7. Bad example #1 of websites that don’t work well on mobile/tablet devices Web Mobile
8. Bad example #2 of websites that don’t work well on mobile/tablet devices
9. Good example #1 of websites that do work well on mobile/tablet devices
10. Good example #1 of websites that do work well on mobile/tablet devices
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Editor's Notes
We live in a world of constant change. With in the last few years technology has change more than just about any other sector. If you do not own a smart phone or some kind of a tablet you are left behind. As we can see by the chart there are just as many smartphones as there are desktops if not more. This means that if Collins Catering is going to stay ahead of their competition they are going to have to cater to those potential customers that use smart phones and tablets. They way companies market has changed and Collins Catering has to adapt in order to be the best in the business. BY using all of these different avenues Collins Catering will become the best in South Florida and further.
To understand the strength of the tablet market, it’s important to see how consumers rank their desire for various mobile and computer devices. Interestingly, an iPad is just behind a non-Apple smartphone and ahead of an iPhone. (The Nielsen Company via eMarketer) This chart shows us how important it is to understand potential customers buying habits and how they will potential be looking for Collins Catering website. The iPad is one of the most desired electronics just behind a non-iPhone smartphone and just ahead of an iPhone. In order to drive the most traffic possible mobile and tablet marketing is a most!
In almost every case websites have been designed way before a mobile application is even thought about. It is time we changed this approach and design mobile first. Designing for mobile first can open up new opportunities for growth and lead to a better overall user experience. The three reasons why mobile is so important: mobile is seeing explosive growth; mobile forces you to focus; and mobile extends your capabilities. As we have discussed mobile is growing at an astounding rate. According to Morgan Stanley Research’s Mobile Internet report by 2012 smartphones are expected to out ship the global PC. There are currently 100 million active users accessing Facebook through their mobile devices. These users are twice as active on Facebook as non-mobile users. The fact that design on mobile platforms can have its constraints it is more of a positive than a negative. It means that design has to be more forced and there for give there users a better experience. If we look at the picture here we can see that Southwest mobile application and its website are completely different. But it seems that the mobile app is more concise. When developing a mobile application there are many factors; connection speed, a smaller screen and context of use.
With the change in website develop it is important to understand how sites are being designed. To make sites accessible on all device: mobile, tablet and desktops developers are using HTML5 and CSS to design their sites. There are also content management systems that allow easy access to changing of the site. After the site has been design content can be changed and added very easily. After using HTML, CSS or CMS to develop a website across different devices the site can be checked on every different browser and also ran through an emulator for every different mobile device to make sure that your site is accessible and every platform.
Researching your audience is a most. By using tools such as Google’s mobile analytics tools we will be able to determine how many customers are currently accessing Collins Catering website. We can track if they are new or returning visitors, how they entered the site and if they browsed the site. All of this information is very important for marketing to those using mobile devices and tablets. We have to first understand our customer and how they are going to end up on our site.
Here is an example of a website that has put a lot into there main website. They have added multiple graphics and design to the website. However, when it comes to the mobile application they haven’t put as much time in to the design. For course there are limitation on a mobile device but there is still room for improvement on the mobile application. It is clear that Dell has designed their website first and then designed their mobile application. This exactly why we need to first create the mobile application and then the website.
You can clearly tell with the first picture that Yahoo had a lot of work to do to make their mobile site more user friendly. Here are a few other examples of an of websites that do not work well. When designing for a mobile device having to scroll is not something you want your customers to do. I well show you a few sites that have figured this out and have done a great job on both their websites and their mobile applications.
Here is a great example of a company that has figure out how to design their sites. Yelp is a company that show you where just about anything is, most people use it for restaurants and entrainment. Most of use when looking for this information is going to be when we are away from a computer. They have cleared designed their mobile application first and then their website. They are both easy to use and well designed.
As I showed a bit earlier Southwest sites have to be some of the best. They have a website that is easy to navigate and with more advertising and images because they will download quicker. Their mobile application is perfect because those using it are looking for a flight quickly and/or want to check their reservation. There is no reason to make it anymore complicated than that! In conclusion user experience is so important. We have to design mobile/tablet application for those on the go that are looking for a quick answer. A website can be more in depth and have more information but if we are going to succeed we have to understand the difference.