Optimising for tablet user experience should mean more swipe and less click
There is a recurring theme running with many of the brands we are working or speaking with at the moment and that is short term optimisation of the tablet user experience. Like most organisations, they report growth from mobile traffic to their websites with tablet PC’s taking a larger proportion than Smartphone. And what they also see is conversion rates on tablet PC well below that of laptop or desktop PC.
Because of the far smaller screen size associated with smartphones, many organisations are prepared to put up with lower conversion rates in the absence of a website that works well on small screens. Many (most it would seem) are working toward a responsively designed website but that is some way off and so interim solutions are required. With many resigned to the poor smartphone experience their attention turns to tablet and the objective is to get tablet conversion rates up to the levels of their desktop and laptop siblings.
Bigger seems to be considered better and that is true. Larger buttons that allow fingers to interact with them rather than a mouse directed cursor make sense and do improve the usability – we have seen it in the lab usability testing frequently. But if you really want to enhance the tablet user experience, optimisation must take place in areas that leverage the devices functionality. The primary function being with a tablet PC the ability to ‘swipe’ rather than ‘click’.
Steve Krug wrote a book about user experience called “Don’t make me think” which presents a case to designers to make things easier for users and reduce the cognitive load. I urge designers and website owners to think harder about the tablet user experience and when tweaking the experience whilst waiting for a full blown redesign, to utilise the functionality available. As a tablet user myself I ask you – “don’t make me click”.
If you would like to find out more about enhancing the tablet user experience your customers receive on give us a call free on 0800 0246 247 or drop us an email at hello@ux247.com.