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Principles of Site Design

About the Research Study

Google and AnswerLab undertook an intensive research study examining how a range of users interacted with a diverse set of mobile sites. The goal, to answer the question: what makes a good mobile site?

The results uncovered a set of design principles, which were grouped into five sections:

  • Site-wide Design Considerations
  • Home Page & Navigation
  • Site Search
  • Commerce & Conversions
  • Form Entry

The common thread in all sections is that mobile users tend to be very goal-oriented - they expect to be able to get what they need from a mobile site easily, immediately, and on their own terms.

Read the study

About the study methodology

  • The study was held through 119 hour-long in-person usability sessions with participants in Chicago and San Francisco.
  • Participants were asked to perform key tasks on their own phones. Both Android and iOS users were included.
  • For each site, we asked the participants to complete a conversion-focused task like making a purchase, booking a reservation or researching plans/prices. The participants voiced their thoughts aloud as they conducted their tasks and then rated their experience with each site.
  • Researchers also provided ratings based on site experience and task success, and logged errors/site issues by severity.

Next Sections

  1. About the Research Study
  2. Site Search

Updated on 2014-08-08

Authors

Pete LePage

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