Mobile App Usability Testing: Common Issues and Testing Methods

In today’s digitalization era, you might not be surprised that the Apple App Store offers approximately 1.96 million apps for download, while the Google Play Store boasts around 2.87 million apps (Buildfire, 2024). To stand out in this crowded marketplace, it’s essential for apps to offer more than just functionality, in which a seamless and delightful usability experience is a must! 

There are numerous testing methods available to evaluate whether an app is optimized or not. However, mobile app usability testing is always an essential step to identify potential pitfalls from the user’s perspective and improve to ensure user satisfaction.

In this blog, we will dive into this testing approach, exploring common usability issues as well as usability testing methods for mobile apps. Let’s dive in!

What is Mobile App Usability Testing?

Mobile app usability testing is a systematic evaluation process that assesses how effectively and efficiently users can interact with a mobile application. This testing involves observing real users as they perform specific tasks within the app, identifying usability issues, and gathering feedback to enhance the overall user experience. 

Conducting usability testing for mobile applications helps you:

• Identify Usability Issues: Detect areas where users encounter difficulties, enabling you to make informed design improvements.

• Optimize User Satisfaction: Enhance the app’s usability to meet user expectations, leading to higher satisfaction and engagement.

• Reduce Long-Term Costs: By identifying and addressing usability issues early in the design process, you can prevent costly redesigns and maintenance in the future.

7 Common Mobile App Usability Issues

Usability issues in mobile apps create barriers that prevent users from interacting smoothly, often leading to frustration and disengagement. Identifying and resolving these issues is key to improving user experience and increasing app engagement. 

Here are 7 common Usability Issues that can arise in mobile app design:

1. Incompatibility Across OS or Resolutions

Incompatibility issues occur when an app does not function consistently across different operating systems (iOS, Android), screen resolutions, or device types. Users may experience glitches, broken layouts, misaligned elements, or missing functionalities. These issues negatively impact accessibility, leading to frustration and reduced engagement.

How to improve:

• Test across multiple devices and screen resolutions to identify visual or functional issues.
• Utilize cross-platform development tools like Flutter or React Native to streamline app development for both iOS and Android.
• Implement adaptive layouts and flexible grids that adjust to different screen orientations.
• Regularly update the app to support newer OS versions and devices.

2. Limited Display Orientations

Some apps restrict users to a single screen orientation (portrait or landscape), which can create usability challenges. Users may prefer different orientations based on their tasks, such as watching videos, reading, or gaming. A forced orientation that does not align with the user’s preferences can lead to discomfort and frustration.

How to improve:

• Use flexible layout elements like auto-resizing text and scalable images to ensure smooth visual transitions.
• Test the app on different devices to verify the user experience in both orientations.
• Avoid forcing users into one orientation by providing an easy switch between portrait and landscape modes when possible.

3. Poor onboarding process

A poorly designed onboarding process can confuse new users, making them feel lost or overwhelmed. If onboarding is too long or unclear, users may abandon the app before fully understanding its value.
How to improve:

• Simplify onboarding by breaking down complex steps into a series of small, digestible screens.
• Use visual cues (arrows, animations) to guide users through key features and functionalities.
• Offer a “Skip” option for users who are already familiar with the app.
• Include interactive tutorials to help new users engage with the app hands-on.
• Provide an option for users to revisit the tutorial anytime the user needs.

4. Complex Navigation

Complex navigation in mobile app design occurs when users find it challenging to locate features or information due to poorly organized menus, unclear labels, or deeply nested structures. This complexity can lead to user frustration and high abandonment rates.

How to improve:

• Use standardized buttons, icons and labels to make navigation intuitive.
• Limit the number of menu layers to avoid deep or nested hierarchies.
• Include a search bar for users to quickly locate specific features or content.

5. Unresponsive buttons

Unresponsive buttons can significantly degrade the user experience, causing frustration when users try to interact with them and receive no feedback or action. This issue typically arises due to incorrect touch targets, slow app response times, or coding bugs, making users unsure whether their input was registered.

How to improve:

• Ensure buttons are large enough for easy tapping (minimum touch target size: 44x44px).
• Implement visual feedback (e.g., color change, animation) to confirm button presses.
• Optimize the app’s performance to reduce lag or delay when interacting with buttons.
• Test across various devices to ensure button functionality is consistent.
• Use clear labeling on buttons to make their purpose obvious to the user.

6. Overwhelming Forms

Complex and lengthy forms can overwhelm users, especially when they require too many fields or lack clear instructions. This can lead to users abandoning the form before submission, especially if they find it tedious or confusing.

How to improve:

• Minimize fields or break long forms into multiple steps or sections for easier completion.
• Use inline validation to provide immediate feedback on incorrect entries.
• Label fields clearly and add tooltips or examples to clarify input requirements.
• Allow users to save progress and continue later for longer forms.
• Consider using dropdowns or auto-fill options to simplify the user’s input.

7. Insufficient Progress Indicators

When an app does not provide adequate feedback after a user action (such as pressing a button or submitting a form), users may feel uncertain about whether their actions were successful. This can lead to confusion and a negative user experience.

How to improve:

• Provide immediate feedback for key actions like pressing a button or submitting a form, such as loading indicators or confirmation messages.
• Use clear error messages to guide users on how to correct issues.
• Add visual cues like checkmarks, loading spinners, or animations to indicate successful actions.
• Ensure all user actions, such as submitting data or saving changes, receive a clear confirmation or thank you message.

