In order to get you answers I sat down with Steve Reichgut, Fluid’s Director of Engineering. He is a respected industry leader in RWD. Steve and his team live and breathe cutting-edge technology. They’re smart about when to, and when not to, apply it.

My top three take-aways:

1. This isn’t just about technology: Responsive Web Design with a “Big R” is about ensuring that the user experience responds effectively on multiple devices in multiple contexts. This broader concept can be implemented in many different ways.

2. RWD is not an all or nothing decision: The question ‘Should I use Responsive Web Design or not?’ is probably the wrong question to be asking.

3. Thinking through support for RWD is essential: Content updating challenges that currently exist between marketing and tech teams get amplified with RWD. Trade-offs between cutting-edge and desire for control are inevitable.

Now on to the interview…

[Amy] What is Responsive Web Design?

[Steve] In it’s purest definition, the “Big R” RWD, is about ensuring that what the user is experiencing responds effectively on the device they are using in whatever context they are in. This can be achieved in a lot of different ways.

RWD though is usually used as a technical term. It is literally using three things to build a responsive experience: a grid system, media queries to determine viewport size and flexible images that size appropriately.

[Amy] What’s the best thing about RWD?

[Steve] The best thing is the whole idea that the user gets an optimal experience no matter where they are coming from. RWD gives the user a great, seamless experience.

[Amy] What’s the biggest challenge?

[Steve] Determining how it’s going to be supported operationally. RWD doesn’t create new problems, it amplifies the ones you already have. Who’s going to make changes? And who’s going to make sure the changes render right on all devices?

The other challenge is that people are combining the “Big R” definition of RWD with a specific technical solution. So they end up asking “Do I do RWD or not?”

[Amy] Is “Do I do RWD or not?” the wrong question to be asking?

[Steve] I think so. RWD is often being defined as a single code base for all devices with set break points. Although this may be a great solution for a lot of situations, there are many other ways to achieve responsive experiences for consumers.

[Amy] What should retailers and brands be asking?

[Steve] I think it’s ‘What’s the right approach to achieve a great responsive experience?’ The question, and solution, needs to be tied to the context of what people are doing. How different is the experience people need to have between devices? Do they have completely different objectives and mindsets per device? Or does it make sense to mostly show the same stuff across all devices?

Home Shopping Network and People Magazine are great examples. Due to the nature of their customer behavior and business needs, they decided to use responsive techniques for mobile and tablet and not for desktop. Their responsive solution involves two (or more) code bases right now.

It’s important to go to the customer mindset first. Then the business need. Then the technology.

Retailers should also be asking: Am I ready to support it?

[Amy] Support it in what ways?

[Steve] Figuring out operationally how RWD will be maintained is critical. One technology team managing one code base is by far the fastest way to support a full range of devices. But the needs of an organization may make that impractical. The other option is to have business users update the site. In that case though, it puts a lot more responsibility and stress on your content management system to enable updates to happen easily and reliably.

[Amy] What’s the biggest misperception about RWD?

[Steve] That it’s all or nothing. You either do it or you don’t. It’s not a single solution. It ideally is about responsive techniques, not RWD.

Usage of the term RWD is analogous to usage of the term Cloud Computing several years ago. At the outset people spoke of it as one entity – now there are lots of services and vendors addressing different elements of it – IaaS, PaaS, SaaS, etc. RWD needs to get to that point too.

[Amy] Who should choose RWD?

[Steve] It’s best and easiest for sites that skew content heavy, don’t house a lot of complex interactions and have few 3rd party widgets. Many 3rd party widgets are not responsive compatible.

It’s less about who and when and more about which technique should I use. Ideally all digital experiences should be responsive. It’s just a question of which responsive techniques should be applied.

[Amy] Talk about RWD within digital commerce. Your description of who should choose it seems to count many ecommerce experiences out.

[Steve] It’s not that ecommerce systems shouldn’t do it, it’s that many of them are not incredibly well suited for RWD today. Content management systems aren’t prepared for the demands of RWD. There are lots of 3rd party integrations. Retailers don’t always have the flexible photography assets – or the process in place to produce them. This though is beginning to change.

