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7 PrinciPles for creating a Killer Mobile exPerience

with tyson HacKwood

Surely, by now, you’ve heard about the awesome power of mobile. It’s kind of a big deal.

Recent data from Internet Retailer shows that upwards of 66% of eCommerce shopping happens via mobile. The mobile commerce

industry for 2014 was projected to exceed that of 2013 by 77%.

These are stats that no business can ignore!

But mobile isn’t an easy egg to crack. The user experience of your mobile sites and apps affects your success in mobile branding.

And, while you might have been in business in the digital space for some time, the rules that work for legacy desktop content don’t

always apply in mobile applications.

However, there is no reason to get freaked out.

This CHEAT SHEET was developed to help you create an awe-inspiring (and revenue-driving!) mobile experience for your customers.

These tips come courtesy of Tyson Hackwood, Braintree Manager for the Asia/Pacific Region.

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What is the NOT-SO-FREAKY UNIVERSITY?

It’s a library packed full of resources and courses. But unlike many other membership sites for entrepreneurial business owners and operators, the NSFU is dedicated to instruction. It is about providing the steps needed to achieve an outcome. The biggest barrier to achieving any goal is knowing where to begin. NSFU courses solve that problem, by providing a clear and repeatable path. Why the unusual name? We focus on the topics that freak out even the most seasoned business operators. We simplify technology trends, online marketing, leadership principles, raising money, boosting cashflow, pitching, presenting, productizing, starting a new business or re-engineering an old business to start again. Change is relentless. Myopia will kill you. We isolate the freaky in business and un-freakify it.

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INSIghTSIn this lesson, we’ll cover the following:

1. Creating a single-handed experience2. Keeping it ‘above the fold’3. Copying an existing design4. Scaling up5. Making payments invisible6. Linking the experience

7. Earning the space

Let’s jump right in and start hammering out a killer mobile experience!

Watch the vide

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PrinciPle #1: creating a single-handed exPerience

How do you use your mobile?

Chances are good that you are using it while you’re out and about, juggling other tasks. That means you’re often using it with one hand. Your customers are using their mobile devices in the same way.

And one of the best ways to improve the mobile experience is to minimize the amount of clicking or keyboard inputting your customers have to do.

If you look at a ravenously popular mobile app like Uber, you’ll notice that the on-screen controls and extremely minimal. Users of that app need only to confirm their location to order a car. This is easily achieved in Uber with a single hand – heck, a single digit, even!

As you’re working on your mobile experience, keep in mind that every action that you add to the screen puts one more small barrier between your customer and conversion. Keep it simple!

ACTION STEP:

Put yourself in your users’ shoes!

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PrinciPle #2: KeePing it ‘above the Fold’

‘The fold’ refers to the visible screen space of a given page upon its initial loading. Everything beneath that initial visible level is ‘below the fold.’

You can’t take your desktop site and put it on a mobile screen without greatly enlarging the area below the fold. You need to tweak and streamline the core content (e.g. the parts that lead the customer to actions) for mobile.

Keep all the content visible without scrolling. Asking your customer to scroll is asking too much. Remember, a great mobile user experience is all about reducing the actions necessary to generate a conversion!

ACTION STEP:

Identify your first priority. Focus on that in mobile design. Shape the experience around your priority.

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PrinciPle #3: coPying an existing design

In an overwhelming majority of instances, user experience is not intellectual property. No one can patent where a button fits on a four- to six-inch screen!

That means you can ‘borrow’ ideas from the apps you love.

You can also take good working conventions from one type of app and apply them to yours, often, even if your app relates to a different niche.

The ‘big’ app makers often have teams of twenty or more employees working on user experience design. You probably don’t.

By taking notes – and maybe peeking over their shoulders – you can leverage the skill and resources of the big app makers. This means you don’t have to break the bank to create a killer mobile experience!

ACTION STEP:

Create a list of 5 apps from which you can take inspiration.

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Click to watch the video

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PrinciPle #4: scaling UP

You started your business to see it grow, right? You want to scale up your efforts, all around, right?

Your mobile efforts need to scale up too. If your business is local to Australia, for example, you might start by accepting payments from Aussie’s and New Zealanders. But, as you grow, you’ll want to look to add payment processing for areas outside of Australia.

You may find, after launching, that your mobile app is particularly popular in another region of the world – one that you’ve never thought about before. When that happens, you’ll need to have the ability to scale.

This could mean switching to a data center closer to the new market, or getting mobile content translated into another language. Always remain open to such opportunities, and be ready to scale up.

There is no local app marketplace. Apps are born global. Don’t forget it.

ACTION STEP:

Start with the end in mind. Think big, and decide where you’d like to go.

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PrinciPle #5: MaKing PayMents invisible

Do you remember how we said earlier that you want to eliminate barriers between your customers and conversions? One of the biggest obstacles is payment processing.

One of the best ways to eliminate this hurdle is to use a payment processing system that captures and securely stores customer payment information in the app. Of course, major payment gateways like Braintree, PayPal, and Apple Pay have APIs (application programming interfaces) that you (or your resident tech-type) can integrate to open your customers up to convenient, secure payment options.

The idea is that you don’t want your customers to have to dig for their wallet, enter a sixteen digit credit card number and security code, each and every time they want to make a purchase. Those steps can cause them to bounce – and that’s the worst thing that can happen for your sales!

Keep it simple (once again!). By asking your customers to sign in each time they access your mobile app (or site), you can offer simple, single-button purchasing actions that they won’t hesitate to click.

ACTION STEP:

Look for ways to make the experience ‘get out and go’. Make it seamless.

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PrinciPle #6: linKing the exPerience

Integrations are a big deal! Just as you can integrate payment gateways, you can also look for strategic alliances to offer your customers add-on purchasing opportunities. And there are many ways to go about this.

If, for example, you offer an app that sells movie tickets in your area, you might partner with a local restaurant to offer dinner deals to go with the movie – after, of course, your customer has made it through the initial purchasing process.

Another possibility is that, when your mobile app generates a receipt, by integrating with a highly-mobile accounting app, like Xero, you can automatically update your accounting dashboard when a transaction happens.

It may sound technical, but integrations between checkout, payment gateway, billing, and fulfillment routines help you automate your business and improve the user experience as a result.

ACTION STEP:

Think about what your customers will need before they need you. What will they need immediately after? Look for ways to link the experience.

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PrinciPle #7: earning the sPace

Your customers’ mobile device is real estate. If your app is on the device, it needs to contribute to their way of life.

Apps that don’t provide value quickly lose the right to remain on your customers’ devices.

Think about the times when you’ve upgraded your mobile. Usually, at the time of each upgrade, you reinstall the apps you can’t live without, while ones that you don’t use often don’t get installed on your bristling new device. Don’t let that happen to your app!

Continually earn the space your app occupies on your customers’ devices. Routinely re-assess what is and is not working and seek to improve the mobile experience on a routine basis.

ACTION STEP:

Go to your mobile device and look at the apps you use most. Cross-check those apps against the other six principles to see how well they fit.

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tyson Hackwood is Head of Asia/Pacific for Braintree, a leading global payment processor. Tyson is a thought leader on a mission to help businesses overcome shopping cart abandonment and accomplish their eCommerce goals. Tyson also loves startups and startup tee shirts, which he’s taken as his personal uniform and he won’t work in any office that won’t allow them!

Click to watch the video