Tips for Optimizing Page Layouts for the Salesforce Mobile App

Page layouts containing dozens of fields and lots of related lists might be manageable when viewing records on a computer screen, but on a small mobile device, viewing that same record can be overwhelming. People accessing information using a mobile device are looking for a quick way to get what they need, and making your users sift through hundreds of fields and related lists just doesn’t make sense.

When optimizing a page layout, consider:

• What are the important things to see at a glance?
• What are the important moments for your users when they’re working in the Salesforce mobile app?
• What actions or processes can you automate so that your users don’t have to manually do them?

The Key: Organize and Minimize Fields

• Use sections to organize information logically, putting the most important things at the top of the page so they show up first. Your users don’t want to search for fields individually. Organizing similar fields in sections will help your users find what they need. They can then easily scroll down the page to the section they care about.
• For accounts, contacts, and leads, you don’t need to put phone or email fields near the top. They’re already quickly accessible via the and icons on each record page’s action bar.
• You don't need to keep fields in one column, as the page renders dynamically. Salesforce for iOS or Android will reorder the fields into a single column, while web browsers can show two columns.
• Put the most important fields into the compact layout—which drives record highlights and record preview cards in the mobile app—so they’re available right up front, and so your mobile users don’t have to drill into the record detail.
• Keep the number of required fields to a minimum. Setting a field to required means it must appear on the detail page of all page layouts, so consider whether each field is truly required. You might have to convince stakeholders that a field isn’t actually necessary for a record to be saved.
• If available in your org, think about using record types so that fields that aren’t common to all records don’t have to appear on all records.
• To reduce the number of fields on a screen, consider using default values for new records instead of having the user enter the data.