Is Mobile First a Good Thing?

Image Credit- Brad Frost (www.bradfrostweb.com)

(NOTE: We’re beginning a series of blog posts from Bryan Martin. Think of Bryan as our resident “ombudsman”. He’ll provide us with a good dose of common sense and a reality check on our life as marketers)

I’d like to start devoting some time to reigning in on some of the over-hyped technology out there: to give at least a common sense approach to adopting new methodologies, technologies, languages, etc.

And with that: let’s start with what got me on this kick in the first place – “Mobile First” design.

Mobile first – It’s been a term kicked around my office for a few months now.  And at first it sounds like a great idea: “How should this <insert project type here> act/feel/look on a tablet? Once that’s figured out – extend that out to both the phone and desktop.

I used to be a huge proponent of this idea until the idea struck me: If I start making sure that everything I do will look great on a tablet: I’ll start producing stuff that a) won’t work as well as it could on the desktop, and b) be doing so at the cost of 80-95% of the users who happen to be using desktops (the numbers depend on which study you’re looking at).

Please don’t mis-understand, I don’t want come off as some Luddite who wants to go back to the good old days when desktop computers ruled the earth like the dinosaurs they are.  I use my phone and tablet for casual computing more than I do the laptop.  But honestly: have any of you tried typing a blog post on a tablet?   I have: Google dropped the ball by even making the blogger app. This is one example.

What I suggest we actually do, is to look at the problem we have before us: whether it’s a complex web application, a commerce site, or just some brochure-ware site.  look at it.  Really look at it.  If it can be done with “Mobile-First” mentality, then go ahead but go full bore into it – last thing people want is a site that acts radically different on the mobile site vs. the actual site.  And for Pete’s sake use responsive design.  Yeah, the first project is a pain in the arse, but you’re going to have to do it eventually.  I’d suggest using some “compiled” css like SCSS or LESS to help get things right.  And defiantly use a framework like jQuery Mobile. I’d imagine most commerce sites and web comic sites (I’m looking at you, PvP) could fit into this just fine.

Past that:, if it really doesn’t make sense to even be using your application/site on a mobile platform (like Blogger) then don’t waste your resources doing so.

Now, for some sites it does “kinda-sorta” make sense – like the huge brochure-ware sites that most hospitals have become.  It’s a lot of static content, some forms of various complexity, and a very extensive hierarchical menu.  The more complicated forms might need a re-work beyond going responsive, and the menu – well, you’ll have to do what you have to do.  I’m not an IA – but I can say that any menu system I’ve seen would have to be completely blown apart and rebuilt.  And that’s not going to be easy.

Well, those are my 2 bits for today.

Why Tablet Design for Websites belongs at the Adult Table

Recent analysis from Juniper Research asserts that “Ultrabooks like Lenovo’s IdeaPad are rejuvenating the notebook class, offering the user experience of a tablet in a notebook form-factor”.

Net-net: The next generation of laptops and PC’s will be touch-centric and tablet-like.  So what we think of a “desktop” PC experience today is going to be pretty different in a few years for the masses.  I have been using a Dell version of this hybrid laptop and, while far from perfect, it is an early sign of things to come.  You can check it out here

As Apple works on integrating its iOS and Mountain Lion operating systems set for release later this summer, I can’t imagine that they will not soon be exploiting this opportunity in the laptop category.  Regardless, Lenovo, Dell and others are well aware of this threat and have a lot at stake to innovate and make sure they are not left in the dust as another piece of Apple roadkill.  So, expect to see intense innovation in this laptop/tablet hybrid category.

For projects with long horizon time frames (e.g. website builds delivered in 2013+), everyone involved in website development needs to put tablets, touch and mobile at the adult table  and not the kids table anymore.  We need to think first about creating touch friendly and optimized experiences.  Even Microsoft is thinking ahead, creating Windows 8 to be “touch-first”.

