optimizing for the mobile user experience

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OPTIMIZING FOR THE MOBILE USER EXPERIENCE: When to use responsive design, mobile websites & mobile apps

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OPTIMIZING FOR THE MOBILE USER EXPERIENCE:When to use responsive design, mobile websites & mobile apps

The mobile Web continues to increase in usage and popularity.

According to a recent Pew Internet Project study1, 87% of adults in the United States own cell phones, with 45% adults owning smart phones.

We’ve also seen how for the first time in 2013, tablet sales will outpace laptop sales.2

According to the Pew study, 31% of adults in the United States own tablets and according to a recent analysis by Adobe3, Web traffic from tablets has now surpassed traffic from smartphones.

1 Brenner, Joanna. Pew Internet: Mobile. January 31, 2013. Pew Internet.2 Bradley, Tony. Tablets threaten laptops, but there’s more to this picture. January 9, 2013. PC World.3 White, Tyler (Adobe). Tablets trump smartphones in global website traffic. March 6, 2013. Adobe Digital Marketing Blog.

INTRODUCTION

“It is far better to adapt the technology to the user than to force the user to adapt to the technology”—Larry Marine

It’s almost a question of what ISN’T user experience.

Every touch point someone has with your organization is part of their user experience.

The goal with all your marketing and communications is to optimize the experience from a user’s perspective.

Don’t think of it from how your organization is structured, think about it from how a user or constituent will see, interact with, and choose to take part in your cause, mission or campaign.

WHAT IS USER EXPERIENCE?

There are 3 ways to address mobile users:

A SINGLE PRESENTATION IS NOT ENOUGH

“You cannot NOT have a user experience”—Lou Carbone, Founder & CEO, Experience Engineering

Responsive Design Separate Desktop & Mobile Websites

Native Mobile App

There are 3 ways to address mobile users:

1: RESPONSIVE DESIGN

Responsive Web design is the approach that suggests that design & development should respond to the user’s behavior and environment based on screen size, platform and orientation.

What this means is that the website itself “responds” to the different devices and screen sizes it is accessed by.

Responsive design is the newest of the 3 methods, but is rapidly growing in popularity for a number of good reasons.

• lower total cost of ownership,

• easier content updates, and

• a degree of future-proofing against new devices and screen formats.

1: RESPONSIVE DESIGN

Responsive Design

2: MOBILE WEBSITES

Mobile websites were the first solution to the mobile “problem.”

Designed specifically for mobile devices, usually smart phones, which leaves tablets to use the desktop version.

Made to perfectly fit a smart phone form factor, using font sizes, buttons and features more appropriate for touch screen usage

Content strategy for a mobile version of a site is significantly different than that of a desktop version of a site.

Pared-down version that includes specific content and features designed for quick action

From a cost perspective, you are maintaining 2 almost separate websites.

2: MOBILE WEBSITES

Separate Desktop & Mobile Websites

3: MOBILE APPS

Very popular: as of January 2013, there were approximately 775,000 apps in the Apple App Store, versus 650,000 6 months prior1.

While many apps are simple recreations of an organizational website with little to no interactivity, this is not best practice and should be avoided for several reasons.

Most successful with a singular (or at most 2-3) purpose, best performed in isolation. They also have the ability to better access mobile phone-specific features

By far the biggest investment. In most cases, each version of an app (iOS, Android, Windows, Blackberry) requires a mostly separate (if not completely separate in some cases) codebase.

1 Costello, Sam. How Many Apps Are in the iPhone App Store. April 30, 2013. About.com.

3: MOBILE APPS

There are also several types of websites that factor into your decision:

•Organizational websites General company/organizational information

•Web applications Have a specific purpose such as advocacy, fundraising, etc.

•Other types Marketing campaign websites, games, etc.

TYPES OF WEBSITES

The most cost-effective solution of the three, though there are some limitations in showing/hiding information on a per-device basis.

• The same set of content should be viewed across all platforms, though you want it to be formatted and optimized for each device. Major content differences across platforms are not needed or desired.

• You need a site that works for a wide variety of audiences and users, as well as platforms.

• Long-term cost of ownership and maintenance is a major factor in your decision.

CASE FOR A RESPONSIVE SITE

• The content should be different on each platform (desktop vs. mobile), not simply reformatted per platform.

• Unique features are available for one platform that do not apply to the other platform.

• Resources are available to maintain two separate sets of content.

• There is a strong need for mobile phone usage (not as much of a requirement for tablet users).

• At least 50% of all traffic is coming from mobile devices.

CASE FOR A MOBILE SITE

• There is a limited set of functionality that the user interacts with.

• Phone-specific functionality or features are needed to fully use the site or application.

• There is a singular goal for both the user and the maker of the app, for instance: purchasing tickets, consuming one type of content, viewing media, or playing a game.

• Push notifications are beneficial to the user and make for a better user experience.

CASE FOR A MOBILE APP

QUESTIONS?

• Greg Kihlstrom, [email protected]

• www.carousel30.com

• @gregkihlstrom | @carousel30