Optimal Placement for Mobile Call to Action Buttons

Did you know that where you place your buttons affects how fast users complete their task? Quicker task completion results in a more satisfying experience. If this is what you want, you have to place your buttons where users expect to find them.

Here’s a comprehensive analysis of all the button placements you could use. Learn which button placement is the optimal one for your app, so users don’t waste their time.

Gutenberg Principle

Before users can take action, they have to scan the screen. The screen content informs their decision on which action to take. As soon as they finish scanning, the call to action should present itself. Where do their eyes end up when they finish?

It turns out they start at the top left corner and finish in the bottom right, moving their eyes in a zig-zag. Renown newspaper designer Edmund Arnold called this natural scanning pattern the Gutenberg Principle.

The principle illustrates how the eye moves from left to right along an axis of orientation until it reaches the bottom right corner. It forms a prominent scanning path called reading gravity. Design elements that lie along the diagonal get the most attention. Elements that lie outside it receive less.