A famous quote from Wayne Gretzky perfectly depicts what is called for in this situation:  “A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be.” These words were good enough for none other than Steve Jobs to use when he was introducing a version of the iPhone:  “I skate to where the puck is going to be, not to where it’s been.”

The desktop puck is quickly heading towards a tablet, touch and mobile-centric future.  It is undeniable and unstoppable.  Maybe your competitors are already thinking ahead and playing where the puck is headed?  Maybe your customers are too?  They only thing that is certain:  if you are sitting still, you will miss the puck. And if you do so, it will be increasingly costly and difficult to recover.  So get your skates on and mobilize!

Death of the Website Redesign

“Forget what we have taken for granted on how consumers use the Internet.  Soon, more users will access the Web using mobile devices than using PCs, and it’s going to make the Internet a very different place.” (Karsten Weide, IDC)

So, your website desperately needs updating and your mobile and tablet presence is weak, disjointed or non-existent.  If this sounds like you, take time to pause for a moment to internalize that website redesigns as you know them are a dying breed.

Why?  The explosion of tablet, mobile and touch experiences.  Just consider that well within the useful life of your website redesign, in the period of 2013-15, that:

• Mobile device internet access will outpace PC access
• Tablet sales will outpace PC sales
• Microsoft Windows 8 will be deployed across corporate America, built around a “touch-first” experience

If mobile web access is not yet central to your audience, it almost certainly will be in the next few years.  This rapid ascent calls to question a number of issues that redesigns of the past did not have to confront:

• Focus:  What perspective should the strategy, user experience and creative be centered around?  Traditionally, without question, the answer has been “desktop-first”.  But what if your audience heavily over-indexes on tablet usage or smartphone usage, such as the 85% of physicians that expect to purchase a tablet in 2012?  If your key audience actually PREFERS to interact with your brand on a mobile device, does it make sense to focus your redesign process around the desktop?
• Budget and Timing:  Existing budgets for web design projects rely on benchmarks from the old “desktop-first” model.  With the advent of mobile taking on a more central role comes more complexity, more cost and more time.

So what to do?  Maybe now is a good time to explore that sabbatical you’ve been considering?   While that may sound attractive, consider that by the time you reengage, there will be new devices, platforms and technologies that will render this entire discussion obsolete.

So, in the absence of a sabbatical, we’ve created a FLUID  (FLexible User Interface Decision-making) FRAMEWORK to help clients tackle these issues in an objective, methodical manner.  Key to the framework is bringing the audience and business to the forefront of the decision-making process.  FLUID guides companies through critical considerations such as:

• WHO:  What is the profile of your target audience?  What is their specific device usage penetration and preferences?  How is this expected to evolve in the next several years?
• WHEN/WHERE:  What are the critical Use Cases, Touchpoints and Moments of Truth when your audience needs you?   Where you can add unique value?  What are your users trying to accomplish?  When and where do they have these needs?
• WHAT:  How much information is required to help your users resolve their needs?  Is your content information-intensive or lightweight?  What content are users currently consuming on your website using various devices?  How constrained are budget and timing considerations?

Depending on the answers to various diagnostics in FLUID, a score is reached that prioritizes different platform investments and alternatives.  The FLUID framework is just that – fluid – and will undoubtedly continue to evolve over time.

Website redesign approaches of the past are comfortable, tested and refined.  The problem is, they are fast becoming irrelevant. So, before you start your next web redesign project with a desktop-first mindset, get focused on the new and very relevant realities of a mobile-centric web world. It could save you untold dollars, enable you to leapfrog the competition and make your core audiences very happy.

Online becomes Offline – are you ready for it?

I was recently at the One Show Interactive awards ceremony, for these are great occasions to get a sense of what is the kind of work that’s being recognized as the best out there but also to pick up a sense of the trends shaping up the industry. And much to my surprise, this show did provide an interesting insight: Online is becoming Offline. (more…)