Design Matters: Font Size

I've been evaluating competitors to a mobile app I have been a paid user of for many years.

The app I want to replace has turned into a slow, janky and unresponsive mess of an app. It has a number of competitors, some of which are strong contenders to de-throne the app I am using.

One of the competitors is a positive delight to use in comparison. It launches quickly, mostly adheres to the iOS platform guidelines and has much to commend it.

But... the size of the font used in much of the app is just a little bit too small. Enough to introduce friction and discomfort in using the app.

Now, given the quality of the rest of the app, I'm pretty certain it would support Dynamic Type. And if I adjusted the accessibility settings on my iPhone I'm confident the issue would go away (Dynamic Type means the font sizes will be adjusted based on user settings). But that setting would affect all my other apps too. All the other apps whose default font size is fine. So that solution is a non-starter.

I think of the amount of work and effort that has gone into developing the app. It is clear the developer has poured a lot of time, care and attention into many aspects of the app. But in the end they have lost a potential customer because they chose the wrong font size.

If you build and sell apps this kind of thing should terrify you.