Going Mobile: Websites vs. Apps, and What's the Difference?

Thrive! Arts Conference | June 13, 2012

Agenda
Mobile Today Todays Mobile User Mobile Options Charting a Path Q&A

Mobile Today

Mobile Weve Come A Long Way

4 billion people with mobile devices today
1.08BN are Smartphones 490M units in 4Q 2011 alone (IDC, Jan 2011)

46% of North American population has Smartphone as of 4Q 2011 (Nielsen, 4Q 2011)

21% have iPhone (19M)

Average website is accessed by up to 1,000 different devices (CMSWire, Feb 2011) Sales of Smartphones will exceed those of PCs in 2012 (Morgan Stanley) Mobile use will eclipse desktop by 2014

All Types, Shapes and Sizes

Hardware
Smartphone vs. dumbphone Dont forget tablets Screen sizes & resolutions are all over the place

Operating Systems du jour

iOS (Apple) Windows Mobile (Microsoft) Android (Google) Blackberry (RIM) Palm remember them?

Operating System Market Share

Source: IDC, June 2012

Hardware Market Share

Source: ComScore

Mobile Users Today

Smartphone Users
89% use Smartphone throughout the day Average user has 65 apps on their phone (Flurry)
One in four smartphone apps downloaded are never used again
(Localytics, 2011)

85% of mobile usage is in the home One half of all local searches are done on mobile devices 47%-53% Female to Male skew

Source: Nate Steiner

Smartphone Users by Age Group

Source: Anson Alex, Jan 2012

What They Use Smartphones To Do

When Consumers Use App vs. Browser

Yahoo!, Ipsos, 2H 2011

App or Browser
(or is there something else?)

What Are Your Options?

Apps used by 50.2% of US mobile subscribers vs. 49% for browsers (ComScore, Apr
2012)

Facebook is major contributor to this (Flurry,

2011)

Four Major Options

Native Web Apps iOS, Android, etc. Mobile Browser -Based Sites HTML 5, CCS & JavaScript Hybrid Approach Mobile Middleware

Source: Wireless Week

Mobile (Native) Apps

Purpose driven drivers Better User Experiences (UX) generally Better performance than HTML/JavaScript Apps tend to operate better when off-line Harness unique capabilities of a devices hardware App store dependent
Can be a good thing (e.g. payment is usually easier, ad serving as part of monetization strategy) Marketing & Awareness

Greater costs maintenance, development and distribution

Expect 150% - 210% higher than reasonably expected (Forrester Research, 2011) Continual install and update cycles

Source: GameFAQs.com

App Stores Overview

Apple App store
585,000 apps (Wikipedia, Mar 2012) 378M iPhone downloads in April 2012 (USA) 79M iPad downloads in April 2012 (USA) Higher rejection rate

Google Google Play

450,00 apps (AppBrain, Jun 2012) 674M downloads in April 2012 (USA) Lower rejection rate

Microsoft Windows Phone Marketplace

100,000 apps (AllAbout WindowsPhone, Jun 2012) 12M downloads in April 2012 (USA) In the middle rejection rate

Mobile Web site via Browser

Content delivered via existing sources and/or refitted HTML 5, CSS & JavaScript No downloads or updates required
Build once, support all platforms Be wary; there are still costs to support multiple platforms - 20-25% (Forrester)

Ability to replicate many app-like features

Icon on the desktop, Auto-scroll, etc.

Detect & optimize content by device More nimble to make changes You control your content (i.e., monetization strategy) Easier to find people/agency with the right experience/skills

A Note About Responsive Design

Optimal User Experience regardless of device Next evolution of design, but not quite there yet Requires simplified design efforts
Establish breakpoints

Source: Adobe

Hybrid, Anyone?
Best of Both Worlds?
Code with HTML 5, CSS & JavaScript Wrap it in native code

Tools like Titanium & PhoneGap (Adobe) enable deployment across many platforms Ability to access on-device resources, tools and programs (e.g. camera, compass, etc.) Still need to submit to the respective Store processes

Source: PhoneGap

Mobile Middleware
A 4th and final solution, even Mostly mid to enterprise class solution Enables more efficient delivery to multiple devices and operating systems

Write once, deploy everywhere Greater coverage of device types Trading labor costs for capital costs

Source: Red Hat Magazine

Where to Start?

Do Your Homework

Get Some Background Data

Start with your Analytics, surveys, etc.

People
Who will be using the app/site? Basic audience profiles/personas Demographic data (e.g. what type of equipment will they likely be using) Likely user stories

Objectives
What are your goals? What does the consumer want to accomplish? When, where, how, etc.

Strategy
What platforms - App, Browser, Hybrid What devices to support? What tactics will promote it

Technology
What Technology do you have in place already? With these in place THEN choose the technology And who will build it
Source: Forrester Research

Process, Timeline & Costs

Typical Build & Timeline for Moderately Complex App/Site
Architecture & Planning: 2-3 weeks Visual Design: 3 weeks Development: 4-8 weeks QA/UAT: 1-3 weeks Launch Mobile Browser : immediate App Stores: 1-2+ weeks

Cost
One Milllllllion Dolllllllars (not really) Sorry to cop-out, but it depends

Source: Dr. Evil

Some Parting Tips

For most, starting with Browser based solution makes the most sense If you go app, think what purpose it serves that makes it different from your website
Including monetization strategy

Start small and iterate Have a plan to promote it

If you build it, they may not come without one

Plan for extensive testing (and likely a few obscure complaints)

And no, you dont have to buy 6,00 smartphones to do it

Set up tracking to assess how people are really using it If you dont have skills in-house, find a qualified partner
Source: Garymarsh

A Brief Word From Your Speaker

About Delphic Sage

Full Service Digital Agency
Focused solely on Interactive Creative, aggressive, vendor agnostic approach to technology Data-centric decision making

Middle Market to Enterprise Clients

Industry vertical focus Online ecosystems are critical

Strong Track Record

Founded in 1995 4.25 customer satisfaction Award-winning

Contact Info
Mark Patten, Principal mpatten@delphicsage.com 215-5081800, x105 www.delphicsage.com