Keyboard UX for Mobile Apps

Make it easy for your users to input data

One might think keyboards are a trivial component to mobile UX design. I mean, what’s to talk about? If a user clicks on a field then show them the keyboard. Simple, right?

Unfortunately, this must be the mindset for a lot of dev teams because a lot of apps leave me wondering:

• why do I have to click on this field to open the keyboard? Shouldn’t it have opened up immediately?
• where is that one symbol that I NEED to complete this field?
• should I click out of the keyboard when I complete entering my data or should I click on the non-descript blue button?
• etc.

Users become numb to these annoyances over time, but it still frustrates new users, and ultimately creates more work for your users.

Below is a list of questions that should always be answered every time you plan to leverage a keyboard.

1. Do I even need a keyboard?

Mobile keyboards are big, clunky and are actually more work to correctly design+develop than just leveraging other field types. Use radio buttons, picklists, chips, etc when you require a non-unique answer.

2. What type of keyboard…