Mobile computing as we know it today is just one application of wireless technology, and a fairly limited one at that. The iPhone - perhaps the most advanced piece of consumer electronics ever created - is going to look like a fax machine compared to what's coming. Mobile is a warning shot - the coming wireless wave will profoundly change every aspect of society and potentially redefine what it means to be human. Please join mobile consultant Jonathan Stark for a look at the past, present, and future - and what we can do to prepare for the revolution.
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The Revolution Will Not Be Televised: Managing Content and Experience in the Age of Ubiquitous Computing
1. T H E R E V O L U T I O N
W I L L N O T B E T E L E V I S E D
J O N A T H A N S TA R K
2 0 0 7
On Jan 9, 2007, Steve Jobs introduced the world to the iPhone.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GE1pd3HktwA
2. 2 0 1 5
By 2015, smartphones had surpassed desktop-class devices in several important ways:
• Number of devices in use
• Time spent on device
• Volume of internet traffic
• Percentage of email opens
• Facebook usage
• Google searches
In less than a decade, the smartphone had become the primary computing platform on
Earth.
2 0 2 0
By 2020, it is projected that the number of smartphones in use will double to 4B, while
desktops remain around 1.5B
This means that 80% of adults worldwide will have a connected supercomputer in their
pocket.
Whether you're terrified or exhilarated by this depends on how well prepared you are to deal
with it.
3. In this talk, I'm going to try to impress upon you the importance of embracing mobile, and
then I'll provide three straight-forward tactics that you can employ to help with the transition.
B I G G E S T T E C H E V E R
M O B I L E I S
Mobile Is The Most Adopted Technology Ever
– T O M I A H O N E N , C O M M U N I T I E S D O M I N AT E B R A N D S
“No tech ever, has even come close. Not television
sets, not Playstations, not PCs, not Walkmans, not
radios, not cars, not motorcycles, not even bicycles;
not credit cards, not even bank accounts; not the
reach of electricity or landline telephones or even
running water; not wristwatches, not toothbrushes,
not even pens and pencils have been as widely
used as mobile is today.”
"This is unprecedented in the human history of technology. No tech ever, has even come
close. Not television sets, not Playstations, not PCs, not Walkmans, not radios, not cars, not
motorcycles, not even bicycles; not credit cards, not even bank accounts; not the reach of
electricity or landline telephones or even running water; not wristwatches, not toothbrushes,
not even pens and pencils, have been as widely used as mobile is today."
-- Tomi Ahonen, Communities Dominate Brands in 2012
4. There are now more active mobile phone connections on the planet than there are human
beings alive, counting literally everyone from babies to great grandparents. This makes
mobile the most wide reaching technology of all time, and by a wide margin.
5. New sensors create new business opportunities. For example, Uber. Smartphones make
Uber possible. Mobile is the heart and soul of Uber. Not surprisingly, Uber "gets" mobile and
wisely, is using the whole phone:
• GPS
• Mobile payments
• Text messaging
• Voice calling
• Email marketing
• Mobile web
6. ( 4 0 1 ) 2 3 4 - 1 6 7 1
C H E C K P O I N T
• Whatever you did before
mobile doesn't matter
• You need to embrace the
entire mobile experience
• It's never been more
important to innovate
Checkpoint:
• Whatever you did before mobile doesn't matter (being an incumbent is a liability)
• You need to embrace the entire mobile experience (go beyond apps and use the whole
phone)
• It's never been more important to innovate (you're running out of time)
D I S R U P T I N G E V E RY T H I N G
M O B I L E I S
The convergence of ubiquitous connectivity, cloud computing, and affordable smartphones
is disrupting every aspect of society. Now that most everybody has a connected
supercomputer in their pocket, companies and in some cases entire industries are being
reinvented, invalidated, or carved into pieces by upstarts. NO ONE IS SAFE FROM THIS!
7. ENTERTAINMENT
Started with iTunes, YouTube, and ustream, now Amazon, Pandora, and social media in
general.
