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.

LBS and You- Making The Real World Easier to Use

(note- this is blog post #3 in a 5-part series of blog posts focusing on key learnings from SXSW)

The pre-SXSW buzz was all about the new ambient Location-Based applications like Highlight, Glancee and Ban.jo. Did the buzz live up to the hype? Is Foursquare still relevant? What’s next for LBS?  No, Yes, and Read on. Here’s our take:

What makes Ambient Location Based Services (LBS) Apps so compelling?
The value of these LBS apps provides contextual and social relevance while you’re checking in to locations. They are helping to orchestrate serendidipitous meetings with the people around you. We’ll let their descriptions tell the story.

Glancee: a mobile app that helps you discover and connect with new interesting people around you
Highlight: a fun way to learn more about people nearby
Ban.jo: a social discovery app that lets you view people’s social network profiles based on their location

At SXSW, plenty of people were using these apps, but at a conference full of 30,000 techies, is it really helpful to be notified that 370 people are nearby and 47 of them like tacos? Let’s be nicer, and back that out to a smaller case study, say at your local coffee shop. There is indeed value if you discover a fellow pottery enthusiast there,  but is that value worth it Given the privacy/creepiness factor surrounding these apps? Our argument is no. Learning, discovering and connecting with new, like-minded people with similar personal interests in real-time is best left to us humans.

Is Foursquare still relevant?
Absolutely. We had the opportunity to listen to Dennis Crowley during his “Making The Real World Easier to Use” keynote.  Here are some take-aways from the Q&A sesssion with TechCrunch’s MG Siegler.

Q: Why aren’t you engaging with “auto-discovery” and the likes of Glancee, Highlight and Ban.jo, and other “push” technologies based around location?
A:  The batteries simply aren’t there. They exhaust a phone’s suitable life. We’re waiting for the hardware to catch up.

Q: Are you still going with games as an entry point to Foursquare? Aren’t people getting tired of mayorships and badges?
A: There is a big difference between making games and making a utility (like Foursquare) that is playful.  Badges are still the “gateway drug” for new foursquare users and gets people excited. Points may be neat, but the data behind it is really cool. – data will become more powerful as insights are extracted.

Q: Tell us about the value of your data
In time, with more users and lots more data, we’ll be able to serve up relevant, location-based data that can improve the way you experience everyday life.  In three years, looking at a map without any social data will seem silly. When I call up Google maps, I’d like to see what restaurants are recommended to me, what vendors are worthwhile, and much, much more.

What’s Next for LBS?
Picking up on the heels of Reid Hoffman’s talk at last year’s SXSW, big data still rings true. Data gleaned from social platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter will still provide insightful customer data like never before. In the case of LBS applications, here are two examples of how they’re putting LBS too good use.

Partnerships: One of Foursquare’s best relationships is the one they have with American Express. At nearly every restaurant/bar in Austin that week, there was a “spend five-get five” promotion with American Express. If you spent $5, and used your American Express card, you’d automatically receive a $5 credit on your American Express statement. No paperwork to fill out, no survey, just a check-in and a swipe of a card. Now, imagine what American Express and Foursquare can do with that data. Add “location” to American Express’ deep library of cardmember data, and you’ve struck gold- especially with millions more mobile-phone toting consumers.

Sonar: Absent from the Ambient LBS discussion above was connecting people with similar professional (LinkedIn) interests. Sonar is one of the few ambient LBS apps that allow for Linkedin integration. If you’re at a small conference of 100 people, and you’ve checked in via Sonar, you’ll be notified of shared professional connections. Sonar is the “icebreaker for introverts”. Keep an eye out for Sonar in the coming months as they quietly go about their business

What should I do?
-Never underestimate the value of data. As a marketer you know this, but experiment with this using an LBS tool like foursquare. Use foursquare as a reward, recognition AND customer service tool.
-Embrace human nature. No amount of technology replaces the value you get from human interaction. Use a technology to be an ice-breaker and a tool, nothing else.
-Experiment. At the next event you go to, check in using foursquare or sonar and follow whatever path it leads you down.

SXSW Day 1: Google Plus and Google Hangout- via Storify

Guy Kawasaki talks to Vic Gundotra from Google Plus

This year’s ongoing SXSW recap is brought to you primarily through the notes I took on my iPad throughout the conference. And how exactly do you try and blog using an iPad? Well, you don’t. You use a terrific new Ipad App called Storify. It allows you to pull content from many social sources (instagram, twitter, flickr, youtube, facebook) and use that content, well, to Storify your story.

I’ll start off with an initial recap here, then point you over to the storify link so you can see what it looks like…

Day 1’s most compelling session was Guy Kawasaki’s keynote interview with Vic Gundotra, lead engineer for Google Plus.  For the early part of the conversation, he talked about the success of Google Hangout, and how they designed the product around 3 core elements.

1. Make it easy to use. Unlike Skype, Google Plus/Hangout doesn’t involve complicated software to download
2. Make it passive. You can start a hangout when and where you want to- if people want to join in, they can, if they don’t they won’t.

Google Plus allows you to publicly share with your network that you’ve started a hangout. It’s akin to sitting on the porch, reading the paper and having a cup of coffee. You’re giving your neighbors a visual, yet passive cue that you are (probably) available to talk and have a conversation.  It’s behaviorally different than knocking on your neighbor’s door telling him you want to talk (Skype?)

3. Make it public. For those hangouts that are public, everyone is invited to join. And, Vic pointed out, it’s human nature to want to join a conversation-we don’t want to feel left out.

So what does this mean for brands?
For some of the lifestyle brands, a Google Hangout is an easy, fun and creative way to tell your story. Just take a look at The Muppets.

For more traditional and B2B brands however, they aren’t particularly excited about starting a Google Hangout. It scares them. It’s an uncontrolled environment. Step away from the storytelling, and consider using a Google Hangout as a customer service tool, a place to highlight your subject matter experts. or introduce a new product or service. Take a look at what Richard Binhammer from Dell has done.

So, think more about what Google Plus can do for you, and head on over to our Storify page.

Basic human needs: meaningful connection vs. privacy

With the beginning of SXSW, we thought it appropriate to discuss one of the newest trends in social technology. According to the pundits and the press, the hottest technology to emerge in 2012 will be location-aware personal discovery applications. What does this mean? It means that there is technology being launched whose sole purpose is to put you together, in both the digital realm, and more importantly, the real physical world, with others who share your interests.

Apps in this vein, which are already in the app stores and markets, and which are getting great positive reviews by tech thought leaders, include such apps as highlight, Glancee, Sonar and Banjo.

So what does this technology do? How does it work? Once you’ve downloaded the app, it typically asks you to login via facebook. Why you ask? So that the app can scan your friends lists and your interests and then make telling connections between your friend/interests, and others and let you know who’s close by using location-aware services on your phone.

Basically, it will tell you when people are physically near you who share your interests. In some cases, this is pulled from your list of pre-existing facebook friends. In other cases, you’re being introduced to people who you do not yet know, but the software figures you might want to.

If you’re going to a conference like SXSW, or have just moved to a new city and want to meet new folks, it sounds great right? But wait, what about the fact that your socially-enthusiastic teenager has access to this very same person-to-person recommendation engine? Do you want her reaching out to everyone who shares her taste in Eminem? Or even M&Ms? Or even more unnerving to her parents, having her being approached by strangers who happen to be introduced to her via one of these emerging services? Only time will tell if this type of technology has broader application among later adopters of technology

If services like this are to gain traction, privacy concerns will ultimately have to be addressed. Where do you net out? Is privacy worth reducing if it means more meaningful human connections?