How to Conduct Mobile Usability Testing

Conducting app usability testing for a mobile app involves 5 key stages to ensure your product aligns with user needs and expectations. Given the unique constraints of mobile devices—such as smaller screens, touch-based interactions, and varying network conditions—it is crucial to adopt a structured approach to identify and resolve usability issues effectively.

1. Create a Comprehensive Usability Testing Plan: Begin by outlining clear objectives and usability testing metrics based on the initial brief. In addition, selecting appropriate testing approaches and methods, and preparing a usability testing script to facilitate the test. This plan serves as a roadmap, guiding your team through the testing process and ensuring all aspects are covered systematically.
2. Recruit the Right Participants: Identify individuals who closely represent your app’s target audience to participate in the testing. This can be done through various sources, such as Recruitment Tools, Existing Customer Base, or Social Media.
3. Schedule & Set Up Testing Sessions: Organize sessions at convenient times for participants and ensure the testing environment is conducive to honest feedback. Whether in-person or remote usability testing, make sure all necessary usability testing tools and technologies are in place for a smooth session. 
4. Execute Usability Tests: During the sessions, observe participants as they interact with your app, noting any difficulties or confusion they experience. Encourage them to share their thoughts and feelings. If possible, test in different network environments (Wi-Fi vs. mobile data) to evaluate app performance under varying conditions. Furthermore, ask usability testing questions to uncover user perceptions and challenges.
5. Document & Report Findings: After completing the tests, compile the data collected into a comprehensive report highlighting the project overview,  key findings and areas for improvement. This provides actionable insights to guide the next steps in improving the application usability.

For an in-depth exploration of these stages, read our previous blog: The Complete Guide to Conducting Usability Testing

Common Usability Testing Methods for Mobile Apps

1. Guerilla Testing

Guerrilla testing involves approaching random individuals in public places, such as cafés, parks, or co-working spaces, and asking them to interact with a mobile app. Participants are given simple tasks to complete, while researchers observe their behavior and ask follow-up questions about their experience. This method helps identify usability issues in a quick, cost-effective manner, as users provide honest, unbiased feedback without prior exposure to the app. 

• When to apply: Ideal for early-stage prototypes or when quick, informal feedback is needed with minimal costs. Best for validating core usability issues before moving to more structured testing.

• Recommended usability testing tools: Pen & paper for note-taking, screen recording apps (e.g., Loom, AZ Screen Recorder), and survey tools (e.g., Google Forms, Typeform).

2. Card Sorting

In a card sorting test, participants are provided with a set of virtual or physical cards, each labeled with a feature, menu item, or piece of content from the mobile app. They are then asked to categorize the cards into groups that make the most sense to them, either by using predefined categories or creating their own. This method helps designers understand how users naturally structure information, ensuring that the app’s navigation and content organization align with user expectations.

• When to Apply: During the planning or redesign phase to improve information architecture and navigation structures.
• Recommended usability testing tools: Optimal Workshop, UXtweak, Maze.

3. Tree Testing

Tree testing is a structured usability test method that evaluates how easily users can navigate an app’s menu structure. Participants are presented with a simplified, text-based version of the app’s navigation (a “tree”) and are asked to locate specific items or features without the help of visual design elements. This method helps identify confusing labels, poorly structured categories, and hidden navigation issues, allowing teams to refine the app’s menu system for better usability.

• When to Apply: Before finalizing an app’s navigation design or after launching a redesign to validate menu effectiveness
• Recommended usability testing tools: Optimal Workshop, UXtweak

4. Heatmap testing 

Heatmap testing is conducted using specialized software that tracks user interactions within a mobile app, recording where they tap, swipe, scroll, or linger on the screen. The collected data is visualized in the form of maps, with warm colors indicating high engagement areas and cool colors showing less interaction. This method helps designers understand which elements attract the most attention, whether important buttons or features are being ignored, and if users struggle with specific UI components. 

• When to apply: After launching an MVP or updated app version to analyze user behavior at scale. Helps refine UI elements that are underperforming.
• Recommended usability testing tools: Hotjar, Crazy Egg, UXCam, Smartlook.

5. Session Recording

Session recording involves using analytics tools to track and record real user interactions within a mobile app. These recordings capture every action users take—such as taps, swipes, scrolling behavior, and navigation patterns—without interfering with their experience. Researchers then review the recorded sessions to identify usability issues, such as users repeatedly tapping unresponsive buttons, or struggling with navigation. 

• When to apply: During the evaluation phase to understand real user behavior over time and detect hidden usability issues that may not appear in lab-based testing.
• Recommended usability testing tools: UXCam, Smartlook, Appsee.

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Conclusion

This blog has provided a comprehensive guide on the benefits of mobile app usability testing, identified common usability issues, and discussed effective methods to detect and address them. Regular usability studies helps ensure your digital products meet user expectations and provide seamless experiences.

Are you looking for a mobile/ website testing services provider to evaluate and enhance your mobile user experience (mobile UX)? Our team of usability experts is ready to conduct thorough product usability tests, providing a detailed evaluation report tailored to your unique needs.

As a leading UI/UX design studio, Lollypop – A Terralogic company – specializes in delivering comprehensive product development from UX Research, Product Design, and Development across various digital platforms.