[Amy] Who should say no to RWD? Should retailers say no?

[Steve] In the end it’s something you’re going to want to do in some form. Consumers are shifting in higher percentages to mobile and tablets and it is happening quickly. So are sales. Retailers need to get there. This will more likely be an evolution than a hard cut over. Many retailers can’t – or shouldn’t – do it all in one fell swoop. It will likely be an agile approach – certain pieces implemented with knowledge and experience gained added over time.

[Amy] We’ve had clients ask what RWD means for mobile apps. What do you think?

[Steve] At the end of the day clients really want a great mobile experience for their customers. The question then becomes what does this mean? I don’t think a responsive site trumps a mobile app or vice versa. They are complementary, not competing, channels. Each needs a reason for being. An app for the sake of having an app isn’t going to work. It needs to be justified. Same holds true for RWD.

A killer experience in mobile is the place to start. How it gets executed – via RWD, app or something else – is contingent on its purpose, its target audience, the frequency of use and other factors.

[Amy] Will we still be talking about RWD next year? Is it here to stay?

[Steve] The “Big R” absolutely is here to stay. I hope RWD starts to get recognized as more than a single solution. Pure RWD is one of many arrows in your quiver. I think it will move – like Cloud Computing did – towards encompassing a variety of solutions. Ideally it becomes a best practice for reasons that put the consumer at the center of experiences. That’s what we’re aiming for here at Fluid.

Thank you to Steve. A webinar Steve led on RWD after his session @ Shop.org can be downloaded here.

Keep the questions coming,
Amy

We may be developers, designers, strategists and account managers, but one thing we share beyond our specialties is a passion for shopping. If you’re in the market for clothes, accessories, sporting equipment or kitchenware, there’s no greater place than where we many of us live and work—New York City.

Note to our San Francisco and Chicago colleagues: We love shopping in your cities, too!

Ever on the search for omnichannel excellence, we descended on some of our favorite department stores to see how well they’re adapting to—and adopting—the opportunities to reach in-store customers through digital technology. The results were, well, mixed.

Here are the winners—and the runners-up — among some national chains:

Macy’s:

We all know where The Miracle on 34^th Street took place, but still wanted to see what directions Macy’s store finder would give us.

Nearest location? Check.

Directions to the store? Check.

Wait a minute. It’s not loading the Google or IOS maps embedded on our phones?

It’s linking to Mapquest so we have to launch a browser?

Not very convenient or very 21^st Century.

Once inside the store, we see a variety of signs of digital life:

Giant digital screens set the mood for a modern experience.  Thumbs up.

A print poster with cluttered design encourages customers to pin items on Pinterest. Props for the campaign. Thumbs down on the poster.

Kiosks that allow you to scan an item’s barcode for product recommendations (the sign reads: More Choices! Free Shipping!) gave our shoppers’ hearts a flutter, but when we tried using them, they turned out to be duds. Each kiosk provided the product’s price (which was already on the tag) and told us to see a sales associate for more items. Is this because Macy’s hasn’t input their inventory into the kiosk system?

Thumbs up once Macy’s gets it to work.

We loved the wedding department gift registry because it prints out a full list of your friends’ wish list, including which items have already been purchased. We’d love it even more if the interface was equally as modern and engaging. Thumbs up.  Sort of.

Where Macy’s Omnichannel Excellence comes alive is within the individual brand sections of the store.

Michael Kors definitely gets the award for best digital display. A full environmental experience that incorporates lifestyle and product imagery defines the designer’s boutique, distinguishing it from the crowded environment, and sets the stage for a shopper’s paradise.

For pure utility, Clinique’s tablet hit it out of the park for Omnichannel Excellence.  A series of questions evaluates your skin type then prints out a list of products tailored to your specific needs. It’s attractive, personal, interactive, and action-oriented.

That’s what we call Omnichannel Excellence.

