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Creating a Successful Mobile Experience

May 27th, 2010

Application Development, Social Networking, Usability

NavigationArts sponsored the Web Content Maven’s Web to Mobile event last night, which will be the first in a series of talks on the topic.  With the proliferation of smart phones and the invention and success of the ipad, mobile is on the top of everyone’s minds right now.  But are we thinking about it in the right way?

I am reminded of the social media craze that we are currently in the midst of.  Many companies or C-level exec’s have told their marketers “We need a social presence!” without putting the necessary amount of thought into the strategy, message, or purpose of that social presence.  The result is a wealth of companies with disparate or abandoned facebook pages, twitter accounts, blogs, and more.

The mobile space is the next customer engagement tool.  (You may recall that we have been blogging about Web Engagement Management recently, a concept that has arisen as a result of these disparate engagement tools.) The important thing to think about in the mobile space is not “My Web site needs to be mobile accessible!” but rather ask yourself “WHAT on my Web site needs to be mobile accessible?”

Mobile Web sites are used differently than traditional sites, therefore the information on them should be catered to that practical and different usage.  One of the speakers in last night’s panel was Ian Gordon, a senior Web developer at Politico.  He said that the most important aspects of a mobile site are its immediacy, its relevancy, and its function.  Each of these considers the user’s needs and experience, so I quite agree with him.  Users have been trained by companies like Google (with its organic search) or Amazon (with its recommendations for you) to expect relevant information to be fed directly to them at lightening speed.  The mobile space is no exception, in fact, it is actually the next step in allowing people to access information when they need it.  iPhone apps such as AroundMe (which can tell you all the banks, gas stations, restaurants or more that are closest to you at any time) or Shazam (which allows you to listen to, identify, then purchase a song that is playing anywhere) have given users very high standards for immediacy, relevancy, and functionality on mobile devices.

In order to have a successful mobile presence, considering your users is key.  Immediacy: Information needs to be easy to find with as few clicks as possible.  The combination of slower speed on mobile devices, a smaller screen compared to computer monitors, and the fact that while on-the-go people usually need things quickly means that users have a very low tolerance for spending time looking for information.  Relevancy: Information on your mobile site needs to be highly targeted to things that one might want from you while on-the-go such as contact information or geographically relevant information.  Paring down the content that is available on mobile devices allows the relevant content to be more easily accessed.   Function: The site or application must serve a purpose and must work.  It cannot use flash, the buttons need to be big enough to click, and it needs to work on a variety of different mobile devices.   If one of these three things is missing, your users will simply abandon the site, resulting in a lost opportunity.

I, for one, use my iphone constantly to access all sorts of information and believe that if you always keep your users in mind with your mobile strategy, the possibilities are endless.  I am excited to continue to explore this topic with our Web Content Maven meetings and panels, so check our news and events page and join us at the next one.