptability. The design recommendations proposed in this paper provide a valuable point of reference for the health design community to inform development of mobile-based health interventions for the diagnosis and treatment of a number of other conditions for this target group, while stimulating conversation across multidisciplinary communities

Culture in the design of mHealth UI:An effort to increase acceptance among culturally specific groups

Purpose: Designers of mobile applications have long understood the importance of users’ preferences in making the user experience easier, convenient and therefore valuable. The cultural aspects of groups of users are among the key features of users’ design preferences, because each group’s preferences depend on various features that are culturally compatible. The process of integrating culture into the design of a system has always been an important ingredient for effective and interactive human computer interface. This study aims to investigate the design of a mobile health (mHealth) application user interface (UI) based on Arabic culture. It was argued that integrating certain cultural values of specific groups of users into the design of UI would increase their acceptance of the technology. Design/methodology/approach: A total of 135 users responded to an online survey about their acceptance of a culturally designed mHealth. Findings: The findings showed that culturally based language, colours, layout and images had a significant relationship with users’ behavioural intention to use the culturally based mHealth UI. Research limitations/implications: First, the sample and the data collected of this study were restricted to Arab users and Arab culture; therefore, the results cannot be generalized to other cultures and users. Second, the adapted unified theory of acceptance and use of technology model was used in this study instead of the new version, which may expose new perceptions. Third, the cultural aspects of UI design in this study were limited to the images, colours, language and layout. Practical implications: It encourages UI designers to implement the relevant cultural aspects while developing mobile applications. Originality/value: Embedding Arab cultural aspects in designing UI for mobile applications to satisfy Arab users and enhance their acceptance toward using mobile applications, which will reflect positively on their lives.</p

User-Centered Guidelines for Design of Mobile Applications

In this study, interviews were conducted to derive user-centered guidelines for the interface design of mobile applications. These guidelines cover general design issues in input, display, navigation, and feedback. They address five out of seven elements that describe effective mobile commerce interface design proposed by Lee and Benbasat [7]. Compared to guidelines obtained in prior studies, the guidelines derived from this study are user-centered and can be apply to multiple form factors. The comparison between e-commerce and mobile commerce design guidelines suggest that the mobile context plays the most important role in designing mobile commerce interfaces

Paper Prototyping a Social Mobile Service

Methods for design and evaluation of interactive applications are not readily applicable to mobile services. By modifying an existing paper prototyping method we evaluated a mobile social service for providing user-based tips in a shopping mall. The evaluation showed that tips can be pushed to users and that they can accept that a complex user interface is presented on a small screen. Although the evaluation took place in an office environment, we received feedback on functionality of the service in the context of the shopping mall. Our evaluation indicates that simple prototyping techniques can be used for informative evaluations of mobile services that are heavily context dependent

The Influence of Social Networks on the Development of Recruitment Actions that Favor User Interface Design and Conversions in Mobile Applications Powered by Linked Data

This study analyzes the most important influence factors in the literature, which have the greatest influence on the conversions obtained in a mobile application powered by linked data. With the study of user interface design and a small user survey (n = 101,053), we studied the influence of social networks, advertising, and promotional and recruitment actions in conversions for mobile applications powered by linked data. The analysis of the users’ behavior and their application in the design of the actions to promote and capture constitutes an important part of the current theories of digital marketing. However, this study shows that its results may be contradictory and depend on other factors and circumstances when mobile applications powered by linked data are considered. The predictive value, reached by the developed model, may be useful for professionals and researchers in the field of digital marketing and the user interface design in mobile applications powered by linked data

Designing an Effective User Interface for a Mobile Application

The purpose of this study was to determine the best user interface design practices for an iOS mobile application created for Pre-R, a local start-up company that offers physician house calls and telemedicine services throughout San Luis Obispo. The study included initial background research on best user interface design practices, mapping out and implementing the entire process of designing for mobile applications, conducting usability tests on potential users, and making changes according to the test results. Usability tests allowed for a greater understanding of the effectiveness of Pre-R’s mobile interface design prototype. Results from the usability tests have indicated a high potential for the success of this mobile application, alongside other suggestions on specific elements that can be improved upon. Suggestions for improvement include modifications on certain icons and pop-up notifications for easier navigational purposes