Questions relating to mobile computing devices, such as cell phones, tablets, and e-readers. Includes consideration for both small screen size as well as the mobile and "always on" nature of the devices.
8
votes
6answers
693 views
iPhone like UI for Desktop apps
Is there any reason why an iPhone like UI paradigms shouldn't be adopted while designing a desktop application? Let's say you're developing a windows application, can you not use something similar to ...
12
votes
7answers
808 views
The myth of mobile context
I've touched on this in a couple of my other questions. I'd like to have a more direct question addressing this issue. Am I right in thinking "Desktop context" & "mobile context" no longer exists. ...
9
votes
2answers
701 views
How should modal popups and tool tips be handled in responsive websites?
I am reviewing some website wireframes from a client and have decided to make the new site responsive. I've had pretty good luck so far with responsive theming and design from a few past projects and ...
23
votes
17answers
6k views
Tools for creating mockups for mobile device UIs [closed]
I am looking for tools that can help me to create UI mockups for different mobile phones such as iPhone, Android and Windows Phone 7 devices. Is there any application that can do this?
3
votes
2answers
119 views
Changing the language of a website
While travelling abroad, I often get pages on websites that are normally in English for me (e.g. images.google.com) served instead in whatever the local language is. The problem is that I can't read ...
4
votes
1answer
209 views
Trying to build intuitive simple user interface for an iphone app
** UPDATED with picture
Below is a simple mockup for a spending tracker mobile app (for frequent travelers) that i built. Each of the 3 gray boxes are inputs (name, amount, currency). A sample input ...
5
votes
2answers
92 views
How to visually indicate which pieces of information have changed
I work on a warehouse hand-scanner based GUI. It tells a user where to go, and which item to collect when they get there. When they scan the correct item, the screen changes, and indicates the next ...
9
votes
4answers
343 views
What does “mobile-first” mean?
So I've been trying to find a legitimate answer to this question for a couple days. I read an interview in Awwwards recent publication Trends Web and Mobile 2013 with the following answer in regards ...
2
votes
4answers
163 views
How to collect feedback from user for non-utility mobile app? Survey or Free-text
What is the best way of collecting feedback from a mobile app user? Application in this context is not a utility app and is expected to be used by user at his convenient time.
Free text input box: ...
4
votes
4answers
117 views
When to show a lock screen (iOS mobile app)
I'm part of a team working for a client on a business iPhone app that has an optional 'passcode lock' feature.
One of the screens shows a list of saved items that may contain sensitive information. ...
2
votes
1answer
96 views
How to deal with recursive hierarchical tableviews?
There's a great function from the web that I want to reproduce in iOS and Android. I'm calling it a recursive tableview because I can't think of any other descriptive name.
For example, in a shopping ...
2
votes
2answers
122 views
Heuristic evaluation by single reviewer - system complexity
I am performing a heuristic evaluation of mobile apps. My worry is, as a single reviewer I am not able to find more than ~35% of the problems - as Nielsen suggests.
I am reviewing mobile apps.
Does ...
6
votes
2answers
86 views
Mobile website text link
When developing a mobile or responsive website (for touch screens) making navigation links and other buttons larger to be easier to tap and avoid 'fat fingers' is a good idea.
My question is what ...
0
votes
1answer
98 views
best way for a multiplayer lobby in a smartphone game
This is how it works now: At this time it is a web app and then:
users choose an ID and a password,
then create a new game,
the server returns the code of the new game created,
the other players ...
9
votes
6answers
1k views
How is mobile information architecture different from desktop?
I have been trying to find examples on web for information architecture techniques specifically for mobile devices. I realize the steps in getting a IA for any tool mobile/desktop are card sorting, ...
3
votes
2answers
76 views
Sort lists on mobile
What's the best way to sort lists on mobile interfaces? I'm not talking about filtering (I read another conversation about that). I am talking about sorting in ascending and descending order.
My ...
1
vote
3answers
60 views
loading new view from which direction ? L2R or R2L?
