How to design a user-friendly mobile user interface with the power of visual usability

Abstract

The goal of this thesis was to design a mobile user interface with the power of visual usability. The aim was to create an application that would be simultaneously user-friendly and attractive. The research data was collected from literature and expert interviews, user interviews and user tests. The thesis consists of a theoretical and a practical part.

The theoretical part studies the relationship between visual design and usability, and their effect on the user experience of mobile applications. The theory works as the framework for the practical part, which was carried out as a project. In the project, a mobile application prototype for pet owners was designed. User interviews were conducted and the interview findings indicated that there was a need for a mobile application for pets. Based on the interviews a first version of a digital prototype was designed, which was tested by users.

The findings from the user tests indicated a few usability problems in the prototype. Despite the usability problems, the users were overall pleased with the visual design and they reacted spontaneously with positive reactions to the prototype. Based on the findings, the prototype was fixed and iterated further to its final form.

Further research is required to develop and improve the prototype and more user testing should be conducted. There should also be different versions of the prototype for other phones and platforms than Android to find other possible usability problems. All in all, the result shows that the goal of the thesis was achieved. By implementing the acquired learnings from the research in the project, it was possible to design a user-friendly and attractive mobile user interface with the power of visual usability.