Part of: Audiences, devices, channels

Mobiles and tablets

Last updated: 6 January, 2020

Following this helps people with:

mobiles: content needs to be concise and clear
tablets: content needs to be concise and clear
laptops: content needs to be concise and clear
desktop computers: content needs to be concise and clear

Guidelines

Accessing content on a mobile device exaggerates many readability issues due to the small screen size.

Improving content presentation and interaction for mobile use will generally improve its usability across all devices.

1. Design for mobile first not last.

2. Always ask “How would this look on mobile?”.

3. Put calls to action close to content they relate to.

4. Test content with people using mobiles.

Usability evidence

1. Designing for mobile first not last.

This can help you make your content concise and accessible.

2. Always ask yourself “How would this look on mobile?”.

If you are considering for example how long a paragraph is, think about how much longer it would be on a mobile. That might help you decide whether it should be split into 2 paragraphs.

3. Put calls to action close to content they relate to.

This saves users from scrolling across and down or searching around for the link and getting lost or frustrated. It also helps users who have a small area of visual focus.

4. Test content with people using mobiles.

Find out how they interpret and interact with the content. Did you write something that can be understood in different ways? Did anyone use their mobile in ways you did not expect?