Mobile Adoption — The Importance of UX on Mobile Design Today
A growing number of consumers are using smartphones as their primary means of online access today. The digital model that used to take the desktop as the center stage from search engine to social media, video, is now taken over by the mobile platform.
How many people do you see on the streets today who do not own a mobile phone?
Today, mobile adoption is maturing exponentially. Industries see the need to adopt mobile as one of the main channels to showcase their brand, as the technology matures.
With mobile, the possibilities are endless. From taxi service aggregators to food delivery, urban planning and medical assistance, data is collected to analyse, monitor, and deliver services to the consumer. Companies could potentially manage their mobile experience, ensure customer privacy and offer quick, valuable information exchange.
According to Adobe’s 2017 worldwide survey on Mobile Maturity, around 79 percent of the marketing decision-makers rank mobile apps as extremely important, and 88 percent feel the same about mobile websites.
To gain more insights about the importance of UX (User Experience) on mobile adoptability, we met up with Mr. Michiel Bruggeman, UX consultant at Mirium Agency.
The Era of Mobile Adoption
A growing number of consumers are using smartphones as their primary means of online access today. The digital model that used to take the desktop as the centre stage from search engine to social media, video, is now taken over by the mobile platform.
Companies are now looking at agencies to build designs catered to the customer. This is unlike years ago where companies would adopt designs to represent more towards their business and brand. With a view to gain momentum to today’s demand, businesses look at mobile as the driving force for their campaigns to reach out to the customers. They have even included smarter searches and convenient checkout options.
The use of analytics to understand the consumer has become imperative in the mobile platform design.
Mr. Bruggeman pointed out that the current experience wave drives the importance of a customer centric approach into design thinking. The approach could potentially generate higher revenues for companies. Analytics-driven design thinking is key when analysing customer behavioural patterns and implementing the information into the design. It is used to generate design-dedicated user experience more on a personalised basis rather than for the consensus.
Mobile first or Mobile only?
While the mobile has become a key platform to deliver great customer experience, there is no definite answer on the type of mobile-built one should adopt. Organisations often seem confused on whether experiences should be designed with a mobile-first approach or as a mobile app.
Mr. Bruggeman termed this as “mobile confusion” by rationalising that with the changes in technology, the generation of users have also changed. Millennials are the largest users of technology today and are influenced by apps like Uber and PayPal that have revolutionised how services are utilised today.
In the finance industry, for example, banks are making huge investments on digital transformation. Whether customers are ready for the change and to adopt mobile for transactions, remains a question. As process are made for a shorter and smoother experience, things like security are to be debated. Security is a major concern for many which is why people might be feel a little sceptical when it comes big transactions on the mobile. That is why some may still move back to the traditional desktop page. The transformation to “Mobile only” though inevitable, has a long way to go and a lot must be taken into consideration for it to be successful in the end.
As per a 2017 IBM Study — “The Experience Revolution: Digital Disappointment — Why Some Consumers Aren’t Fans”, it is not just important to recognise the generational differences amongst consumers, but at the same time, one should not stereotype individuals simply based on their age. Having a detailed and multidimensional understanding of customers is essential. By applying advanced analytics to decipher both structured and unstructured customer data from a variety of sources, companies can build detailed customer profiles that will help determine the right mobile UX initiatives to invest in and the best approach for customer adoption.
Mobile Adoptability — Long Way to Go
One cannot expect people to change overnight. Since technology is not robust, people need to understand that there will be problems like technical glitches, among others. The reason Uber is popular because it is able meet the user’s expectation, ensuring service is fulfilled.
When it comes to design and experiences, some of the best industry practices would be to first define one’s business strategy by identifying the target market. Next is to conclude the relevant content for various mobile and desktop platforms. Visual perception is an important aspect of the user experience when it comes to designing. Application flexibility is key and it can be enhanced further by following the mobile navigation best practices.
At the end of the day, regardless of whether it is mobile first or mobile only, the brand should always focus on its customer and not just the technology. With that thought in mind, that should eventually lead the company to the path of success!
Special thanks to Michiel Bruggeman for his comments
Michiel is an award-winning User Experience Designer. With more than 7 years working experience, he has been working on the biggest digital transformation projects. Before joining the Singapore market, he worked in the USA and Europe. Michiel created solutions for Microsoft, Sennheiser, Disney Interactive, Blizzard, Skoda and French Government.
Written by Shivaji Sinha and Tanya Ali (Students, MGB Jan 2017 Batch)
Edited by Dr Nicolas Hamelin (Associate Professor) & Gladys Lee (PR, SP Jain School of Global Management)
This article was first published on medium.com
