"Just-in-Time" Mobile Apps

With mobile application design and development, "timing is everything."

That's because smartphone users are fickle when it comes to downloading applications. There is a low-barrier to acquiring content, because apps are cheap and quick to download. Unlike desktop software, mobile applications fill end-user desires, cravings, and short-term needs. Mobile apps do not always suit the longer-term needs of end-users. For example, on the days leading up to Hurricane Irene, I scoured Apple's App Store, looking for the best Hurricane Tracker. After the storm, having found an app to suit my short-term needs, I, just as quickly, deleted the application from my iPhone.

My behavior does not appear to be anomalous, judging from a recent study of Mobile App users, conducted by a Massachusetts-based application analytics firm, Localytics.

With thousands of Android, iPhone, iPad, BlackBerry and Windows Phone 7 apps analyzed, the study found that users do tend to try out new apps, but 26% use the app only once!

This study seems to underscore a need for mobile application developers to think about the timing of their mobile application deployment, as well as the customer "needs" their application is intended to fill. As always, it is recommended that app developers conduct primary research with their end-users, to gain a deep understanding of their likely behavior and engagement with the app. Research for mobile development should include customer investigation around the types of events, motivations, and triggers for mobile application usage.

Another opportunity for mobile application developers seems to be the targeting an application for specific, time-based, events, such as:

1. Holidays
2. Conferences
3. Theatrical Releases
4. Political Events
5. Sporting Events

Thus, app developers may consider capitalizing on a major event, with the understanding that the application is likely to be used once, and then removed.

Goal-Oriented Design: a Primer

Design is purposeful, and, by definition, aims to achieve goals. Good Design, therefore, begins with a careful examination of the specific goals it aims to achieve. Because Design is engineered to achieve goals, there is a process to follow, which includes the observation and analysis of potential end-user engagement, with the Design.

There is unprecedented potential for user engagement and interactivity with contemporary, digital applications. Engagement is multi-channel, complex, and social. Therefore, it is more important than ever for Designers to conduct contextual research with end-users, and analyze their behavior across a wide spectrum of devices.

Step 1 - Identify End-User Goals, in addition to Business Objectives, for the Design

Design, for business applications, aims to achieve two sets of goals:

1.      First and foremost, Design aims to achieve measureable, business objectives.

2.      Innovative businesses also understand that Design needs to meet end-user goals

Step 2 – Hire a “Design Research Specialist”
It takes a special type of Designer to properly identify and document end-user objectives. She must begin the process as a detective, systematically observing and analyzing relevant user behaviors to the business. Luckily, this specialist (an Information Architect, perhaps), has a Design research methodology at her disposal. Following a “User Centered Design” process, she conducts her investigation, and sifts through a mountain of behavioral data to plan a Design that can achieve its intended objectives.

Step 3 – Perform the Right Research: “Contextual, Behavioral Research”
Only a specialist is able to recognize the influence that an environment has on user behavior. She understands that a special type of user research is required, to collect information about environmental factors on behavior. Contextual, ethnographic research is the ideal method of observing natural user behavior, versus lab-based research, which may be less accurate due to environmental bias. This type of research, called “Contextual Inquiry,” captures relevant behaviors, where the interaction is most likely to occur (e.g. - an office, a home, or a shopping mall).

Step 4 – Understand how to Properly Analyze Research Data – Information Architecture
Contextual Inquiry findings are qualitative in nature, so the richness of the finding is more important than the amount of data that the research study produces. The reason that the quantity of data is not important in qualitative research is due to the fact that behavioral trends emerge quickly. That being said, Contextual Inquiry can still generate a large quantity of rich data, which require a specialist to interpret. As behavioral trends emerge, so do different “types of users.” Information Architects illustrate key behavioral differences, as uncovered in the research, in the form of behavioral personas. Behavioral personas highlight different sets of primary tasks that are important to each “type of user.” Aggregating key tasks, in the form of personas, help designers make sure that their Design accommodates the needs of each primary type of user.

Information Architects go a step further in their qualitative analysis, by extracting the key tasks from each persona to form end-user “mental models.” Mental models are a grouping of each user segment’s tasks, into task categories and sub-tasks. The goal of the mental model is to identify and prioritize all key user tasks for each segment. Once completed, the Information Architect can generate ideas for content to satisfy each user task identified in the mental model. This process makes it easy for an Information Architect to define the high-level information architecture of a digital application.

Step 5 – Synthesize Research Data into Design – Interaction Design/UI
Once an overarching, information architecture is established, an Information Architect proceeds to define the screen-level user interface, and interaction model, for the application. Often, screen-level design begins with a simple, series of questions that the Information Architect asks herself. “What is the most important element on this screen?” Then, “what is the second most important element on this screen.” It is a process of task prioritization that drives the layout of each screen. Behavioral research also provides valuable insights about the level of sophistication with the interfaces that each user type encounters on a daily basis. Observing this behavior helps Information Architects understand the “Technographic Profile,” or level of proficiency with technology, of each user segment. They then use this knowledge as a filter for the level of sophistication of the user interface elements they propose.

Design Tip: Collaboration is the Key to Great Design
A good user centered design process should strive to include participation from different Design disciplines. I recommend having a visual designer accompany an Information Architect on research studies to observe, 1st-hand, likely, end-user behavior. Observation gives Designers greater Empathy for the application’s end-users.

