When you author an analysis to be consumed on a small screen, for example a cell phone, there are several things you can do to make it a good experience also on a limited screen area.
Adjust your screen size to approximate the size and shape of the small-screen device. Take into account that also the web browser control display will take place.
Hide panels and controls that are not necessary for the understanding of the analysis.
Fit texts to the smaller area, for example:
- Adapt fonts to suit the smaller screen. Use Tools > Options > Fonts for a global resize.
- Rename columns to shorter titles.
- Use short number formats.
- Display as few decimals as possible.
- Consider whether horizontal or vertical orientation of labels is most suitable.
If a visualization title is redundant, remove it.
Think of making interaction controls easy to use by adult-sized fingers. However, design the analysis to require as little selection, tapping, or dragging as possible.
To display summaries or trends, consider using KPI charts.
When possible, use a text area, preferably placed at the top of the page, for interaction controls to provide a more user-friendly experience, and for guiding the user through the analysis. You might:
- Add buttons for going back and forth between the analysis pages (the default buttons in the browser might be difficult to touch).
- Add action controls to handle filtering.
- Consider using dynamic controls such as sparklines, calculated values, icons, and bullet graphs to provide direct summaries of data, but also to provide navigation possibilities.
- Specify suitable font style and size, and make sure the padding around controls is sufficient.
Adapt the default layout responsiveness to the intended screen, and consider locking visualizations to, for example, avoid scroll bars in text areas.
Last, but not the least, test the analysis on the small screen.
See also:
Useful Features when Designing Dashboards