Blog

Matt Chamberlin

Tablet Strategy: The Future of the Human-Computer Interaction

October 5th, 2011

Mobile

Let’s go back in time.  Ask yourself: what led to the massive consumer adoption/acceptance of the proliferation of cable TV channels?

The color television? Of course! Better antenna and technology producing a quality signal? Sure! Reasonable monthly subscriptions? Absolutely.  Masterful advertising campaigns by Ad Agencies like Sterling, Cooper, Draper-Price? Was that just an obligatory Mad Men reference? You bet.

But seriously: there’s a much more basic and fundamental innovation that allowed for TV networks to expand their offerings (i.e. additional channels) and bring in more commercial time to sell: The Remote Control.

The Remote Control wiped out the inconvenience of getting up and turning the knob on the TV, or bribing little Johnny to come down and park his chair next to the TV to turn the knob at your command.

The device delivered freedom to viewers to move about while watching exactly what they wanted. The Remote Control opened up the proverbial flood-gates for easy channel expansion and we, as users, barely even noticed!

I started thinking about the Remote Control after reading a Wall Street Journal article on iPad user statistics. To save you time, I’ve outlined a short list of some key points of the article:

• Conversion rates (orders divided by total visits) are proving to be 30% to 60% Higher on tablets compared PC/smartphone purchases
• Tablet orders – in some cases – are 10% to 20% HIGHER compared to PC/smartphone
• Around 3% of the nearly $150 billion U.S. consumers spent online last year came via mobile devices
• Tablets are the fastest growing of revenues generated from mobile
• Consumers tend to spend time on the web, and nearly 50% shop online after purchasing a tablet device
• Experts believe that over 33% of ALL U.S. adults could own tablets by 2015

When the iPad first hit the market, most companies thought that a few adjustments to formatting would make an “iPad Friendly” version of their website. But these figures prove that the tablet market has huge revenue potential for companies that want to craft a user experience beyond “good enough.”

The bigger question here though is why retailers are seeing these additional increases in sales via tablet devices.The quick and easy answer? A little bit of novelty with a pinch of “early adopter” buying habits sprinkled on top. In reality though, it goes much deeper than that.

Companies with a successful tablet site/app are creating a truly unique experience for customers specifically designed within the context of how they use the tablet.

But what does that mean?

It means they’re looking at the shopping experience from a completely different perspective. For example, instead of designing a checkout or website that is developed for use on a desktop browser – which the user can only interact with via a mouse/cursor – they design understanding the user is more connected to the tablet directly and has a heightened sense of almost being able to physically touch, move, and interact with products and information. An experience much different than that using a typical desktop or laptop.

Since traditional PC’s require you to interact with an intermediary device (i.e. mouse or trackpad), there’s an almost unconscious disconnect. But with a tablet – with the standard peripheral not required – you feel closer and almost physically connected to the information. It’s a true human-computer-interaction experience.

So with a tablet and its increased user interaction and convenience, it’s not really a question of if it will open up ways for enhanced customer engagement and additional opportunities for companies.

The only real question is how your company going to utilize this paradigm-shifting opportunity and ensure it’s effective. I’d go as far as to say your company’s future is riding on the answer to this very question. For some amazing insights into multi-touchpoint interactions and the future of tablets, check out my colleague’s blog Designing Interactions for Tablet Apps.