Evaluating the ergonomics of mobile applications: A metric-based validation of the compliance to manufacturer-specific design guidelines

There are millions of mobile applications in the Apple and Google App Stores, and the number is growing. We often find dozens of apps that perform a similar or identical task and are intended to help the user accomplish that task. These apps often differ significantly in terms of functionality, but a good app should not necessarily be judged by the number of features implemented, as a good focus on supporting a task or implementing a service is usually worth much more. At the same time, however, it is noticeable that apps often differ significantly in the design of the user interface and especially in the clarity of the user guidance. If you want to compare apps, it is a challenge not only to make the available mobile apps comparable in terms of functionality, but also in terms of ergonomics and User Experience (UX). Apple and Google have detailed requirements in their Human Interface Guidelines (HIG) that developers should follow and check during the design process. However, the documents are too large for the application, so ergonomics is unfortunately often only tested by the user, although the HIG can be used by the software developer during the development process to assess compliance with the HIG and thus ensure sufficient ergonomic quality of the respective application. To simplify this process, in this paper we propose a lean metric based on the HIGs of the two manufacturers mentioned above, which makes it possible to evaluate compliance with the HIG using a simple catalog and thus to make a quantified statement about the extent to which the HIG are already fulfilled. This enables developers to pay attention to relevant elements early in the development process. The HIGs as basis for the metric are evaluated in relation to various design laws to verify the relevance of the HIGs.