• Read more about Mobile Strategy: Website Or Application?

Every company should have a mobile strategy but first you need to decide what's right for your business - a mobile application or a responsive website? Sometimes companies have one or the other or they may have both. This is all depending on the company and how they reach their users.

Some businesses have to choose between a mobile website or a mobile app based on their budget, let's discuss the pros and cons so that you can make the most educated decision whenever you're deciding on your mobile strategy. 

Mobile Website

Reach: Probably the biggest  benefit the mobile website has over a mobile app is the amount of reach you have; you’re able to access a much larger audience because of its discoverability and marketing potential, and it has low barriers to entry.

Content Sharing: If your primary goal is content consumption, a mobile website will usually suffice. While apps have the ability to make content sharing easy with a great design, a website can do these things with less overhead.

Ships Fast: Generally, obtaining an model view presenter (MVP) for a website requires less resources than launching a mobile app.

Marketing: Marketing a mobile website is easier and more effective than marketing a mobile application. Two tactics in particular work very well with website: Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Pay Per Click (PPC).

Some disadvantages are:

Functionality: Products with singular functions are generally better delivered via a mobile application than a mobile website. If you think of calendars or email, Uber or Instagram, you'll likely agree that these functions are more effectively delivered through mobile applications than a mobile website.

Mobile Application

User Experience: The biggest benefit of a mobile app is the rich experience it delivers. Think of the UX on Facebook, Spotify, and some of your other favorite apps. Chances are the experience on the mobile application version is much more satisfying than their website versions.

Stand alone services: Applications are ideal for products that offer stand alone services. Weather, health, and banking apps all provide singular services to the user.

Re-engagement: While marketing an application via App Store Optimization is not very effective, apps offer push notifications. Push notifications are a great way to call the user to act even when they’re not actively engaged with your brand or product.

Some of the disadvantages are:

Storage: There is a limited amount of space on a user’s phone and your app is taking up some of that valuable real estate, I think we can all say we’ve seen the message “Storage Full”. When a user gets that message, they are then forced to decide whether or not to keep the app. Generally, apps get deleted before photos, emails, or other personalized storage.                                                                                                                                                                            

Best of Both Worlds

If you’re unsure which route to take (and you don’t have the budget for two builds), then Progressive Web Apps are a great alternative.

By combining the best of the web and the best of app, Progressive Web Apps maintain a website’s far reach and an app’s exceptional UX. Some of the benefits:

If you have questions about which mobile strategy is right for you, feel free to reach out to us! If you’d like to learn more about some of the mobile strategies we’ve put into place, check out the mobile apps and responsive websites we’ve developed.

• Read more about Simple Doesn't Always Mean Easy

Recently my friend and I were talking about different digital products and their functionality compared to their appearances. I was trying to make the argument that simple equaled easy, that an application with less complexities was easier to use compared to one that was very complex. My friend was rather quick to stop me in my tracks, he was making the case that that isn’t necessarily true, he started his argument by comparing two everyday products, a bicycle and a car.

A bike is extremely simple in its appearance, there are really only 4 components that make it up:
- Frame
- Handlebars
- Two tires
- Chain

That’s really the foundation for any bike, nothing less.

To contrast that though a car has hundreds of moving parts:
- Complex motor
- Exhaust system
- Electrical components
- And dozens of other parts that allow it to run

However when you compare the two to see which is easier to use, in this case let’s say that “using” it means movement; a car with all its complexities has a much lower learning curve than a bike. Really all you need to do to drive a car is sit down, press a pedal, and turn the wheel.

In comparison to riding a bike, an extremely simple system compared to that of a car, the learning curve is much steeper. Why? Mainly because it relies on the user to have an already working knowledge of how to use it…balance. Without learning how to balance yourself on a bicycle you won’t get any further than a few feet. Once you learn to balance than you need to pedal in order to keep the system going, otherwise everything comes to a stop. Lastly combined with balancing, and pedaling, you need to steer the bike, all in tandem with each other. All relying on you, the user, to make the whole thing work.

What does any of this have to do with digital products, websites, applications? In short what my friend was saying is don’t make an interface overly simplified and expect your users to know how to work with it. Sometimes an icon, with its simple form, is harder to “use” than a more complex interface. Just because it has less “parts” for it to work doesn't mean that it is easier for the user.

• Read more about Intridea Client Homezada Launches Home Management Software

Last week Homezada officially released their home management software, a complete solution to the dispersed files, incomplete records, and scattered maintenance reports that plague homeowners everywhere.

Homezada's formula is "Everything about your home in one place" and they're serious about that; their software allows you to easily document all the possessions in your home, track the value of all of those items, track household improvements (making it easier to remember what you've done to improve your house when you decide to sell it), access an ongoing library of to-do maintenance items, and maintain checklists of seasonal cleaning, yardwork and maintenance projects. The system can remind you when it's time to update air filters, schedule furnace maintenance, and so on.

Below is screenshot of the to-do list functionality of the application:

Homezada approached Intridea to draft the wireframes, help design the user flow, and refine the user experience. Our design team, led by Jurgen and Ted, worked with their internal Rails development team to deliver an engaging and intuitive user experience and to help stylize it within the Rails app.

We were excited to work with Homezada on such an interesting and revolutionary project. We encourage you to watch some of the short videos on their site to learn more about the software.

If you need design or development expertise on your project contact us today to learn what we can do for you; at Intridea we are helping hundreds of people bring their ideas to life!