The MUG-10 Framework for Preventing Usability Issues in Mobile Application Development
Abstract
1. Introduction
2. Background
3. Methodology
3.1. Identify and Recruit Experts
3.2. Interview Protocol
3.3. Interview Organization
3.4. Data Sample
3.5. Data Analysis
3.6. Data Synthesis
4. Results
- G1:
- Prepare documentation. Maintain technical, accurate, and up-to-date documentation to ensure alignment across teams, and engage stakeholders in the documentation process to ensure their perspectives are captured and reflected in product development [46,47]. In a broader sense, well-prepared documentation supports consistent decision-making and minimizes the risk of miscommunication throughout the project lifecycle [48].
- G2:
- Use storytelling. Through scenarios and personas, storytelling techniques can be used to better understand and address user needs [49,50]. Storytelling builds connections, inspires action, and facilitates learning more effectively than presenting raw data alone by tapping into human emotions and shared experiences. Besides, this practice also promotes more effective communication among people by translating abstract usability narratives into specific objectives [51].
- G3:
- Apply User-Centered Design (UCD) principles. By definition, UCD is an iterative design process that emphasizes active engagement in the mobile application development process [52,53]. By involving users in research, testing, and continuous feedback, development teams can identify and resolve usability issues effectively. Early and frequent testing, in particular, helps ensure that the final application closely aligns with their expectations [54].
- G4:
- Prioritize core functionality. Mobile users typically engage with apps to quickly and efficiently perform specific tasks. Prioritizing core functionality eliminates distractions, reduces interface complexity, and improves the overall user experience [55,56]. Besides, by focusing development efforts on the most critical features, before adding additional functions or fine-tuning visuals, a minimum viable product (MVP) can be delivered without overwhelming users [57].
- G5:
- Use design patterns and templates. Established design patterns and templates offer reliable solutions to common UI issues, reducing cognitive load by providing well-known icons, symbols, and interface structures [44]. These solutions can speed up development by giving teams reusable components that are easier to implement, maintain, and test. Using familiar patterns also improves learnability [58], as users can take advantage of their prior knowledge.
- G6:
- Develop mock-ups and prototypes. Use static, both low- and high-fidelity visuals to illustrate an application layout [59]. Then follow up with interactive prototypes that enable early user testing, help validate design concepts, and gather first-hand user feedback [60,61]. Graphical artifacts also facilitate better communication among designers, developers, as well as other stakeholders by providing a shared reference point [62].
- G7:
- Follow accessibility guidelines. Design inclusive interfaces that follow POUR (Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, Robust) [63,64] principles to create truly inclusive content [65]. Adhering to POUR guidelines ensures that a mobile application is usable by people with diverse abilities, including those with visual, auditory, motor, or cognitive impairments. Additionally, following these standards supports legal compliance and shields organizations from reputational harm.
- G8:
- Ensure responsive design across devices. Design and test for multiple screen sizes to provide a smooth user experience [66], while key features include flexible grids, layouts, and images that automatically adjust to different resolutions and device types [67]. Additionally, a well-implemented responsive layout reduces the need for redundant code across separate app versions, streamlining both current maintenance and future development.
- G9:
- Assure user privacy. Design and communicate transparent authorization patterns that address the permissions granted to an application to access specific data and functions on a user’s device, and the means to protect the user’s personal information [68], including the right to control how such information is used, stored, and shared, while preserving the user’s anonymity where possible [69].
- G10:
- Conduct A/B testing. Design, implement, and test two product versions to collect data-driven insights and make informed decisions based on user behavior [70,71]. By making decisions based on factual user feedback rather than arbitrary assumptions, the A/B testing approach helps determine the best solution [72].
- User testing. Experts strongly emphasized involving at least five users in usability testing [73] through live and moderated sessions on a regular basic, on each stage of app development [74]. One can also consider A/B testing with the aim comparing two versions of a design to determine which one leads to better outcomes based on actual user behavior [75]. Such approach helps reduce opinion-based changes [76], allows testing of specific variables (e.g., layout, color, wording) [77], and supports data-driven decision making to ultimately select the optimal solution [78]. Remarkably, low-fidelity prototypes should be used in the early stages of application design as they tend to be visually unappealing and lack detail [79]. On the other hand, high-fidelity models should accompany feature implementation, allowing users to interact with the solution as if it were fully developed [80].