J.C. Penney:

With all the news we’ve been reading about J.C. Penny, we were curious to see how much they’ve embraced the omnichannel evolution. Not so much, it turns out.

We did love that there were signs all over the store announcing the availability of free WiFi, which makes comparison shopping a breeze. Wouldn’t it be great if JCP used this opportunity to share brand messages and exclusive opportunities for in-store shoppers?

JCP also has Price Check kiosks around the store, similar to Macy’s More Choices stations. But the only information you get from a barcode scan is—you guessed it—the price, which is already on the tag. At least they didn’t tell us to go find a sales associate.

As with Macy’s, it’s the individual brands that get it right at J.C. Penny.

In the Levi’s section we found a stylishly designed iPad app that gave us an endless aisle of inventory (love it!), as well as good content on sizing and fit.

Note to JCP: Thanks for the free WiFi. Why not take a page from your brand partners’ playbooks and bring the digital experience to life in-store?

Saks Fifth Avenue:

As proud New Yorkers, we’d love to report that our very own Saks is at the front of the omnichannel evolution, particularly given the hoards of tourists who pour through their doors every day. Since we couldn’t find a single example of any ominchannel efforts or even anything that smelled of digital technology, we’re sorry to say that good ol’ Saks is waaaaay behind on the omnichannel evolutionary ladder.

We’re glad to see that Saks has a lot going on with social media, from Facebook to Pinterest, though we’d never know it from visiting the store alone. Wouldn’t it be great if Saks dedicated as much effort to capturing their customers’ attention on mobile as they do with to their iconic window displays?

Next time:

We’ll walk down Broadway to some of our favorite brands’ flagship stores to see who is in the lead in the omnichannel evolution.

Back in 1996, I was the founding editor of the Tony Awards website, a joint venture between the organizations that run the Tonys and a startup Web development company. Because the Web was so new and unfamiliar, the folks running the awards (and everyone else on Broadway!) didn’t understand or appreciate the value of another communications platform. They tolerated our online efforts, but were strident about us not scooping the traditional press, even though we were an extension of the official brand.

On this morning 17 years ago, after the nominees were announced at Sardi’s, I was handed a print-out and CD-rom with the full list of nominees, straight-armed my way past the donut table to the subway, and hurried back to the office so we could post the full list on the site. As if this delay wasn’t bad enough, I came back to an email from the talented actor Mark Linn-Baker wanting to know why the Tonys couldn’t get our act together enough to post the nominees at the same time as the television announcement.

“What do you want me to say?” I considered replying. Instead I wrote back to tell him the nominees were finally up on the site. And that I’m a big fan of his work.

“Success requires agility, adapting to evolving human behavior, meeting your customers where they are, not forcing them to meet you where you are.”

Flash forward light years to this morning, when I turned on the TV just as the announcement was ending.

I sparked up the Tony Awards site on my iPad to read the full list.

An alert pinged on my iPhone from the New York Times with more information about the awards.

Facebook started lighting up.

I texted a good friend to congratulate her for receiving a nomination for her performance in a play.

I even started shoping for an appropriate congratulations gift on Amazon.

The changes in technology between then and now are obvious—smartphones, tablets and social media weren’t even glimmers in their creators’ eyes back then—but the changes in people (especially the ones responsible for brands) and shopping are especially noteworthy.

Organizations like the Tony Awards, not to mention retailers, financial institutions, healthcare providers, etc., have learned that they are content creators just like the media that they courted so assiduously for so many decades.  And, as content creators, it’s not enough to be present in just one platform.  To succeed in today’s environment brands—particularly retailers—need to be present where their customer lives—everywhere, immediately and always.  It’s the Omnichannel Evolution.

After 17 years in this industry, I understand firsthand how challenging it is to keep up with technology and shifts in human behavior. But I also understand the cost of not evolving and innovating.  Probably the most important lesson I’ve learned as a digital strategist is that there is no “one size fits all” solution to getting from here to there.  Success requires agility, adapting to evolving human behavior, meeting your customers where they are, not forcing them to meet you where you are.

