Mobile User Experience Guidelines
If your app doesn’t have a good user experience, it goes to the app graveyard.
The need for digital products to work better is not new in the federal government. Resources like the Digital Playbook and Public Participation Playbook have had impact helping agencies become user-friendly and both of these resources note the importance of developing usable products for mobile users.
As more agencies develop mobile apps and websites, they need quick guidance on mobile user experience Do’s and Don’ts. To answer their call, we asked MobileGov Community of Practice members to choose their top Mobile UX Guidelines from the original group of 42 created in 2013 at community events in late 2014 and early 2015. From that feedback, we have distilled the following six mobile user experience guidelines:
Guideline 1: Make sure your content is structured and chunked appropriately for multiple devices
Guideline 2: Follow industry user interface guidelines and government regulations (like 508) in the development of your mobile product
Guideline 3: Leverage the device’s features for usability and accessibility
Guideline 4: Test at multiple points in the design or development process
Guideline 5: Collect and use quantitative and qualitative data to determine what content your users want and where
Guideline 6: Develop security and privacy guidelines with regard to what the app does and how it protects user data and government systems
Below we have added specific resources to each guideline.
Guideline 1: Make sure your content is structured and chunked appropriately for multiple devices
Government Examples and Resources:
- DigitalGov Resources to Make your Content Mobile-Friendly – An overview of DigitalGov resources about making agency content mobile friendly. Find case studies, tools and code to help you mobilize content.
- Why NCI Moved to a Structured Content Model (a case study)
- Structured Content in Government: How HHS and NCI Are Getting Started
- 18F Digital Content Guide – This guide helps writers create content that’s easy to use and meets citizens where they’re at.
- Open Source Code for Making Tables Responsive – Learn how the Defense Financial Accounting Service leveraged code that the Department of Health and Human Services developed to make their tables and charts responsive.
- Open and Structured Content: “Article” and “Event” Models
- Government Open and Structured Content Models Are Here – Introduction to the content models developed by the Open and Structured Content Working Group
- Open and Structured Content Models Project – Article and Event Content Model Repository with element field definitions for both models.
- What Structured Content Can Do For You: Webinar Recap – Introduction to the Article Content Model
- Open and Structured Content Models Workshop Recap – Highlights from September 2014 workshop featuring speakers from National Public Radio and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
- Top 5 Reasons to Use Government-wide Open and Structured Content Models
- Always Future Ready: The Benefits of Open Content Models and Structured Data Webinar
- The Content Corner: Humanizing Structured Content – Article offering tips on how to encourage content creators and SMEs to use content models.
- Open and Structured Content Working Group Discussion Board— Join the discussion about adopting structured content models across government.
- Guidelines to making Mobile Websites mobile search friendly – A how-to guide written by the Search.gov (formerly DigitalGov Search) team
- How to Use Open Source CMS to Implement Responsive Web Design
Guideline 2: Follow industry user interface guidelines and government regulations (like 508) in the development of your mobile product
Government Regulations and Resources:
- Section 508 Rules refresh – includes guidance for smartphones and other new devices.
- Status of Worldwide Efforts to Update Accessibility Guidance
- U.S. Department of Labor’s Accessibility test script for Section 508 compliance of native apps .
- Mobile Statement of Work and Developer Qualifications
- Developed by agencies with mobile contracts, includes current iOS, Google Play, etc. SDK requirements).
Non-Government Examples and Resources:
- Android Accessibility Guidelines and iOS Accessibility Guidelines
- Mobile Accessibility: How WCAG 2.0 and Other W3C/WAI Guidelines Apply to Mobile – Provides informative guidance on how the WCAG 2.0 guidelines map to mobile devices.
- BBC’s Standards and Guidelines for Mobile Accessibility – a set of technology agnostic best practices for mobile web content, hybrid and native apps.
- Google’s Material Design – Develop a single underlying system that allows for a unified experience across platforms and device sizes. Mobile precepts are fundamental, but touch, voice, mouse, and keyboard are all first-class input methods.
- Google’s Material Design Lite – brings Material Design Guidelines to web browsers so web pages on mobile will display similarly to native apps
- Google Mobile Tool – checks to see how your website appears on mobile devices.
- Google Mobile Friendly PDF – Basic one sheeter for webmasters.
- Google Principles of Mobile Site Design – Tips for delighting mobile users and increasing mobile conversions.
Guideline 3: Leverage the device’s features for usability and accessibility
Government Examples and Resources:
- How Six Agencies are CrowdSourcing with Native Apps
- American Battle Monuments Commission Native Apps
Non-Government Examples and Resources:
- Mobile User Experience: Limitations and Strengths
- A Checklist for Designing Mobile Input Fields
- Accordions on Mobile
Guideline 4: Test at multiple points in the design or development process
Government Examples and Resources:
- Design Sketching: The Easiest Prototype Method Ever – Discusses how paper sketching can quickly capture the essence of a mobile app/website.
- Mobile paper prototype
- Mobile Product Testing Guidelines and Resources
- The Emulator Dilemma: Can Mobile Device Testing Be Completed With Devices?
- AIDS.Gov Performance Testing Lessons Learned
Non-Government Examples and Resources:
- Android Testing Guidance
- iOS Testing Guidance
- Blackberry Testing Guidance
- Windows Testing Guidance
- W3C Mobile OK Checker
- Why Mobile Testing is Tough
Guideline 5: Collect and use quantitative and qualitative data to determine what content your users want and where
Government Examples & Resources:
- Digital Analytics Program
- SaferBus Mobile Usability Case Study
- AIDS.gov Responsive Design
- CDC’s Digital Front Door Goes Responsive
- Responsive Web Design Challenges Webinar Recap
Non-Government Examples & Resources:
- Google Analytics Academy - Mobile App Analytics Fundamentals (YouTube playlist, 14 videos)
- Flurry Mobile Analytics
- GovUK Analysis of Mobile User Habits
- Multi-armed Bandit Approach to Testing
- The Ultimate Guide to A/B Testing
Guideline 6: Develop security and privacy guidelines with regard to what the app does and how it protects user data and government systems
Government Examples & Resources:
- Federal Mobility Group
- Mobile Privacy Disclosures: Building Trust Through Transparency: A Federal Trade Commission Staff Report, Feb 2013
- Mobile App Developers: Start with Security, FTC
Non-Government Examples & Resources:
- Security and Privacy Changes in iOS 9 – iOS 9 to enforce HTTPS by default
- TOSDR.org – Write better Terms of Service by using plain language