COMMERCE
e-commerce, show-rooming, mobile payments
eBay mobile sales in 2011: $5B
eBay mobile sales in 2012: $13B
eBay mobile sales in 2013: $22B
eBay mobile sales in 2014: $45B
http://www.pymnts.com/in-depth/2015/the-mobile-e-commerce-share-shift/#.VPXxYxbF8l4
POLITICS
2012 US Presidential campaign, Occupy Wall Street, Ferguson Riots
12. State Employees' Credit Union
(181 links on the home page)
Pentagon Federal Credit Union
(140 links on the home page)
The sites of the top 3 credit unions in the US are virtually unusable on mobile.
13. – 1 1 , 0 5 6 I O S U S E R S
“★★★★★”
Let's take a look at Square Cash - a mobile peer-to-peer payment experience that was rated
5 stars on iOS by over 11,056 users (as of Feb 2016)
Square Cash
(16 links on the home page)
Onboarding screen 1 of 4
15. Payment screen 1 of 4
Payment screen 1 of 4
Payment screen 2 of 4
16. Payment screen 2 of 4
Payment screen 2.5 of 4
Payment screen 3 of 4
17. Payment screen 4 of 4
F O R C I N G R E T H I N K
M O B I L E I S
What are pre-2007 companies to do? You can't just rebuild mission critical systems from
scratch. The only feasible approach is to define a future architecture and make incremental
changes that build toward it. The "future architecture" of which I speak will be different for
every organization, but there are three characteristics that all will share: Smart Content, Self-
Service APIs, Small Apps
1. Smart Content
Device and platform fragmentation have made it impossible to know what situations your
content will end up it. Some environments will support video, some won't. Some will render
HTML and/or CSS. I'm willing to bet the next batch of smart devices will be screen-less and
accessed solely via a Siri-like interaction. With this level of uncertainty, you need to equip
your content to stand on its own in any context.
18. S M A R T C O N T E N T
• Contains metadata that
describes what the data is about
and allows for adaptability
• Free of display-related
instructions
• Structured based on a natural
atomic unit rather than context-
specific containers
1. Smart Content
* Contains metadata that describes what the data is about and allows for adaptability
* Is free of display-related instructions (e.g., RTF, CSS, HTML)
* Is structured based on a natural atomic unit (e.g., story, post, tweet, et al) rather than
context-specific containers (e.g., pages, screens, windows)
2. Self-Service APIs
Your content and services should be made available via web-based self-service APIs.
Access to these APIs may be limited to certain parties but should be open in the sense that
various groups (e.g., other departments in your organization, registered 3rd-party
developers, or the general public) should be able to access them without ongoing assistance
from the publisher.
The beauty of a self-service API is that the possibilities are endless. There's no telling what
your customers, employees, and partners will come up with. You could never in a million
years build all the apps your constituents desire. Instead, give them the tools to do it
themselves and they'll be happy to create their own experience.
S E L F - S E R V I C E
A P I S
• Break down data silos
between departments
• Front-end teams can work
without endless meetings
• 3rd-party integrations open
up limitless possibilities
2. Self-Service APIs
* Break down data silos between departments
* Front-end teams can work without endless meetings
* 3rd-party integrations open up limitless possibilities
19. 3. Small Apps
Smart content and self-service APIs are backend constructs. When it comes time to build a
front end, you want to start (and probably stay) small. Design an MVP experience for the
most restrictive environment that your audience cares about. Mobile does not reward feature
richness.
Today, this means creating laser focused apps for smartphones.
Tomorrow, starting it might mean watches...
20. Or TVs... Or car dashboards... Or conversational computing interfaces like Amazon Echo
that don't even have a screen.
S M A L L A P P S
• Design for most restrictive
environment first
• Forces hard decisions to the
front of the process
• Scaling up is much easier
than scaling down
Small Apps
• Design for most restrictive environment first
• Forces hard decisions to the front of the process
• Scaling up is much easier than scaling down
K E Y TA K E AWAY S
21. Following these three principles will keep you super flexible, which is critical given the
increasing rate of change.
* Smart Content
* Self-service APIs
* Small Apps
If you only remember one thing from this talk, it should be this:
You must completely embrace mobile as soon as possible.
You won't be mobile-first tomorrow, or maybe not even in 3 years; but if you should get the
wheels in motion, start laying the ground work, and slowly but surely change the culture of
your organization.
– D O U G L A S M A C A RT H U R
“There is no security on this earth,
there is only opportunity.”
This may sound daunting, but it's a huge opportunity.
22. Thank you so much for your attention. If we have time, I'd love to take some questions...
