Two MediaPost publications reported last week on a Yankee Group study that assessed the overall quality of mobile websites. Yankee Group researchers evaluated 27 major mobile sites on criteria including design, usability, and ability to adapt to multiple devices and networks. The findings were disappointing: the average score was 52 out of 100 - a failing grade.
The highest scorers among the group, which included popular news, sports, and search sites, were as follows: Google search (81), Yahoo search (76), Google News (73), Yahoo News (73), MLB.com (71), Rivals.com (58), and ESPN.com (57). When translated into academic grades, the highest scorer (Google) only achieved a B-.
Given that smartphone usage continues to grow massively (Nielsen reports that smartphone adoption has increased 72% quarter-over-quarter this year, to 26 million subscribers in the second quarter of 2009), this mobile web failure is a sorry state. But it means that there exists lots of opportunity for companies to fill that space by developing mobile sites that are truly outstanding.
Imagine how much of the mobile web audience could be captured by a company that offers an A+ mobile site, at a time when the top competitor (Google) only scores a B-. Imagine the kind of fan base that company could build if its mobile site communicated essential information in a clean, simple, easy-to-read, easy-to-navigate format, optimized for any mobile device.
How can companies do this?
1) Simplify. Tell mobile users what they want to know; do not overwhelm them with information. In your writing, be succinct. In graphs and charts and design, use as few strokes as possible to accurately communicate the information. Use space wisely, without crowding. For inspiration, read up on books about clean design and simplifying your life; or browse through top design magazines and "best of the web" lists.
2) Detect. Determine whether the user is accessing your site from a desktop/laptop or from a mobile device. For users surfing on mobile phones, automatically route them to the version of your site that is optimized for mobile. You might do this by providing customers with a separate web address for your mobile site (my alma mater uses http://www.acu.edu for desktop, and http://m.acu.edu for mobile). Or, for an even better user experience, take Carl Howe's recommendation and invest in device detection on your mobile site; this will allow you to provide users with a site that is optimized for their specific mobile platform.
3) Target. Customize users' experience based upon their location. Use the GPS data from their phones to give them information relevant to their geographic area. Unless they state otherwise, treat their mobile web experience like local search. If they are looking at music, show them concerts near them. Looking at food? Show them restaurants near them. Weather? Show them local weather. Sports? Show them the local teams. And then provide easy access to information from other regions as well.
4) Research. Ask users what they want in a mobile web experience. Ask them to critique several mobile sites; ask them what they like and dislike. Ask them what their favorite mobile sites are, and why. Ask them which information on your site should be displayed on a mobile device, and which information is irrelevant. In order to provide a great customer experience, you must know what experience your customers want.
The mobile web space is wide open for companies that will optimize their sites for the mobile user experience.
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While I agree with the overall premise that organizations need to dramatically improve their Web presentation for mobile devices, I have to disagree with much of your means of getting there.
ReplyDeleteTo start, Yankee Group, Gartner, Nielsen, and the other usual suspects are notoriously inept when it comes to dealing with technology issues. The list you cited, for example, doesn't include the New York Times, which is significantly more usable on a mobile device than any of the sites besides Google search; in fact, I'd give them a B and Google's mobile page a solid A (though not quite an A+).
Additionally, the Web simply may not be the best means of reaching a mobile audience. Perhaps Google News isn't great on less-capable browsers; the solution is to use an RSS reader and edit your selections from a desktop.
Autodetection of mobile devices is an excellent idea (though per-device tailoring generally isn't), but one lesson companies can't seem to learn is to never insist they know better than their visitors. Provide "escape links" from the full site to the mobile one and back again.
Finally, targeting content based on GPS and other information from the phone isn't possible on the Web, and this is a Good Thing. Put simply, HTTP doesn't transmit any sort of physical-location information, and "companies want to sell me more stuff" doesn't sound like a justifiable reason for trying to add it.
In contrast, the app WHERE! (available for Java phones, the iPhone, and Palm webOS), runs locally to the phone. It understands how to pull in data for "nearby" events and businesses without having to reveal personal information to the outside world.
It seems to me that this is the next practical step for mobile applications: using Web Services as data backends (checking movie listings, the weather, and so on) but weaving the information together into a useful whole on the mobile device itself. Most companies would be better off investing in exposing their information via a standardized Web Services API so that it can be remixed by client apps rather than in money pits such as fine-grained location awareness or device-specific sites.
Thanks for your comments, Chris! I appreciate your correcting/improving my suggested means to the end.
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