I've been developing mobile apps using sencha touch for quite a time now. In that, whenever a new view is to be loaded, default animation direction is from Right-to-Left. This can be seen in android ...
3
votes
1answer
92 views
Average price per night VS Total price
The context is a booking/holiday planning platform. A user can select a number of days he wants to book a good (hotel, vacation package ...) and a price for each offer has to be shown.
Assuming that ...
-1
votes
1answer
66 views
Would a responsive design work for a yelp-like site/service?
I'm in the process of developing a review/rating site similar in functionality to Yelp (but on a smaller scale) and I'm going with a Mobile-First approach, and was wondering if I should just make the ...
1
vote
2answers
124 views
Should viewport rotation be an option rather than a default on mobile devices?
Rotating a mobile device has unpredictable effects: Depending on OS and app rotating the device can have no effect, or it lays out the content to the new screen orientation, potentially showing a very ...
4
votes
4answers
204 views
What are we calling the 3 lines button in mobile apps?
This button is appearing in many mobile apps and has the function of displaying off-screen menus, whether from the top of the screen or the side.
When writing tutorials for example, what is a ...
3
votes
2answers
222 views
Side panel navigation default on or off
I'm designing a web app specifically for all tablet traffic.
I'm going with the very popular left side panel navigation like youtube,fb etc.
The icon to open/close the navigation is the standard icon ...
6
votes
2answers
201 views
Contact form on mobile vs. mailto: link?
I have decided to put a contact form in the footer for my portfolio site and opening the question up to include any site where the decision was to add a contact form on the desktop version...
Would ...
2
votes
1answer
52 views
Sending a Search Form on mobile - keypad and / or call to action button
say you have a modal view with a simple form and a cancel-option.
as soon as the user selects a field the keypad shows up and usually provides a "Send" or "Search" Button to send the form.
is it ok ...
9
votes
8answers
429 views
How to best show connectivity
I am writing an app which heavily depends on having a connection to the host.
The app works fine with no connection it just doesn't send anything up or down.
Because it's a business type app the ...
2
votes
2answers
163 views
Responsive vs Full Mobile Solution… with a twist.
Most people see the pros of responsive design being one codebase with a variable visual layer via CSS media queries, and the pros of an adaptive, mobile specific site being able to use a mobile ...
12
votes
8answers
2k views
Responsive web design Vs Separate website for Mobile
Responsive Web design is buzzword these days. which means to create a same website and optimized for all devices.
There are also some website which convert the desktop websites into Mobile website
...
-2
votes
2answers
314 views
How well does Google Maps work in a responsive environment?
When a Google map is embedded within a responsive design page, how does it render the map when the page is being viewed as a mobile layout. In other words, when shrunken down to a mobile layout, does ...
3
votes
2answers
651 views
Integrate a QR code scanner in my Android app or call one via Intents?
For my current project I need to integratie QR code scanning in my app (which will be available for both Android and iOS). The QR code contains info that sets up the app for the rest of use case. For ...
0
votes
4answers
155 views
Prefer buttons over text links when designing for mobile?
When designing for mobile, should one prefer buttons over text links whenever possible?
I'm guessing buttons are better at encouraging tapping, whereas text links are increasingly becoming associated ...
3
votes
4answers
181 views
Do “extended” batteries really affect user experience?
There're several companies out there that sell "extended" batteries for smartphones. For example, Nokia Lumia 820 standard battery has 1450 mAh capacity and the extended one has 1600 mAh capacity - 9% ...
4
votes
1answer
95 views
Teaching SMS sending procedure in mobile
We are working on an SMS based reporting project where the people with age 30-60 will be sending SMS reports. Apart from the complexity of the SMS structure, one of the major issues I have faced ...
11
votes
2answers
1k views
Do iOS / WP users recognize the Android share icon?
I've been assigned the task to add an icon / CTA to enable users to invite people to our application from their contact list.
Due to width restriction, especially with localization, one of the ...
7
votes
4answers
539 views
Is it good to hide url bar from Mobile websites?
Is it good to hide url bar from Mobile websites?
By default it shows. but there are some JavaScript tricks which can hide the bar on page load. but user can get back by dragging from top.