That’s why I’m proud to be part of the Fluid team. My colleagues are experts in understanding what makes individual brands unique, what their customers want most from them, and leading the brands through the Omnichannel Evolution, be it through e-commerce, in-store tablets with endless aisles, shoppable images, or strategic planning.

Still, I envy the person who’s running the Tony Awards website today.  He or she probably had plenty of time to enjoy that donut table and didn’t come back to any angry emails from famous people. And he didn’t have to wander from store to store to find just the right gift that says, “Congratulations on your nomination!”

Status update: Facebook Home / Phone is more marketing campaign than product innovation. #homesortasweethome

How I described it to my mom: “Facebook Home is a screensaver for your phone that showcases Facebook activity.” I was feeling quite proud of this analogy until I realized that it’s a widely used description.

The exception to this is chat heads – which allow your live chat to carry across the mobile experience. This benefit is comparable to being able to talk on the phone and surf the web at the same time. It makes the user experience seamless instead of siloed. Yay.

The #1 thing Facebook Home has in common with digital commerce?
It achieves the goal of removing a click. It literally brings Facebook one layer up in the user hierarchy. And in the process trumps all other apps.

As anyone involved in digital commerce knows, this is a big deal. A bigger deal if adoption is large (or even a small percentage of Facebook’s users).

That said, I’m not sold that Facebook Home is a big deal. Interesting? Yes. Here are five reasons why…

1. Facebook Phone is not Facebook’s phone:
The phone is an Android. Facebook is usurping Google’s OS and user interface. Okay a different way to put it – Facebook is utilizing Google’s open source operating system. What makes it the Facebook Phone? It’s being marketed as such via Facebook and AT&T. And Facebook becomes the default experience on the Android. This could never happen on the iPhone because Apple’s OS is locked down.

Mark my words: Wherever Steve Jobs is – he is laughing.

At the end of the day, if open source thrives, Google will be laughing too. Who gets the last laugh remains to be seen.

2. There’s no bouncer at the open source door
Google got an unexpected partnership with this product. In fact, Google may not have even known about Facebook’s plans. Eric Schmidt has expressed that Facebook Home is a good thing. It definitely reinforces Google’s open position (and by default, Apple’s closed position). But if I’m on the Google brand team I’m thinking through the implications. If I’m on the Google+ team the gauntlet has been thrown.

Don’t get me wrong I love open source (and um also my iPhone). Open vs. closed is the creativity of a crowd of developers vs. controlled one-source creativity. It’s a dreamy head-to-head. (Although Google and Apple may actually be fighting different fights altogether.)

3. Facebook Home is not unique to Facebook:
Google’s open OS means that anyone or any brand could do this. Hello Kindle Fire. This doesn’t mean they should. This gets more interesting for retailers when location-based functionality is tied in.

Which retailers should care? eBay. And any deal site that has timely offers. Imagine being able to click to buy as an item is revealed on your default, dynamic cell screen.

4. Facebook “likes” Facebook Home more than anyone else:
This move serves Facebook well for two main reasons:

- It strengthens their mobile position. They got seriously dinged for this during their IPO – although it could be argued that the Instagram acquisition helped negate this concern.

- It brings them a layer higher than all other apps. This means direct access and fewer clicks to action. Facebook becomes the user interface for Android.

5. Facebook is following you:
Facebook is following the lead of consumers with this product. It is yet another stake in the ground that the year of mobile has finally fully arrived. Users knew it all along. Facebook Home is validation of everything that Bridget put forth in her pre-launch column.

It’s been fun to see Fluid’s clients now talk about the experience trumping the device. We’ve believed this for a long time. It means that creative ideas are more important now than ever. Knowing Fluid’s creative chops, I’m fired up for our clients.

Take care out there,
Amy

Facebook will unveil its phone Thursday. Chances are, it won’t change the world. Why? Because the phone is a reflection of how the world has already changed rather than a shiny new device that is going to transport us to new heights.

But while the launch doesn’t warrant stocking up on either champagne or canned goods, it is a good reminder to pause and take stock of the three key things this event signals for retailers.

