experience matters

According to ABI Research, people spent approximately $1.6 billion via m-commerce last year. Consumers are increasingly using their mobile phones for financial transactions and there is no question that the opportunity is huge. But what is the best way to go about it? If you’ve surfed the mobile web, you’ve undoubtedly encountered some pretty terrible experiences.

So we set out to identify the best practices that make a mobile experience extraordinary. Why are sites such as m.espn, m.google, mobile.yelp, bbc.co.uk/mobile, mobile.nytimes, iphone.ebay, m.facebook so effective? What makes them almost as indispensable as our mobile phones themselves?

With such a diverse client roster, we’ve created mobile sites for retail, travel, banking and fashion. Though each client had distinct needs and business challenges to solve, clear patterns emerged and this post synthesizes our POV on the best ways to craft a mobile site experience.

The Insights
We took a look at how Google breaks down mobile users into 3 behavior groups: (A) Repetitive Now, (B) Bored Now and (C) Urgent Now. We outlined their similarities and differences. We also looked at how consumers use mobile for multi-channel retail. Here are some shared behaviors we uncovered:

• People usually have a goal.
• They’re doing something in real time.
• They’re looking for seamless experiences.
• They’re comfortable shopping online.

The problem is that most mobile experiences fail to deliver on these essential needs, especially for consumers on the go.  We’ve outlined a toolkit of mobile best practices to ensure that your mobile site delivers the value that consumers have come to expect.

The keys to crafting an extraordinary mobile experience

1. Make your mobile site FINDABLE. A mere 23% of mobile web users agree that sites are easy to find. Don’t make people guess the URL. Be there, at their fingertips.
2. Provide UTILITY. As we discussed earlier, mobile users are like hawks honing in on their prey with a singular focus. They usually have specific goal in mind—whether to find an address, make a reservation, browse a product or connect with a friend.  Don’t oversimplify, but formulate a mobile value proposition and give them what they need, when they need it.
3. Make it EASY TO USE. This point brings to mind the old adage: “Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.” Optimize navigation and presentation. When building a mobile experience, remember that although technology offers infinite possibilities, the key lies in stripping down to the bare essentials–making it easy and seamless, rather than cumbersome and overcomplicated.
4. Serve up CONTENT in SMALL BITES. Many mobile sites serve up too much content, overwhelming the experience with a multitude of information, features and functionality.  Mobile displays require line-by-line scrolling through text, and force sequential highlighting of each available link on the site. These limitations make shoehorning existing web copy into a mobile format impractical. Think about it this way.  If online users are “digital snackers,” moving from site to banner to video consuming bite-sized pieces of content, then mobile users are ultimate “waifs.”  Keep your content short and sweet because to them, less is more.
5. Align with OTHER CHANNELS. Mobile is just one part of the experience. Consumers use their mobile devices for many different things, in many different contexts. Never lose sight of the fact that you’re designing for the user, not the device.
6. Keep a LASER FOCUS. Users often face costly access – Megabytes add up fast and aren’t intuitive to users. Even simple sites can exceed 32K for the home page (about $0.34). Flat rate plans start at $15/month — many consumers think this is a bad deal. Focus on value and deliver only what is essential.
7. Target a core FEATURE SET. Developers face a complicated mess of devices, browsers, technologies and carriers.  Every year hundreds of devices flood the market with different browsers, display capabilities, screen sizes and keypads. Filter out the noise and build for the majority of your audience.
8. Build with plans to SCALE. Extend to accommodate strategically. In digital, change is the only constant. Developers face a steady stream of shiny, new devices – and this is only magnified in mobile.  Choose a platform flexible enough serve both your immediate and long terms goals.



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