Why creating an intuitive home page for millions of users is one of the toughest jobs in product management
Assume that you are a Product Manager (PM) for the Home Page of an app that caters to multiple services. You can sum up your north star in two lines:
Ensure that all service icons and CTAs are prominently placed with and easily accessible.
Verify that all deep links function correctly and none of the CTAs are broken.
While this might sound straightforward, any PM or UX designer will tell you that designing home screens for a popular app is one of the toughest tasks out there. Things get worse if your app is a popular one and gets millions of daily active users.
I worked on an app that had millions of DAU and editing even a single CTA would take us weeks of brainstorming and intense discussions.
💡 I sometimes wonder how many sign up for this, knowing what's in the store.
3 reasons why it’s tough.
1. Limited screen space
A mobile screen is much smaller than a desktop.Less space means less information. All you have got a small rectangular box, and you need to cater to different types of users with their unique needs.
2. One-way information flow
On mobile, information is consumed in one direction. There’s just one way to read. Top to bottom. Think about any mobile app you use. Whatsapp, Google etc., you navigate only from top to bottom. While apps like Netflix have introduced horizontal scrolling, it still occurs within the context of vertical scrolling, and the hit rates for horizontal scrolls are quite low.
Unlike desktops, where you can navigate left to right, top to bottom, or even diagonally, mobile navigation is more linear. This is why Instagram’s reels have become so popular; they fit perfectly into this vertical flow.
3. Unique Interaction Patterns
Users interact with Mobile in a very different manner. They touch things on mobile. The screens are an extension of their thumbs. There is no mouse or trackpad. A mouse makes things equal. Moving a mouse from one screen to the other takes the same effort. But not with a thumb.
Keep your icon at thumb's reach if you really want a high CTR. This is why most apps have navigation at the bottom of the page. Not on the top. Easy to switch.
A PM’s life goes into getting this balance right. Prioritisation is your biggest friend, as well as your biggest enemy.