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Web Designers Increasingly Tailoring the User Experience Alongside the Surge of New Technology Devices
Photo Credit: IGN.com
There has been a surge of new devices coming out with a wide variety of form factors and intended functionality. There was the boom of the netbook form factor and GPS/in-car systems, followed by the iPhone and other touchscreen mobile devices. Now companies are looking into providing more options for the touchscreen tablet-sized device and the HDTV screens that people already own (with the help of GoogleTV, AppleTV, and Boxee). These all are accompanying desktop computers, laptops and modern game consoles in the fact that they are all capable of being (if not already) Internet-enabled.
When people realize that the device that they’re using is Internet-enabled, they don’t want to have arbitrary limitations on what they can access considering that all of these devices have the screens and input methods that are necessary to access and navigate around a website or Web application that they can use on their computer. They’re all using the one-and-only Internet (or at least that’s how we’d like to keep it), so they should (in theory) be able to access the same content.
Many devices follow this rule of thumb by giving users access to a Web browser of some kind and this trend is becoming more prevalent among device manufacturers. This leaves Website designers with a new issue since most of the websites on the Internet were designed for computers with screen sizes ranging from around 13 to 24 inches with a mouse and keyboard. For example, needing to zoom and pan across a website that was designed for a desktop computer while using a mobile device is not the optimal experience.
It’s possible to take the same content on the site, detect the screen size of the device being used and display it in a way that best fits the device. The screen size detection is near instantaneous so it really comes down to the developers dedicating their time toward designing the new way that the content is displayed on the varying screen sizes. They can use a standard set of “Mobile,” “Computer” and “Projector/TV” options to limit the number of designs that need to be created (they might also choose to include a “Tablet” design). This still remains within the standardized capabilities of a website so the user is still simply accessing it via their Web browser of choice without needing to download an application or plug-in. (Although the developers might choose to offer an app simply due to the fact that it’s easier to access an application than to memorize and type in the URL on most devices.)
jQuery Mobile's Testing Lab
There’s a bunch of user interface libraries that developers can implement on their websites that help speed up the process of designing, as well as standardize an expected look and interactivity between websites that were developed by people who hold no relation (other than the fact that they used the same user interface library). Here’s a few that have sparked some interest in the developer community:
I would have included Cappuccino on that list, but 280 North (developers of Cappuccino) was recently acquired by Motorola so that they can continue their efforts for Motorola devices and software.
Still, this isn’t the first time something like this has happened—Palm was also recently acquired by HP and their efforts with WebOS (Web Operating System) will live on in HP’s future offerings. HP has already confirmed that their touchscreen tablet device coming “early in 2011” will be using WebOS instead of Windows 7 Tablet. Apple and Google (numerous hardware manufacturers are using Google’s software) already have a strong standing in this area and it’s reassuring to see that Motorola and HP are also making their commitment. The end result is being able to provide a centralized, yet completely open and free of corporate interests, access-point with content that’s custom-tailored to best fit the device that you are using.
It is important that we fight for this, because we don’t want our efforts of forming a centralized communication network to become overrun by large corporations that then will be able to influence what is sent over the network.
Kurt Zenisek
Web Developer
Connect with me on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/kzeni
Progressive Enhancement on the Web
I wrote an article in May called “What’s the Right Way to Update?” that covered the updating procedure for various software and how it can be improved so that users have the latest version. Having the latest version of software can be very important due to the fact that technology is updated at a fairly fast rate. Using a copy of software from six or so years ago can mean a lot in terms of what it can do and how you interact with it. For Website developers, the target audience could very well be using a range of Web browsers that were last updated as far back as 9 years ago or as recently as an hour ago. This is where the concepts of “graceful degradation” and “progressive enhancement” come in.
What is “Graceful Degradation?”
Graceful degradation is a development term that means a site is built to the latest standards, yet it still works for anyone using an old Web browser. Not everything will work exactly the same in the old Web browser, but nothing will be broken. This means that those users with the latest Web browsers will get to utilize all of the Website’s features, whereas those using a less capable browser will see a simplified version.
What is “Progressive Enhancement?”
Progressive enhancement is essentially the same as graceful degradation, but the developer starts by creating the base-level functionality that works in every browser. Then they add features to provide a little more for anyone using a modern Web browser. Graceful degradation and progressive enhancement provide the same benefits, but it’s just a matter of the developer’s preference as to what they want to use as their starting point.
Now that I understand the lingo, why do these terms matter?
I invite you to compare what Websites looked like in 2001 to what they look like now. Keep in mind that the Websites from 2001 were being viewed in Web browsers that were released just 5 years after the concept of displaying an image in line with other content on a Website was first implemented.
