App-Like Mobile Optimization and User Experience

Mobile devices allow companies to reach users anywhere anytime; however, these devices present the challenge of designing websites that can adapt to various screen sizes. Because competition is shifting more and more towards user experience creating a positive mobile experience is becoming increasingly important in maintaining a competitive edge in the market place. Research on creating positive mobile user experiences is still in its infancy. Currently there are two popular approaches for designing mobile websites: developing mobile apps and optimizing websites for mobile devices. In this study, we developed two mobile designs for an e-commerce website that combine the benefits of the above-mentioned popular approaches and avoid their disadvantages. We then tested the impact of these designs on user experience. Our preliminary results show that both designs facilitate a superior user experience; thus, our study provides a theoretical direction for developing visual design guidelines for mobile optimization of e-commerce websites