Mobile Visitors: Options for Supporting Mobile Devices

Posted By : Greg Grunschel   Posted On : November 8th, 2011
Topics : Application Development, Mobile CRM, Mobile Development, Mobile Web, New Technology

Mobile is Everywhere!

It is acceptable to say that the mobile web is here to stay. Mobile devices, such as smartphones, tablets, and netbooks, presently have a massive user base. The number of mobile web users is expected to steadily increase as more and more users turn to their mobile devices to instantly access information. In fact, according to Morgan Stanley, the number of users browsing via mobile devices will exceed the number of users browsing via desktop computers by 2015.

In the face of this massive change in browsing proclivities, many companies are unsure how best to tap this growing market. As my colleague pointed out last week, even major web applications like Salesforce are not fully compatible with the majority of mobile devices. Other major sites have tried to simply slap mobile-specific versions of their sites together, which has led to user frustration that consequently shows up in comics like the one below. So, what is the best path to capturing all those mobile users? The answer is (as it usually is) complicated. However, there are several common approaches, including mobile-friendly sites, custom mobile sites, and native apps, that most sites would be well-served to adopt.

Server Attention Span courtesy of kxcd

Common Approaches

There are three major approaches to dealing with mobile devices. Each approach has unique virtues and challenges, and some sites may lend themselves to one approach more directly than another.

Mobile-Friendly Site

Usually the most cost-effective approach, a mobile-friendly site relies on the massive increases in power and usability that have swept through the mobile market in the last few years. The fact that Apple’s iOS, Google’s Android, and Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 all include desktop-class web browsers by default means that many sites will simply work “as-is” (or with only minor revisions) on most modern mobile devices. Of course, making the site mobile-friendly usually limits the types of technology that can be used (Adobe’s Flash being the most affected). However, many relatively simple sites can be made perfectly usable on a mobile device with minimum of time and effort. It should be noted that the number one limiting factor for this approach is that it can be very difficult to design a site that is both usable and attractive on both a 27-inch desktop monitor and a 3.5-inch phone display. In addition, data-heavy applications may be too complex to make this approach viable.

Custom Mobile Site

This approach creates a custom site dedicated to creating a distinct user experience for mobile devices. When a mobile browser is detected, the user is redirected to the custom site. As shown by the comic above, some thought needs to be put into this redirect to prevent user frustration. However, this can be a good middle-ground from a cost and market-coverage point of view. The custom site is more expensive to develop than just making the existing site mobile-friendly, but the fact that it is still an HTML-based site in a browser avoids many of the pitfalls of the native app. The downsides are that HTML-based solutions will never be as responsive as native apps, and truly complex web applications may still cause a frustrating user experience.

Native App

This approach is almost always the most expensive, but often yields the most user-friendly results. A native application will most likely be the most responsive to inputs and it will give the designer more leeway in presenting complex datasets or controls to the user. In addition, the developer can leverage the standard APIs for each platform to provide a standardized experience that functions exactly as the user expects, so there is a minimal learning curve. The downsides to a native app can be fairly serious, though, as it will most likely be the most expensive and/or time-consuming option to create. Likewise, distribution to the end user is much more difficult and someone will have to provide ongoing support, bug fixes, etc. in the same manner as a desktop application. Finally, the biggest issue will be determining which platform(s) to support since each platform uses different tools to write native apps. In other words, to support the “big three” mobile OSs, it will require three separate apps built from three separate code bases.

Choosing the Best Approach: Define Your Audience and Check Your Content

As with any decision that revolves around web applications, your target audience should be your first consideration when trying to choose an approach. If your site targets a demographic that is likely to own a particular brand or type of mobile device, it can make your choice easier. However, your decision also must take into account the types of data and services that are available via your site. If, for example, your site is primarily used by engineers during their workday to calculate airflow requirements for HVAC systems, spending time and money on custom mobile sites is probably not a good use of resources. On the other hand, users can often surprise you with the strange uses they can put a site to once given convenient access in the field.

There are obvious differences between the mobile version and standard version of the Domino’s website. Mobile web users will likely take to the mobile version.

On the other end of the mobile-usefulness spectrum, I am astounded at the number of restaurant websites that are completely inaccessible on a mobile device. These sites have a target audience that is highly likely to want to visit their site while using a mobile device, but they don’t take even the most basic steps to allow mobile access. This is a mistake that will make less and less sense as more and more of the world moves to mobile web access.

One final thing to keep in mind when choosing the best approach is that even if your application’s current content is not conducive to access via a mobile device, it may be possible to make the site mobile-friendly by re-designing the interface without actually changing any of the available data. In fact, one of the greatest side effects of making your site more mobile-friendly is that it may become more user-friendly in the process, regardless of device!

Your Mobile Visitors Will Thank You

The future of the web demands that sites are built to be easily accessible, functionally fit, and user-friendly on mobile devices. Users not only want to be able to access information instantly on their mobile devices, but they want to be relieved of the frustration that is tied to poorly developed mobile sites. If your target audience fits into the increasing number of mobile web users, now is the time to consider adopting an approach that best suits their needs. Whether this approach results in a mobile-friendly site, a custom mobile site, or a native app, a mobile version of your site will help to make the web a more compatible environment. This will not only alleviate the pressure to adapt to web mobility in the future, but it will give your mobile visitors another reason to stay.

Other Blog Posts You Might Find Interesting

• Drive and Retain Visitors to Your Website
• Get Your Salespeople to Actually Put Data into Salesforce.com
• Expectations – Exceed Them
• Keeping Web Content Fresh – A Necessary Evil

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