The modern idea of providing a better Website for users with capable browsers is in hopes that people using old Web browsers see some benefit in updating them, which would allow innovation to commence in the mainstream user base. I mean, a group of Web developers actually held a funeral for Internet Explorer 6 when Google announced that they no longer supported it (Microsoft even sent flowers)!
In the meantime, there still needs to be some ambition by developers that leads the way to the latest and greatest features and functionality .
Kurt Zenisek
Web Developer
Connect with me on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/kzeni
Extra! Extra! This Week’s Interesting Marketing Stories for CEOs and CMOs!
If you have an interest in sales and marketing, this post is for you. At HRB we’re constantly monitoring advertising, strategic planning, research and public relations trends that are driven by new software automation tools, unique bundling packages and social media marketing contests. Check out these stories and let us know your thoughts in the comments section or on the HRB Facebook page.
FTC Looks at Opt Out Option for Behavioral Targeting
If you have not been following the discussions surrounding online behavioral targeting and the resulting data gathering on individuals, you may want to start. Whether you are using behavioral targeting as a marketing technique or you are a consumer, you could be affected.
According to MediaPost, The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is considering a “do not track” list to address Internet advertising privacy concerns, similar to the Do Not Call Registry pertaining to telephone solicitations. To learn more about behavioral targeting visit the FTC’s Wikipedia page.
What Are America’s Favorite News Sources?
As a former journalist, I find the rapid changes in news consumption habits fascinating. Of course, age, technology and access all play a role in how we get our news.
According to a new study by Gather, Inc., individuals are increasingly turning to the Internet to find, receive, share and discuss news. The report reveals trends in how people are receiving and interacting with various Internet news outlets and starting millions of conversations across America.
For instance, a whopping 53% of people still cite newspapers as their main source of news, although 65% of respondents younger than 25 years old described their news habits as interest-based, only reading about breaking news stories or stories of interest. 70% of respondents in this age group turn to the Internet to learn more about a breaking news story and share information with others via social networks.
Marketers Increasingly Seeking Online Tracking Metrics
Marketers are slowly but consistently moving more of their marketing budgets from traditional to online sources. And, the more they spend on SEO and social media marketing, the more they want to measure ROI.
The Forbes Insights and software and analytics firm MarketShare Partners reveal that marketers and agencies continue to struggle with finding the metrics to justify dollars spent on online campaigns.
Strategic Growth Planning for Business and Marketing Success
Ever wonder why some companies turn everything they touch into gold while others struggle to capture great market share? Why marketing doesn’t work with sales?
These questions keep CEOs from sleeping at night. It takes guts and experience to bring accurate, honest analysis and advice to today’s company executives. When it comes to growing a business, most companies struggle to find just the right balance of all the right growth ingredients.
Download the HRB GROWTH brochure and perhaps you’ll see how the “domino effect” can work for your brand.
Can the iPad Slow Newspaper and Magazine Readership?
Earlier this year, just as the iPad was being launched, BtoB Magazine carried a front page story about the possible effects the Apple iPad could have on reviving the ailing print media industry. For one thing, with its vertically-oriented color screen that mimics the size of a single magazine page, the iPad is seen in some circles as an ideal device for reading digital versions of print publications.
“We feel it’s an exciting, new, major media platform, and it can’t be ignored,” said Jason Snell, Editor of IDG’s Macworld, which is currently developing an iPad application.
Jim Thebeau
Partner/CEO
Follow me on Twitter @JimThebeau
Connect with me on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jimthebeau
What Makes Apple’s Mobile Ad Platform Different
The iPhoneTM 4 has been out for over a month now. At that time, there was also a software update for older iPhones and iPodTM touches that added many features that were new on the iPhone 4. Part of the software update was the ability for app developers to display ads served up by Apple’sTM “iAd” platform. With the popularity of free applications that people download on a whim comes the desire for developers to monetize them to pay for their initial development costs and support further development.
The advertising model has now been brought into free apps, and it’s like a traditional Website that is mostly, if not entirely, supported by advertising. Apple’s iAd platform isn’t the first to offer developers the opportunity to include ads in their apps, but they do it a little differently.
The traditional electronic ad is either text, an image or a brief animation that, when clicked, will take you directly to the advertiser’s Website. iAd recognizes that most mobile devices either don’t support Flash or have a limited mobile edition of Flash so the common animated Flash ad isn’t possible. People often quote the statistic provided by Adobe that 96% of Web browsers have Flash installed, but that figure is actually representative of the percentage of Web browsers that are capable of running Flash and have it installed. That means it’s excluding millions of devices that have a Web browser that can’t run Flash, even if the device owner wanted to (this includes Apple’s mobile devices among many others).
