Convincing Your Boss to Go Mobile Now

A lot of organizations recognize the need to provide their Web visitors with a better mobile experience, but struggle with how to get there. What do you do when the decision to invest in mobile is in somebody else's hands? Trying to get all vested stakeholders onboard can be an overwhelming challenge. How do you factor in the needs of your content authors? How do you address the disparity of devices that exist? What's going to be the most sensible long-term or short-term investment of development resources? If you want to get your project off the ground, you're going to need a plan. This talk is about how to build a solid case for mobile. We'll examine it from a few angles:

What does the explosive growth of mobile means for most businesses?
How do you choose implementation tactics that align with a future-friendly strategy?
How do you respond to common objections, and use sketching and prototyping to sell your plan?
Arm yourself with some useful data, actionable techniques, and mobile web best practices that will help you convince your clients, your boss, or others in your organization, to go mobile now!

Transcript

1. Convincing Your Boss to GO MOBILE NOW Dennis Kardys @dkardys
2. Mobile is a REAL struggle. Less than 10% of sites are mobile ready! source: Stat Counter, http://gs.statcounter.com/#mobile_vs_desktop-US-yearly-2011-2012-bar
3. source images: WTF Mobile Web, http://wtfmobileweb.com crawlable ≠ usable
4. I WANT A HOTDOG RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW! Modified from a Mo Willems Illustration from “The Pigeon Wants a Puppy” http://amzn.to/1LGW0N (buy his books they are the best.)
5. Right here, RIGHT NOW interactions! Beyond Usable Modified from a Mo Willems Illustration from “The Pigeon Finds a Hotdog” http://amzn.to/11rYuqF (buy his books they are the best.)
6. Better experiences can drive business. 74% of people say they're more likely to return to a mobile friendly site in the future... source: Think With Google, “What Users Want From Mobile Today” - http://bit.ly/Qivs98
7. 67% more likely to buy a business’ product or service +67% source: Google, “What Users Want From Mobile Today” - http://bit.ly/Qivs98
8. you want to make something amazing! source: http://www.omgif.net/hypnotic/its-magic/
9. but something BIG & HEFTY is in the way Source: http://veevr.com/videos/T5JDnx0pf Madagascar 2
10. (Highest paid person’s opinion)
11. ...the people farthest from understanding the technology are often the ones making the strategic decisions. —Dan Willis
12. WE NEED AN APP! our mobile site sucks, so...
13. MAKE EVERY LINK AN
14. JUST MAKE IT RESPONSIVE! Optimize what we have
15. those with the best understanding of the technology should be the ones driving the strategy!
16. Building Your Case for Mobile
17. “The purpose of the pitch isn’t necessarily to move others to adopt your idea, it’s to offer something so compelling it begins a conversation” -daniel pink
18. Why go mobile now? How do you get there? What’s your pitch? 3 2 1
19. WHY NOW? 1
20. The landscape is expanding and blurring ~ WHY NOW~
21. ( ) 219 million smartphones shipped last quarter of 2012 ~ WHY NOW~ source: NBC News, http://nbcnews.to/XGd619 +44% SINCE 2011
22. 865 MILLION ~ Predicted this year ~ source: NBC News, http://nbcnews.to/XGd619 smartphones will ship
23. Anytime / Anywhere Connectivity ~ THE EXPECTATION BECOMES ~ image credit, car: Okan Benn for the Noun Project. http://thenounproject.com/noun/car/#icon-No1335
24. Doesn’t conform to convenient stereotypes ~ USER BEHAVIOR ~
25. GETTING THERE 2
26. Think seamless, multiscreen, ergonomic. ~ SET PRINCIPLES ~
27. 65% 60% 4% source: Think With Google, “The New Multi Screen World” - http://bit.ly/Qivs98 multiscreen behavior most online activities begin on mobile, then continue on other devices
28. Empower your content authors CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT ? ? ~ SET PRINCIPLES ~
29. Centralize Content CONTENT ? ? ~ SET PRINCIPLES ~
30. C.O.P.E ? ? By centralizing content, NPR's total page view growth increased over 80%. source: “NPR’s API, Create Once Publish Everywhere”, http://bit.ly/Y8flKL
31. Build flexible, modular systems. ~ HOW TO GET THERE ~ (CC BY-SA) http://www.flickr.com/photos/bdesham/2432400623/
32. Responsive Design GOOGLE BEST PRACTICE! Serve content and code from a single source source: “Google,” http://bit.ly/LsHxa1
34. Stay on target. Seamless, consistent experience, Access to similar tasks and content, Single content source. ~ HOW TO GET THERE ~
35. sounds great, but... source: https://www.facebook.com/mrpeanut
36. ...we’ll have to tack mobile on to phase II.
37. source: http://www.mobilemarketer.com/cms/news/media/12372.html Mobile is not an add-on feature! retrofitting can be costly & ineffective
38. http://www.lukew.com/ff/entry.asp?1691 We just aren’t seeing enough traffic...
39. source: http://www.mobilemarketer.com/cms/news/media/12372.html +50% Hearst’s Harper’s Bazaar revamped mobile site MOBILE TRAFFIC (in one month)
40. Getting Buy In 3
41. Explain the bottom line Reduce long-term cost while expanding reach and preparing for the future! ~ Getting Buy In ~
42. Demo Your Ideas Showing can be more effective than telling. ~ Getting Buy In ~
43. Experiential prototypes Storyboards & Comics Bodystorming http://www.sketchingtomorrow.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/cardboard.jpg
44. Tactical prototypes Sketches Paper Prototypes In-Device Prototypes Tactical prototypes can be the gateway to user research budgets.
45. Start Small Getting Buy In Get some quick wins by targeting microsites or campaign sites
46. Involved everyone: Participatory Design (doing can be better than showing) ~ Getting Buy In ~
48. consider the alternative... 10 source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/photohome_uk/1494590639/
49. 55% of adult cell owners use the internet on their mobile phones; doubled from 2009 17% of all adult cell owners are “cell- mostly internet users” source: Google, “What Users Want From Mobile Today” - http://bit.ly/Qivs98
50. 30% of people used their phone to decide whether to visit a business in the past 30 days. 46% of people won’t return to a website they had trouble accessing on a phone, 57% won’t recommend it . source: Google, “What Users Want From Mobile Today” - http://bit.ly/Qivs98
51. 77% of cell internet users are dissatisfied with the time it takes for sites to load.* 61% said that they’d quickly move onto another site if they didn’t find what they’re looking for right away. source: Google, “What Users Want From Mobile Today” - http://bit.ly/Qivs98
52. Make them look good. Give a reason why, arm them with data, pave the path. ~ HOW TO MOVE HIPPOS ~
53. set yourself up to make something amazing! source: http://www.omgif.net/hypnotic/its-magic/
54. THANKS! Dennis Kardys robotregime.com wsol.com @dkardys