This is a topic that has been popularly discussed over the past 10 years. A lot of companies were even overly optimistic about how this was going to play out. Coming from Scandinavia, the mobile internet was expected to be a reality already 10-12 years ago. Unfortunately, there was a significant gap between technology and user experience, at that point in time. WAP, Bluetooth, 3G and many other acronyms that we managed to learn over the years are still the backbone of our mobile internet today. However, it was only when the iPhone reached the market in January 2007, that us average users fully understood the possibilities of the technology.
In the late 1990s, there was a rush to have a presence on the Internet. Every respectable company needed to have a website. Many times there was a lack of understanding of the Internet as a media, and a lack of strategy for how the website was going to benefit the overall business. Over the years, most companies have developed a more sophisticated approach to their Internet strategy.
The mobile web has been going through a similar process of fumbling attempts, over the past few years. With the iPhone, Apple created the need for all companies to have their own “App”. We have seen many good and bad attempts to engage and entertain consumers, and yet, very few companies still fully embrace the new opportunities that these advanced mobile devices bring. (I hesitate to use the terminology “smart phones”, because these devices are neither “smart” nor “phones”, but “advanced, mobile devices” that are becoming an integral part of our lives).
Luke Wroblewski published an article on “Mobile First” in November 2009, and has since then revisited the topic a few times on his blog. Around the same time, the first seeds of what is now Envizio Labs was created, with a very similar mindset.
We are going through a transformation towards mobile, that is very different from how it was originally envisioned. Major players in the mobile phone industry have been talking the talk and investing heavily in technology, and yet, missed the core component—the end user experience—both in terms of creating meaningful and usable content.
In the past year, we have seen several interesting statements by Google, Adobe and Facebook, underlining that they are now changing their strategy to Mobile first—In other words, that mobile will no longer be a secondary component to their web service, but rather that the mobile service will be the core starting point for future strategy. This is quite a significant change of mindset.
In future articles, I will revisit the reasons why it makes sense to start with Mobile first from a design thinking point of view, but more importantly, what consequences does this have for businesses and their future technology investments.
Mobile introduces a visionary component beyond the desktop web experience. How you use mobile technology to engage with customers as well as empower your employees will have a fundamental impact as a core competitive advantage. While the web has offered a great variety dynamic tools and very powerful media space, the mobile experience is more intimate and personal. Our apps are becoming the new way we access bookmarks. Also, evidence shows that 80% of mobile usage is spread out during miscellaneous times of the day and in multiple locations. Developing an understanding of context as well as an in depth understanding of your users needs and desires will be key to successful mobile strategy.