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iAd instead focuses on the fact that 100% of all Web browsers have HTML support. Plus, all of the devices that iAd will be shown on also have CSS and JavaScript support for animation and interactivity. This method allows advertisers to show the full ad experience via CSS and JavaScript on all devices by default and shows the static version of the ad if they set JavaScript to be disabled. Using Flash will instead be shown as a blank block and will require the Flash plugin to show anything at all or requires the developer to also build the HTML version. This begs the question of, “Why not build the HTML version in the first place?” Ads haven’t been using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript until now due to the fact that CSS and JavaScript-based animations were introduced recently so Flash was the only option available to advertising / Website designers.
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iAd’s extended ad view does include some new functionality that other ad services don’t offer. The ads expand within the current application when they’re tapped on instead of opening a Website in your Web browser. The ads are self-contained so that everything the advertiser wants to be shown can be included within the interactive ad, and can be closed at any time using a close button that is located in the same place for every ad. The expanded ad also has the ability to:
- Allow the user to submit a form (register for a giveaway / sign up to a newsletter)
- Download or purchase something from the App Store (purchase the full product / download a companion app)
- Save media to the device (wallpapers / videos)
- Access the camera (scan a barcode in a store / take a picture of yourself using the product)
- Integrate into other web services (social media / the product’s website)
- and more…
There’s the potential for a malicious advertiser to exploit some of these features or be a security risk but Apple is requiring each ad to be inspected and approved before being displayed. When iAd was announced, Apple brought up that finding a way to keep the advertising interactive while maintaining an emotional tone was very important to making this form of advertising engaging and effective. This is just another option that’s available to advertisers and developers alike and seems like a promising idea if used properly.
Kurt Zenisek
Web Developer
Connect with me on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/kzeni
The Emergence of Mobile (Part 2)
In my last article, “The Emergence of Mobile (Part 1),” I gave an overview of the history of the mobile phone as we’ve come to know them—from the very first commercially available phone to the phones we use today. Now that the worldwide adoption of cell phones has increased from 12.4 million people in 1990 to approximately 4.6 billion in 2009, developers can have a seemingly modest goal of 1% cellphone market share penetration. That translates to 46 million people, and that’s quite a large reach for being only 1%. With such a large user-base & increasing attention from the media and general public, the big question is this: “What’s next?”
The timeline above shows milestones in the mobile market and it’s clear this industry has come a long way since 1946. If the common trend in devices continues, the next mobile phone will be smaller, faster, more durable and more aesthetically appealing. It will also be more affordable and have a longer battery life. Advancements like these are predictable and don’t really add anything new to the average mobile phone’s repertoire, but they do make for a device that is more universally appealing to consumers.
Researchers have been trying things that might seem ridiculous at first. For example, there are prototype phones being developed that feature an embedded video projector. This would be valuable for businesses or general users who want to share presentations, photos and videos without having to huddle around a small screen. Another approach is to create a mobile device that can “push” content to any TV with this functionality (such as Google TV).
Still other researchers have been exploring augmented reality:
Services like these provide location-aware information such as points of interest (ie. restaurants) and social interactions (ie. Tweets & status updates). This video doesn’t really show that the augmented reality concept has branched off into other areas including photo sharing, games, and more. The only thing that the user needs to do is point their camera at what they’re interested in to see the information. Consider that the alternative is going to Google and getting results that may or may not be what you’re looking for. Augmented reality isn’t a new idea, but it has become much more feasible with devices that now have high quality cameras, fast processors, compasses, gyroscopes and highly-accurate GPS.
New ways of accessing/sharing entertainment & information will continue to be developed so that people will always be able to choose the method that they prefer the most. Documents were first written on stone until paper was invented, and now technology has made it so that our ideas can be accessed, shared, and collaborated on with anyone, anywhere, and at any time. The concept of storing & distributing information remains the same but the possibilities have been extrapolated so consumers are no longer restrained by arbitrary limitations.
At one point, the most common way of getting information about someone involved looking them up in a phone book. Now you can find information in half that time by using Google search and find out more about them via a social media marketing site like Facebook. Both website designers and hardware/software developers have been busy making sure that what they make works harder, faster, smarter and easier for the user so that they have the best experience possible.
Who knows? At today’s rate of innovation, something like this will probably be coming to your household sooner than you might think!
Kurt Zenisek
Web Developer
Connect with me on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/kzeni