- Heuristics testing. In this approach, instead of users, experts assess an interface based on established usability principles, guidelines or rules of thumb, known as heuristics used to evaluate a user interface. Heuristics can be understood as a practical approach to quickly identify issues, but they are not fixed solutions. In this view, heuristics guide the evaluator in testing various scenarios by applying Nielsen’s 10 usability principles [81].
- Smoke testing. Depending on the stage of the development process and the team’s workflow, smoke testing is usually performed by quality assurance testers or developers [82]. Smoke testing is a quick way to detect critical or major defects early [83], helping avoid spending time on detailed testing when the app build is seriously flawed [84]. In this sense, smoke testing can be seen as a build verification testing that precedes user testing.
5. Framework Evaluation
- Quick Win: High Impact, Low Effort (upper left square).
- Strategic Investment: High Impact, High Effort (upper right square).
- Low Priority: Low Impact, Low Effort (lower left square).
- Reconsider: Low Impact, High Effort (lower right square).
6. Discussion
6.1. Contributions
6.2. Implications
6.3. Limitations
7. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
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| Sex | Age | Education | Current Occupation | Experience | Projects | Words |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Man | 39 | Higher | Front-End Developer | 16 | 4 | 322 |
| Man | 26 | Higher | Product Designer | 5 | 2 | 200 |
| Man | 42 | Higher | UX Designer | 17 | 25 | 172 |
| Woman | 30 | Higher | UX Designer | 8 | 9 | 163 |
| Woman | 26 | Hihger | UX Researcher | 4 | 3 | 160 |
| Man | 25 | Higher | Senior Data Engineer | 6 | 3 | 107 |
| Man | 29 | Higher | IT Team Leader | 3 | 2 | 103 |
| Woman | 46 | Higher | Mobile Front-End Dev. | 20 | 15 | 97 |
| Woman | 33 | Higher | UX Designer | 3 | 3 | 92 |
| Man | 26 | Secondary | Front-End Developer | 4 | 3 | 85 |
| Man | 37 | Higher | IT Consultant | 20 | 5 | 81 |
| Woman | 41 | Hihger | UX Writer | 20 | 3 | 73 |
| Woman | 45 | Higher | UX Designer | 20 | 19 | 67 |
| Man | 22 | Higher | Mobile Software Dev. | 2 | 2 | 67 |
| Woman | 42 | Higher | UX Writer | 16 | 2 | 62 |
| Woman | 26 | Hihger | UX Designer | 3 | 5 | 50 |
| Man | 31 | Secondary | UX Designer | 7 | 3 | 48 |
| Woman | 56 | Higher | Software Developer | 20 | 15 | 45 |
| Woman | 41 | Higher | Technical Writer | 16 | 2 | 15 |
| Man | 42 | Hihger | CPO | 10 | 2 | 12 |
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© 2025 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
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Weichbroth, P.; Szot, T. The MUG-10 Framework for Preventing Usability Issues in Mobile Application Development. Appl. Sci. 2025, 15, 11995. https://doi.org/10.3390/app152211995
Weichbroth P, Szot T. The MUG-10 Framework for Preventing Usability Issues in Mobile Application Development. Applied Sciences. 2025; 15(22):11995. https://doi.org/10.3390/app152211995
Chicago/Turabian StyleWeichbroth, Pawel, and Tomasz Szot. 2025. "The MUG-10 Framework for Preventing Usability Issues in Mobile Application Development" Applied Sciences 15, no. 22: 11995. https://doi.org/10.3390/app152211995
APA StyleWeichbroth, P., & Szot, T. (2025). The MUG-10 Framework for Preventing Usability Issues in Mobile Application Development. Applied Sciences, 15(22), 11995. https://doi.org/10.3390/app152211995

