Mobile UX Strategy - Web Site or App?

With the wide consumer adoption of smartphones and tablets, digital consulting firms are proposing mobile tactics as part of a larger digital strategy, to their clients, based on an understanding of their clients' business objectives, competitor landscape, and consumer needs. When proposing this strategy, consultants must decide whether it is more beneficial to their client's business, to develop a native, mobile application, or to build a mobile-optimized, web site.

Recent research seems to suggest that, in general, consumers prefer to engage with native mobile applications (due to their responsiveness, and because they are better able to leverage some of the nifty, user-interface capabilities of the mobile device). However, mobile-optimized web sites enable businesses to be accessible on a wider spectrum of form factors and devices.

The question is, since there are clear benefits to both tactics, how should a business decide which mobile tactic would best meet their specific needs?

The following are key considerations to help a business decide upon a mobile direction ( App vs. Mobile Web Site):

1. How well-known is the client's brand? There is a greater likelihood that consumers will seek and download an app from a well-known brand than a lesser-known brand, so, brands with less awareness are more reliant on app store placement, prominence, and promotion, to gain popularity with consumers. Since an app has a limited "promotional" window within an app store showcase, a lesser-known brand should consider entering the mobile space with a mobile-optimized web site. Why? The client probably already has a traditional web site that has gained a certain amount of organic search engine equity over the course of years. Consumers are more likely to look for services that the client offers, via mobile search, than directly searching for the brand, via app download.

2. What are key, mobile use cases, based on anticipated, consumer behavior? Are they "online" or "offline" use cases? One benefit to native applications, depending on their intended functionality, is that they can sometimes be useful in an "offline" situation. Mobile-optimized web sites, on the other hand, are always accessed via "the cloud," restricting their usage to "online" use cases. A key question a business should ask itself, is whether or not the application needs to function when end-users are offline. If so, a native application may be the way to go.

3. What is the "technographic profile" of the consumer base? The technographic profile of an end-user segment, describes the nature of the segment's likely adoption of relevant technology. An important consideration, when developing a mobile strategy targeted to this segment, is, obviously, whether or not the target segment is likely to adopt the application's intended mobile platform. If not, or if adoption will likely be spread across a wide variety of mobile platforms, the mobile strategy may lean in the direction of mobile-optimized web site, versus a platform-specific application.

4. Will the app functionality need to access data or capabilities native to the mobile device? As mentioned earlier, an application may be more useful, or engaging, if it leverages specific features of a smartphone or tablet, which cannot be accessed by a mobile-optimized web site. If this is the case, choosing to develop a native, mobile application, may make it easier for a client to take advantage of the cool features of the application's intended devices.

5. What is the budget for the mobile initiative? Developing a native, mobile application may be costly for clients with a limited budget (depending on the functionality of the application). Additionally, the native application may need to be redesigned, to be optimized for a variety of form factors, which, ultimately, increases costs. If a client only needs a simple, mobile presence, and wants to be accessible on a wide spectrum of mobile platforms, it may be a good idea to recommend a simple, mobile-optimized, web site.

6. How aggressive is the timeline for the initiative? Aggressive timelines may actually prevent a client from developing a native application, distributed via an "app store" like Apple's. Consultants must factor in the "app store approval process," when planning a mobile application's design, development, and deployment, timeline. If the application does not meet the standards of the app store (and Apple has very strict standards), there is a risk that an aggressive timeline may be blown.

7. Will there be an eCommerce, transactional component, to the mobile application? Currently, all purchases of digital media (music, movies, etc.) initiated via native iOS applications, must end up as iTunes transactions. That means that Apple gets a percentage of each sale initiated through a native iOS application. To avoid paying the fee, a business with redundant digital media products to those found on iTunes, should consider developing a mobile-optimized web site, as a consumer-facing storefront.

In short, the decision to build a native app, or develop a mobile-optimized web site, requires careful consideration. Consultants need to thoroughly examine a client's brand, business, and likely end-user behavior, before making this decision. Making the wrong decision could be costly, miss a window of opportunity, or result in an application that goes largely unnoticed by it's intended audience. As always, planning, through careful investigation of business objectives, as well as likely, end-user behavior, can prevent a failed mobile strategy.