Re-evalua

Great Thinking is Never "Out-of-Scope"

"Out-of-scope" is a phrase that Creative professionals are used to hearing from budget-conscious Project Managers and Account Managers who, to their credit, are trying to ensure a profitable account for a consulting business. While it may be true that the cost and effort to implement a great idea may be "out-of-scope," based on a given project budget or statement of work, great ideas are NEVER out of scope, and should be generated constantly for clients. When Creative professionals are regularly told that "thinking," "brainstorming ideas," and "innovating," are "out-of-scope," they will limit their thinking to following "client requirements." However, that's not, in most cases, why a client hires a consulting agency. If they just needed a firm to execute on requirements, chances are they would hire a team of freelancers or use internal resources to do production work around a given set of requirements.

But, that's not what happened.

The client hired you to think about their problems, customers, and business. The client wants you to help them identify a strategic roadmap for deploying tactics that will evolve their business. If you come up with killer ideas, the Project Manager and Account Manager need to help the client figure out how to execute them, within timeline and budgetary parameters. And, if it can't be done, within the initial timeline and budget, it's your job, as a great consultant, to document your recommendations, so that these ideas can be put on a roadmap for the future.

...oh, and bill it to "business development (non-billable)."

Thrill your client. Give them great thinking. Be a great consultant and you will be rewarded with new projects.

Reinventing Registration Forms

Perhaps the biggest challenge for a website designer, from a brand and user experience perspective, is the design of the website's registration form flow. When designing an experience around registration, User experience designers generally focus on the creation of usable forms, best practices, and optimizing the process. The end result, however, is always a form. Whether it is a single page form, or multi-page form, registration always results in a form. All in all, it seems that registration never benefits from the due diligence of understanding a brand, content strategy, or likely user behavior...which is odd, given that the registration process poses the biggest threat to the perception of a client's brand, if the process results in a poor user experience.

Marketers and keepers of the brand also have high expectations from consumers, when they ask them to register. They tend to add "optional" marketing fields, hoping that the consumer will freely offer up their personal information. The problem is, on a registration form, there is usually no apparent benefit to giving the brand additional, optional, personal information.

It's time to rethink the registration form.

Designers should begin with an in-depth understanding of their client's brand, tone, and voice. The end goal, is to convince the consumer that there is a worthwhile reward for offering up the information that is being solicited. Asking the consumer for personal information, and then illustrating the benefits of doing so, requires a two-way dialogue.

As designers, we should ask ourselves, is a "form" the best vehicle to have a conversation with the consumer?

Perhaps, we need to understand and map out the dialogue that the brand would like to have with the consumer, if the brand was an actual person, engaged in a conversation. Maybe it would go something like this:

"Hello. We are psyched that you are here, and think you are going to enjoy your experience. Let's get to know each other!"

"What's your name? _______________"

"Thanks, {username}!

Did you know that, if you connect us with your Facebook profile, we'll be able to provide you with instant recommendations for products and services? We promise that your personal information and profile will be safe, and not given to a third-party.

"Would you like to sign-in to Facebook, now? _______________"

(if they do connect with Facebook quickly reveal how many recommendations are being generated)

Etc.

The point is, as Usability Engineers, we tend to focus on how quickly end-users complete the registration process, instead of how effective the experience is at encouraging consumers to have a deeper level of engagement with the brand. In theory, creating a meaningful dialogue, highlighting consumer benefits, and designing an engaging experience, should result in deeper brand connections, versus a quick, optimized form.

Best Practices Are Killing You

Not too long ago, digital media was a palette for pioneers to express new concepts, for reasons that were both personal and professional. At that time, however, the limitations on expression were severe. Bandwidth was low. Screens were smaller. Access was tethered. The buzz came from the ability to produce a valuable concept, and share it, instantly, with the world.

The early days of digital expression required individuals to focus on their ideas, because the sizzle was costly. But, it didn't matter. The idea was what was important. We got Google, eBay, and Amazon. Those days produced iconic, digital brands that defined specific types of user experiences. As soon as these useful experiences gained traction in the digital marketplace, consumers got accustomed to "design patterns," which usability professionals named, "best practices."

Suddenly, there were rules that governed the user experience design of specific types of digital experiences (Search. Browse. Buy.) These rules allowed other, "me too" brands, to quickly design and deploy digital storefronts and experiences for consumers to easily perform intended tasks, and, just as quickly, leave. Consumers became "users," reduced to their personified behaviors, and focused on specific tasks. Brands became largely irrelevant, because their platforms, engineered from "best practices," rendered them invisible to "mindless users" who came to complete tasks, and only remembered that Google got them to where they needed to be.

The rules of the universe have now changed.

Every conceivable service is available through every conceivable digital channel. Bandwidth is high. Screens are huge. Everything is connected to the cloud. Experiences are multi-channel. Possibilities are endless.

In this new world, if you are a brand that offers a commodity product or service, and you are content to apply "best practices" to provide these services to consumers, prepare to be squashed!

Ask yourself, "why is Apple the most important brand in the universe?" Because the brand stands for something. It is synonymous with innovation, and the creation of memorable, engaging, user experiences, with the launch of each new product and service.

So, why are user experience designers content to apply "best practices" to client experiences? Because it is easy to do so. Applying design patterns to an experience requires no brand or customer investigation. It reduces Experience Design to thoughtless Design production. Worse, this practice is envangelized by notable, self-proclaimed, Usability experts.

If your brand is well-known for the products and services it offers to consumers, to the extent that it is top-of-mind to consumers within a specific category, then it may be ok to apply "best practices" to your digital user experience. However, don't rely on best practices for too long, as you can rest assured that another brand is thinking about how to reinvent and differentiate the same digital products and services that you offer to consumers.