How to develop a mobile strategy
Jonathan Grubb, Co-Founder and Design Director at RubyRed Labs, put together eight steps to develop a mobile strategy.
- Figure out how your product would be more useful if it wasn’t computer-based.
- Figure out where the web/computer aspect of your service fails.
- Figure out what aspect of the mobile device makes that feature better.
- Design your mobile product around this small set of features.
- Use the oldest technology possible to accomplish the task.
- Work on as many phones as possible.
- Back it up with a stripped down version of your desktop site.
- Or just let others do it for you.
This is a really good list, but I am most interested in item 5, Use the oldest technology possible.
In 2000 a Web design firm invited me to speak at their conference on mobility in New York. It was a great experience for me early in my career, but the most memorable moment came during the Q&A when I realized how out of hand the questions were getting. Mobile commerce strategies were being tossed around as if everyone was ready to make purchases on their phones. This was 2000 when we were still in the bubble and the wireless hype machine was in full swing. Most people weren't even browsing news or sending text messages at this time. Blackberrys were new devices. Wireless Palms used radio frequencies to access the Internet.
We had all become too close to mobility and had forgotten about the rest of the country. San Francisco and New York lead the country in adoption of technology and there was no where near the critical mass of users needed to make mobile commerce a reality. The rest of the contry was way behind us. And the solution the founder of the design firm was promoting was the Palm VII (running on the now defunct Palm.net service).
In the end following Jonathan's strategy back then would have helped you make it through these times. Since 2000 I have seen hype of Flash Lite come and go (and return), OmniSky filed for bankruptcy and got acquired by Earthlink and Palm.net, Palm's wireless solution, rise and fall. Stick with the oldest technology available (and may I add 'standards-based technology') and focus more on the right features and functionality.