A systematic literature review of mobile application usability: addressing the design perspective

Advances in mobile technologies and wireless Internet services have accelerated the growth of the mobile app market. To nurture such growth, the usability of mobile apps must be addressed as a priority. Indeed, the unique characteristics of mobile phones, such as the screen size, connectivity, processing capabilities, and context of use, require a high level of usability for mobile apps. Mobile app usability requirements vary with the category of the app. However, mobile app usability is not well understood, and this may lead to the ineffective design of mobile apps and may thus influence users’ acceptance of mobile apps. This study systematically reviews and discusses mobile app usability. It identifies and interprets the relationships among the usability principles, attributes, and design features with the objective of informing mobile app usability design. It also identifies and discusses a set of common usability design features in mobile app design and a set of usability design features that are required in specific mobile app categories.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by research grants funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Number. 61771297) and the Natural Science Basic Research Program of Shaanxi, China (Grant No. 2022JM-334).