APPS FOR PUBLISHERS

What we’re going to cover

1. Overview of the app landscape

2. Product development for apps

Refreshment break

3. Experience design for apps

4. Data and consumers

5. Getting started: next steps

The Landscape

Tablets and smartphones already selling 4x PCs

Google research

Tablets are eating ereaders

Gartner forecasts (May 2013)

25m

15m

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Units sold

New distribution channels and revenue models

Global marketplace

Recurring subscriptionsIn-App Purchase (IAP)

Crowd funding

Tablet & smartphone

Desktop web

Peak usage

10pm9am

Fiction

Everything elsePicture books, travel guides, childrens, magazines, etc etc

ebooks

Fiction is diverging from other publishing

?

Ubiquitous format

Fixed format - not suitable for phonesCan’t directly sell in Appstore

EPUB3 standardised but not widely adoptedLimited functionality and customisation

Reader apps (eg. iBooks) are a bit funky

No standardisation – all special snowflakes

Can work on all devices

Must distribute through app stores

More easily monetisable

PDF

EPUB3

APP

Ecosystems

Vibrant, growing ebook ecosystem(slightly hobbled by DRM)

The app ecosystem is Apple (mostly)

Mobile ecommercetraffic

iPhone

iPad

Android

phone

74% of downloadrevenue on iOS

Q1 2013

iOS

Android

App revenue

Playing by the Apple rules

•Apple will take 30% + VAT•All apps are subject to an approval process•You can only sell apps through the Appstore•Consumer data capture is opt-in

Interesting loopholesYou can’t open a rival Appstore.But you can open your own shopfront app.

You can’t sell PDFs in the Appstore.But you can sell them through your own app.

You can’t sell content in your app except through Apple.But you can give people access to content they have bought elsewhere.

You can’t insist on getting user details.But you can offer discounts in exchange for user data.

Amber Military Books - storefront for PDFs

Advantages of storefront apps• Direct channel to customer

through push notificationsSingle focus for marketingInitial technical investment reused over many content titlesSimple route to digitising existing content at low cost

Flexible pricing• Vary price over timeSet different

“natural” prices in different territories, eg. 99c but 99p

• More or less real-time

APP

(Worst case scenario)

In-App Purchase

Sharing

iTunesConnect

AppStore

Pushnotificatio

n

Vouchers

Analytics

Data capture

CMS

Content updates

Your app

Email, Facebook,Twitter, Pinterest,...

OtherAPIs ?

Library

Bookmarks

Search

Sharing

iTunesConnect

AppStore

AnalyticsYour app

Email, Facebook,Twitter, Pinterest,...

Content

Device features

Geolocation

Motion Camera

TouchContacts

Calendar Audio

A new printing press for every book

The early days of app production

The technology Hype Cycle

From trough to slope

Frameworks Platforms

A tipping point for app publishing• Reduced costs = lower risk, easier ROI

• Returns creative control to publishers

• Can begin to move beyond experiments, start thinking about sustainable workflows

Experience design

User experience design

Industrialdesign

Informationarchitecture

Communicationdesign

User interfaceengineering

Usabilityengineering

Humanfactors

Human-computerinteraction (HCI)

Interactiondesign

The overlapping disciplines ofinteraction design.

New skills for publishers

Navigation

Position

Progress

Sharing

How do I get to the next page?

How long will it take to finish?

Where am I?

Is there a place I can stop coming up?

How far have I got?

How do I find what I’m looking for?

How do I know what there is to look for?

?Am I missing something?

Experience design is not sugar for your medicine. Experience design is about user-centric thinking.

“Let’s jazz up our content with a bit of interaction”

What does the user want to do?

How can we make that easy and

delightful?

For some content, the best interaction is very

simple

“Just keep swiping”

Linear narrativeShort, closed journeyA beginning and an

end

Never how we read other types of books

Dip in and out.

Look up a certain thing.

Skip a bit we’re not that interested in. Choose our own

path through the book.

1. CasualPicture galleryFavouriting

2. SelectionFilter by:•ingredients•group size•time of day/year•formality•etc3. Pre-

cookShopping listScheduling

4. CookingStep by step guideInstructional videosConversionsTiming

5.AfterwardsShare (Pinterest, Instagram)

NotesNext recipe?

Cookbook

= a better cookbook than print?

PDFs on phones are rubbishFixed

layouts

iOS screen sizes

Android

You cannot build a practical workflow around fixed page sizes and distribute to multiple devices.

Scrolling and responsive design solve this problem.

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2

3

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2

3

Responsive design

Responsive design is a big, hard change for print designers

Web designers are your friends

WARNING

Device screens are mostly smaller

So keep tap targets large

Fingers are fat

Progressive reveals

’

Text

Video

Great content

Commodity technology

Simple interaction

The Wasteland app

You may need to re-licence or change fonts

It’s all about the user. What they want and when.

Work with web designers.

The page is dead. Scrolling is your friend.

Don’t get too attached to your print fonts. You probably can’t afford them.Don’t overcomplicate. Keep your app as simple as it can be.

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SUMMARY