In today’s mobile world, it is a high probability that the enterprise and brand engagement with the customer happens over a smart device interface. Smartphones and tablets have become the
In today’s mobile world, it is a high probability that the enterprise and brand engagement with the customer happens over a smart device interface. Smartphones and tablets have become the preferred medium of Internet access. Therefore, when an enterprise plans to engage with the customer base, they cannot exclude mobility from the equation. In fact, a number of enterprises are actually going ‘mobile first’, where an application is developed for the mobile platform, before it is for the web, or the desktops. The fundamental difference between mobile and web is that the mobile users are more impatient when it comes to dealing with poor performance or experience. Therefore, the focus on better experience is paramount.
What does experience mean?
As of January 2013, only fifty-seven of the top hundred brands had an online presence optimized for mobile.
A lot of organizations don’t even understand what the ‘optimized for mobile’ means. The users of smart devices typically do not engage in random browsing. They are focused on specific tasks that they intend to accomplish, every time they pick up their device. Therefore, it is important that the interface and workflows are simple, and intuitive to help the user accomplish their task sooner.
In addition to the ‘what’, it is important that the development team understands the ‘who’, and the ‘when’. You need to be cognizant of the target demographics and their behavior when designing the interfaces and backend.
Site vs. App
The organizations intending to go mobile always struggle with whether to put their money in re-platforming their website to support mobile, or to create a dedicated application.
Mobile apps offer a better experience and performance over sites. However, they are also more expensive to create and maintain. Also, with fragmentation in the platforms, it is even more difficult for the developers to meet the needs of all the customers. Websites have their own issues, with performance and rendering.
In the end, the choice is determined based on the target user community and their preferences.
How to improve the experience
In order to design and develop for an improved experience, it is important to first understand and internalize the fact that mobile is a very different platform than the personal computer. The mechanism of user interaction with the technology is very different on the two. Also, understanding of the fact that it is a handheld, and probably used by the user when he / she is in motion.
Some tips about improving the experience –
* Squash the bugs – Hygiene factor. No one likes a buggy piece of code. If yours is going to act moody, best not bring it out in the open.
* Agility matters – The performance of the product on the target devices better be good, else the user would not think twice before uninstalling or shutting the browser down. This is not the worst. The next thing the user will do is check out your competitor. And if they perform better, they win.
* User is king – Actually should be the first bullet. Do not focus on what you want to show the user. Shift from there to where you can understand the user’s needs and motivations. Unless you can meet their requirements, you will not be on their Christmas card list any time soon.
* Remember, its hands on – optimize for smaller form factor touch interfaces. Gestures, thumb-friendliness, readable text, and clickable areas sufficient distance apart, you know the drill.
Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
Are Phablets Drawing Tablets Towards Extinction?
Finally, phablets have broken the jinx to enter the mainstream smart devices business. I say this because recently, Oxford dictionary inducted the term that was the combination of "phone" and "tablet", "Phablet". This shows the popularity of this phrase as well the device called "phablets".
What to Go For? Enterprise Apps from App Stores or Custom Enterprise Apps
For small business owners and start up businesses, there is always a kind of money scarcity. The arrival of enterprise mobility although has brought a number of benefits but only after you have invested a handsome amount of capital.
Business Apps - Real Saviours or Just a Gimmick?
Go outside your house and look for people who don't have a cell. You will barely find anyone. Nowadays, mobile phone usage is not limited to just calling, texting, listening music and clicking pictures. Smart phones