For a ...
0
votes
1answer
189 views
Carousel Menu on Mobile Device [closed]
So, I made this carousel menu as a second menu and using Jquery Mobile framework.
This carousel is clickable and when i saw on some reference there's also swipe for touchscreen. Is my carousel ...
1
vote
2answers
171 views
Information Architecture for Widgets - how do I organise my content?
Apologies if this should be a 'Content Strategy' question... anyway, I am involved in a project that is multi-platform and will have both mobile phone and tablet components (not identical). I will ...
2
votes
5answers
221 views
Should a form's style be left to the browser?
Instead of using CSS resets, I use Normalize.css, and I usually style an HTML form's containing elements such as input, label, textarea, etc. to the fullest extent. To make sure that the form's design ...
13
votes
4answers
273 views
What's the Best Interface for Entering Canadian Postal Codes on a Smartphone Keyboard?
Typical smartphone keyboards are modal. There is usually a basic QWERTY/Basic punctuation keyboard by default that can be switched to numeric/extended punctuation mode.
This works reasonably well ...
4
votes
2answers
119 views
Hangman game on mobile - Qwerty or alphabetical keyboard
I'm building a hangman game as part of a bigger mobile educational application. As you know for hangman you select letters and see if they are part of the word or sentence. I'm trying to decide if I ...
4
votes
0answers
33 views
Is there a way to simplify the input of a canadian postal code on a mobile form [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
What’s the Best Interface for Entering Canadian Postal Codes on a Smartphone Keyboard?
In Canada, postal code are structured that way
A1A 1A1
A = Letters
1 = Numbers
...
9
votes
5answers
961 views
When should a mobile app have only one orientation?
Under what circumstances should a mobile app only have one orientation? That is, when you flip your phone landscape or portrait, the view does not adjust. Why did the following two iPhone apps force ...
4
votes
2answers
552 views
Why aren't iPhone text messages at full width?
Why aren't text messages viewed on the iPhone iOS displayed at full width? I can think of several reasons why it would make sense:
Short messages won't have unnecessary line breaks, long text ...
5
votes
2answers
267 views
Thoughts on mobile 'matrix' style navigation?
What I mean by 'matrix' style is something along the lines of
But could potentially be a multi-page menu as well (accessed by swiping left or right).
I feel these designs try to mimic the iOS ...
0
votes
3answers
133 views
Is it wrong to use a master-detail on smartphone (mobile) with two scrolls?
I'm wondering whether two scrollable areas which resides one next to the other is a good design?
You can see in the following picture.
For the sake of argument let say that the location of item 1 is ...
4
votes
3answers
140 views
Should actions that leave your app require confirmation?
Our app has a 'Facebook' button that opens another user's facebook profile.
Based on the assumptions that: most people who network also have higher facebook privacy settings, and also people who use ...
0
votes
2answers
96 views
What are good online resources for testing designs of an IPhone app? [closed]
I am looking for a tool/website that I can use to test my IPhone designs on my current users, I'd like this tool/website to upload my new designs and have a dedicated link where I can share it with my ...
3
votes
2answers
172 views
Recommended pixel size for labels for mobile?
In the same way that the minimum tap area for mobile should be 44px according to apples documentation, is there a recommendation for label sizes?
3
votes
3answers
151 views
What's the most efficient/least troublesome way to scroll when reading on mobile?
For reading purposes on mobile devices, what is the way to go? Paging or scrolling? If I want to give the reader the option of a scroll, should the controls for that be on-screen or in a menu?
6
votes
2answers
179 views
Should a self-guided tour app show the path taken by a user or just a pin for each visited place?
I'm in charge of development of a cross-platform, mobile device self-guided tour app using Google Maps. We have three options for showing users visited vs. unvisited locations:
1) Just show the ...
1
vote
1answer
90 views
Need some ideas on how to let the user choose level pack, then a particular level on a mobile platform
For an Android application, the user is to select a group of levels, and then a particular level within that group. The phone orientation is to be held in landscape (e.g. sideways). What do you think ...
