LAS VEGAS—Eighty-five percent of mobile app users navigate the screen with their thumbs, so when designing an application key features must be within a thumb’s reach.
That point was among several made by David Dean, chief strategy officer at LifeStep Solutions, who shared best practices in mobile design during CUNA’s 2017 America’s Credit Union Conference here.
The most important step, insisted Dean, is delivering the right features with the right users in mind.
“Focus on the experience. Define the experience you want your members to have with you and with your product,” said Dean.
Dean said it may be an obvious point—but one that can be easily overlooked among all the details of developing a mobile app—CUs need to focus initially on the business case for the app.
“What do you want to accomplish from the product? More revenue? More Millennial members? The business case will become the litmus test to determine if you are creating the right product for you and for your members. Set the beacon here.”
It’s vision, strategy and plan, in that order, he said.
“Don’t block yourselves into all these features of the app first,” Dean said. “Stay focused on what you want to supply to your members. Stay broad at first and focus on outcomes.”
Dean emphasized that members play a critical role in setting the vision for the app. He said the CU should gather more information about member mobile product usage, habits, likes and preferences than demographics.
Dean also said that credit unions, through their Internet and mobile banking platforms, can gather a great deal of information on members’ mobile banking habits and needs.
“Leverage your online banking technology to gather intel about your members to build a product they will use,” said Dean.
Dean said that when assembling member data to create personas to test the product against. He said that in taking that approach the credit union will not only build a mobile app members will use but one that drives loyalty.
The final app design should address four things: “It should be simple, innovative, useful and engaging,” Dean said.
Regarding simplicity, Dean said that the app cannot be overcomplicated. You want an app that users will use every day—attention spans are not there.”
While each app screen may include different functionality, each screen should address only one overall task.
“You also need to remove unnecessary elements that don’t support the task. Make the app the interface—Google recently did that with Google maps. Google removed all unnecessary parts and made the map the interface,” Dean said.
Less is more when it comes to visuals.
“Less clutter makes the app more elegant and appealing, and less intimidating,” he said. “The navigation, too, must be easily discoverable and accessible, again taking little screen space.”
One-hand operation—working the screen with the thumb—is growing quickly among users, Dean said.
“Eighty-five percent of users now work an app with one hand,” Dean said.
Finally, app design should also keep users from waiting. Dean recommended that if several information tiles need to be loaded on a screen that a small number load first, with the remainder loading in the background while the user reviews the tiles on the screen.
“Then if users want more, they click on a ‘more’ button and the rest of the tiles load all at once. They never had to wait,” he said.