The Mobile Web for a Mobile AudienceKNIGHT DIGITAL MEDIA CENTER AT UC BERKELEY

The outline for this evening’s talk:

•Why is mobile important?

•Some examples of mobile websites.

•What kind of mobile presence should you consider implementing?

Study: Mobile Web will be bigger than

desktop Internet by 2015.

Source: Morgan Stanley, “The Mobile Internet Report” December 15, 2009.

Survey: People would rather

lose wallet than cellphone

Source: Synovate Mobile June 2009. N=8,000. Counties included Canada, Denmark, France, Malaysia, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, Britain and the United States..

1 in 4 U.S. adults have apps on their phones

‘The Rise of the Apps Culture’[Pew Study]

Source: Pew-Internet & American Life Project – April 29 - May 30, 2010. N=2,252. Margin of error is +/-2.4 percentage points.

Percent of the total U.S. adult population

Cell Phone Users82%

Not Cell Phone Users18%

Source: Pew-Internet & American Life Project – April 29 - May 30, 2010. N=2,252. Margin of error is +/-2.4 percentage points.

Percent of the total U.S. adult population

Just Cell Phone Users53%

Cell Phone users w/apps29%

Not Cell Phone Users18%

Source: Pew-Internet & American Life Project – April 29 - May 30, 2010. N=2,252. Margin of error is +/-2.4 percentage points.

Percent of the total U.S. adult population

Just Cell Phone Users53%

Use apps on a regular basis20%

W/apps but don’t use9%

Not Cell Phone Users18%

Source: Pew-Internet & American Life Project – April 29 - May 30, 2010. N=2,252. Margin of error is +/-2.4 percentage points.

0% 100%

79%

67%

50%

21%

33%

50%

18-29 year-olds

30-49 year-olds

50 and older

Use Apps Don’t Use Apps

Percent of U.S. adult population who have apps on their phones

Source: Pew-Internet & American Life Project – April 29 - May 30, 2010. N=2,252. Margin of error is +/-2.4 percentage points.

Games

News/Weather

Maps/Navigation

Social Networking

Music

Entertainment/Food

Banking

Sports

Productivity

Shopping/Retail

Video/Movies

Communication

Travel/Lifestyle

Other

0% 15% 30% 45% 60%

3%

18%

21%

22%

24%

26%

27%

28%

34%

43%

47%

51%

52%

60%

Source: Pew-Internet & American Life Project – April 29 - May 30, 2010. N=2,252. Margin of error is +/-2.4 percentage points.

What kind of mobile presence should you consider

implementing?

“The phrase ‘mobile usability’ is pretty much an oxymoron. It's neither easy nor pleasant to use the Web on mobile devices. Observing user suffering during our sessions reminded us of the very first usability studies we did with traditional websites in 1994. It was that bad.In our mobile studies, the which is admittedly higher than success rates in the 1990s, but substantially lower than the roughly 80% success rate when testing websites on a regular PC today.“Before the study, we had expected to get better results in London because the UK has a stronger tradition for mobile services than the US. However, the actual sessions didn't bear this out: the British sites were just as bad as the American sites, and users struggled about as much to get things done.”

Source: Nielsen Norman Group Report: Usability of Mobile Websites: July 20, 2009

average success rate was 59%

The Mobile User Experience Is Miserable

There are no mouse rollovers on touch screen phones.

Regular website on a mobile device Mobile formatted site

Will people really be visiting my site on a

mobile device?

http://bit.ly/bMCmic

People aren’t using mobile devices for searching as much*

CONSIDERATIONS FOR A MOBILE SITE

• What is the most essential content I should offer?

• What has the most utility?

• What could be practical for a person on-the-go?

• What additional services could I offer? (and should I?)

• Remember: Less is more.

What parts of my site should I put in a mobile application?

1. Always include a link to get back to the standard desktop page.

2. If you use auto-detection for mobile sites, make sure links to inside pages redirect to the mobile version of those inside pages.

Example:

http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/article/24143

Should redirect to:

http://m.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/article/24143

Mobile Apps vs. Mobile Websites

Mobile formatted siteApp from the appstore

MOBILE WEBSITE BUILDING AN APP

No need to download an app. User must download the app first.

Internet required Offline mode (in most cases)

Not as marketable. Bragging rights.

Limited functionality. APIs (event notifications, etc.)

In most cases, cheaper. Usually more expensive.

Very basic template app: $1,000

Basic iPhone apps ~ $10,000

Mid-range apps (simple games, utilities) ~ $10,000 - $50,000

Complex apps (advanced games, photo, AR) ~ $100,000

COST FOR MOBILE APPS

Palm1%Google

18%

Apple78%

RIM (Blackberry)4%

Palm5%Microsoft

14%

Google12%

Apple26%

RIM (Blackberry)42%

Source: comScore MobiLens : Top Smartphone Platforms 3 Month Avg. Ending Jul. 2010 vs. 3 Month Avg. Ending Apr. 2010 Total U.S. Smartphone Subscribers Ages 13+

Smartphone U.S. Market Share Total apps downloaded

Examples

Vanderbilt University built three apps and a mobile website.

Mobile website Mobile application

West Virgina University’s mobile website looks almost like a native application, but requires a persistent internet connection.

University of Tampa built apps for iPhone, Android and Blackberry.

Mobile website Desktop website (on mobile)

Mobile website Desktop website (on mobile)

University of Evansville built a custom campus map that is ‘fun’ to use for people finding directions around campus.

Mobile website Desktop website (on mobile)

MIT has GPS units installed on shuttle buses so using their iPhone app, you can see exactly how long a shuttle bus will take to reach your location.