Do I Need an App?

In today’s market, having a solid mobile presence is crucial.  It is very likely that a customer’s first experience with your company will be via a mobile device.   The question is, to reach these customers do you build a mobile site or an app (or both)?  To determine this, you need to understand the mobile market and the capabilities of both apps and mobile sites.

ComScore stated that in 2014 the number of mobile users surpassed desktop users. To break that down a bit more, Pew Internet Research estimates that:

• 90% of American adults have a cell phone
• 58% of American adults have a smartphone
• 42% of American adults own a tablet computer

Now, consider that 62% of mobile device owners have made a purchase from their device.  For perspective, eCommerce revenue accounts for 10% of ALL retail revenue. Without a mobile presence you’re completely missing the ability to capture some of those sales.

So with that in mind, should you have an app or a mobile site?

The primary advantages to mobile apps are that they live on the users device and can run in the background gathering information, such as behavior and preference information. They are also able to send geo-targeted notifications, which can be an effective feature if you also have a brick and mortar presence.

Sounds great, right? However, the downside is that apps are difficult to update and keep current. The danger to this is that once an app loses its luster, or the user’s attention, they tend to get deleted. In fact, a study fromCompuware reports that 80-90% of all downloaded apps are used once and then eventually deleted by users.

In contrast, responsive mobile sites have the distinct advantage of being able to be updated easily, and therefore provide the most current content every time a user connects.  Fresh content keeps users engaged and continues to provide value, resulting in a greater likelihood that they will continue to return to your site.  Furthermore, unlike an app, which usually requires additional effort on the user’s part to keep information updated, a responsive mobile site is effortless for the user to continue to utilize.

The key to having a first class mobile site is to approach the project with a “mobile-first” philosophy.  Designing mobile-first allows the experience to be tailored to your specific mobile users needs.  From there, as the screen size increases to tablet, laptop, and desktop, site features and functionality can scale up as well.  Not only does this provide the functionality and content that users need and want at the right time, it also delivers a more consistent experience across all devices.

The benefits to a well-designed and developed mobile site extend beyond the user’s experience with the site.  Google favors sites that are mobile responsive, ranking them higher in search results. Additionally, from a financial perspective, it can be more economical to maintain a responsive site, than maintaining both an app and any separate web presence that you maintain.

As with everything, the decision to utilize an app or a responsive mobile site is one that is keyed to your very specific set of business needs and requirements. If you just need a mobile site, chances are good that an app would be an unnecessary expense, as most features can be accomplished by using a mobile site. However, there are definitely situation where an app is the better fit, especially if there is a very specific task that your users need to accomplish.

So I Got This New Camera…

I have bee looking into buying a new camera for the last couple of years and have finally taken the plunge.  Until now my digital camera experience has been limited to mid-level point and shoot and cell phone cameras.  To be fair I have actually gotten pretty good at grabbing some really good shots with a phone cam.  I have also followed a few photographers that are using a mobile phone camera exclusively and some of their work is amazing.  Anyway back to the matter at hand.  After a lengthy internal debate between getting the top of the line or sticking to my budget.  To compound the issue I added a newer technology to the mix (micro four thirds).

I finally decided on the Olympus EP-3.  My reasoning was that this camera met most of the needs I was looking for.  The EP-3 has HD video capabilities.  Previous versions did as well; however they would only record less than 10 minutes.  The micro four thirds format also allows for a much smaller camera.

Below are a few of my favorite shots from my first couple months with the camera.  Please give me some feedback on the photos.

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Your Personal Life Remote

For most of us there are three things we will not leave the house without; your wallet, your keys, and your mobile phone (not necessarily in that order).  Many would rather forget their pants than their cell phone.  This small (yet powerful) device has one of the fastest adoption rates of any other technology in our time.  Has becoming more dependent on our phones changed our current lives?

The cell phone has evolved to become something so much more.  Even its name no longer fits.  The first cell phone call was made in 1973 on a Motorola phone that was a little smaller than a shoebox.  From that point the race was on and the technology has grown leaps and bounds beyond voice calls. We now use our cell “phones” to do much more than calling.  In fact in the United States text messages have surpassed the number of calls made each year (this happened in Europe and Asia years ago).

Beyond voice, the platform has developed text, picture, and video messaging capabilities, then added email and mobile web access.  More recently, experiencing the Internet on a mobile device has become less of a watered down version and more like what we experience on our desk and laptop computers.  The latest news in the mobile industry is of location-based services, apps, and augmented reality just to name a few.

Our phones have worked their way into almost every part of our lives.  We use them as an alarm clock to wake us, as a news service to fill us in on the latest news, traffic, and weather, and a calendar to keep us on schedule.  All of this and we haven’t evenfinished our morning coffee yet.  Your phone can help you find a location using GPS, recommend a place for lunch, and even encourage you to keep that New Years resolution by urging you to choose a salad over the burger.  Then there is the after meal entertainment from the ebook reader, MP3 player, or streaming video options.

We stay in constant contact with our families, friends, and work using applications such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.   While staying connected to work may seem like a problem, it really creates new opportunities.  We now have the ability to virtually office anywhere.  We can now accomplish much of days work on a device smaller than a calculator.  Armed with a laptop and a cell phone we can turn any local coffee shop into our office.

Social networks are also getting into the mobile market.  We can tweet about the great meeting we just had, accept a new friend request, and update our status all while waiting for a latte.  We can pay bills, find movie times, and set your DVR to record your favorite show.  If you’re not going to be home anytime soon and just can’t wait, you can have your Slingbox just send your show to your iPhone or Blackberry.

Mobile devices have also changed the media industry.  Recent data suggests that there is over 24 hours of content uploaded to YouTube every minute.  CNN has begun airing mobile phone reports from what they call “iReporters”.  Blogs have become one of the most frequented activities on the web.  Mobile technology allows us to be able to witness an event, capture it with your mobile device, add your comments, and post it to the internet all live as it’s happening.

Google has been a part of the mobile industry since the early days of text messaging.  Last week Google announced their entrance into the social media arena with their social network called Buzz.  An article from Fast Company (http://bit.ly/bm8Avg), shows off how your mobile device has truly become the remote control to life.  The article discusses a timeline where your mobile device wakes you up, feeds you info and email on the commute to work, helps you collaborate at work, suggests lunch, and recommends a happy hour to you and some of your friends that it sees are in the neighborhood.

So my question to you is this: How does your “Personal Life Remote” enhance/hinder your life?

Brian Evans