Mobile, tablet and the </p><p>future of the website

Smartphone sales continue to explode, with the total global number estimated to hit 2 billion by 2014. In 2012 smartphone sales grew by 44% worldwide and by the end of this year 21% of the British public are set to own one.

The mobile revolution doesn’t stop there. Multi-device households are a big trend, as people spend money on a tablet device they would otherwise have used to update their desktop computers. This means that many of the people our clients are trying to reach with their content are using smartphones, tablets and PCs to access the internet. The European country where this is most common is the UK, where 17.7% of smartphone owners also have a tablet.

So, it’s not surprising that one of the biggest challenges we’re asked to solve for our clients is how to adapt website strategies for tablet, mobile and PC.

Stop asking ‘if’ and start asking ‘how’

It’s difficult to question the need for mobile and tablet-friendly websites, when the statistics suggest a multi-device experience is essential. The question is: how do we create the best experience possible?

There are several options in providing experiences for mobile web browsing, but the most popular choices are responsive sites (websites that ‘respond’ to the device being used and deliver a tailored experience for PC, tablet or mobile) and separate mobile sites (sites designed specifically for mobile use).

Going down the responsive path

What does this choice actually involve? A responsive mobile site will detect device specifics and reformat the web page based on browser width and device capabilities. The difficulties with this approach start to arise when websites have a lot of complex content or navigation, which can quickly become unwieldy on a mobile device.

Creating a separate mobile experience

A separate mobile site allows you to create a standalone experience with dedicated mobile and tablet markup. This involves stripping back the experience to the essentials. You can tailor copy and images to work perfectly for a specific device and optimise features to recognise ‘swipe’ and ‘tap’ interactions.

Misunderstanding user context

When planning a mobile web experience, we often hear the phrase “mobile users have different requirements to desktop users”. In many cases this is correct as people use different devices according to the task at hand, the time of day or the environment in which they find themselves. Having said that, recent research suggests these lines are becoming increasingly blurred. For example, 70% of smartphone owners use their phone to access the web while at home or work. Only 17% of web browsing from a mobile device is actually done ‘on the move’.

Think Mobile First

Mobile First is an approach which starts the design process for a mobile interface, working on a strategy for touch devices and then scales the experience up to work effectively on a desktop PC. This approach ensures an effective experience across devices and challenges planners and designers to strip back content, simplify user journeys and reduce complexity. This makes site experiences easy to understand and simple to follow, while still delivering key consumer experiences and business objectives.

A strategic decision, not a technical one

Working with our clients, we develop device strategies based on analytics-informed website usage, content requirements, overall site complexity, budget and feasibility.

However, at Freestyle we also know the value of consumer insight and the importance of understanding user behaviour when it comes to defining the most effective multi-device website strategy.

Andy Wood

Strategy Director

Freestyle Interactive

Tel: 01926 652832

Email: andy.wood@freestyleinteractive.co.uk

Web: www.freestyleinteractive.co.uk

Twitter: @freestyleint