WHY SHOULD RETAILERS CARE:

1: IT’S OFFICIAL: SOCIAL’S PEANUT BUTTER IS IN MOBILE’S CHOCOLATE

Ultimately this is not about a phone. It’s not even about Facebook. It’s about the fact that social interactions are increasingly mobile. Which makes complete sense. People have more to say and share when they are on the go or on their couches watching TV.

50% of Facebook interactions take place on a mobile device. Almost all of Instagram & FourSquare use is mobile (Comscore Media Metrix 11/12).

Takeaway for retailers: Don’t worry about designing websites for a special phone. Think about how your customers are using mobile and social to shop. This impacts how you reach them and where transactions will take place. Hint: Shopping will be the next peanut butter – but bacon flavored of course.

2: “DIGITAL EFFORT” IS DEAD

Some are heralding the importance of the phone’s experience. By “experience” they mean everything Facebook is more or less automatic and seamless. From streaming status updates to your phone home screen to connecting your actions to your social graph, the design is reported to be more personal and customizable than that of the mobile Facebook app the rest of us poor slobs are hobbling along with.

Again, this is not about the phone or Facebook. Really, it’s about human nature. If necessity is the mother of invention, Laziness is the baby daddy. If you put it right in front of us, we might look at it. But if we have to download/register/type/think, well then you will lose “eyeballs.”

Takeaway for retailers: Surfacing, integrating and connecting are the new “designing.” Stop designing digital shopping experiences that require user effort/sign-in/registering etc. and start designing systems and features that magically surface what the customer wants and needs at each juncture.

3: IT’S NEVER EVER EVER ABOUT THE HARDWARE. IT’S ABOUT THE PLATFORM.

Not many people care that the Facebook phone platform is reported to be MSM8960 (Dual Core). And neither do we. Why? Because we don’t design for hardware, we design for people. And people need agnostic platforms that provide what they want and need, regardless of the device they are on.

The most interesting thing to emerge Thursday will not be the phone but rather the “Facebook Home” software. The software will potentially provide the Facebook home screen for any Android and let you Facebook chat while using other phone features, among other things. In other words, Facebook might be getting better for all Androids – not just the special Facebook phone.

Takeaway for retailers: Don’t get caught up in the technology. Focus on creating adaptable, transportable digital shopping experiences that provide the best features for everyone everywhere regardless of their device.

Like thousands, we will watch the Facebook phone launch webcast Thursday and read all of the reviews and probably buy one for “research purposes.” But the real news has already happened. The Facebook phone is just a reminder call that easy, everywhere experiences are a must.

Research via mobile while standing in a store aisle. Share an ecommerce purchase via social. Revel in catalog imagery gone interactive on a tablet. Order online, pick-up in-store.

You’ve seen the wheel diagrams with arrows pointing every which way. Seamless interaction is the panacea.

But what if you’re a branded manufacturer? For you, channels are retail chains upon which your business relies. Distribution networks may not look kindly upon direct competition. Retailers have been carefully courted and any perceived alienation could negatively impact your bottom line.

Feel conflicted about going full force into direct digital commerce? At Fluid, we’ve seen a resurgence of branded manufacturers grappling with this issue. You are not alone.

Internet Retailer reports that web sales for consumer branded manufacturers in their Top 500 had a 2011 YOY increase of 12%. Web-only merchants 32%. Store-based 15%. Catalog call center companies 12.3%. No one likes last place.

In 1998 Levi’s famously false started into ecommerce when their retailers negatively responded to their aggressive online strategy of retaining exclusive online rights to the Levi’s and Dockers brands. Long before digital, brands like Coach sold in branded stores and via department stores.

In other words, this is not a new dilemma.

The good news: With the right strategy the dilemma can be diffused. Branded manufacturers have a right to pursue the rich opportunity of digital commerce directly. Not doing so runs the risk of lost revenue. In the right circumstances this can be collaborative vs. competitive.

So how to strike the best balance?

At Fluid, we’re seeing six main models of direct digital selling for branded manufacturers:

1. Full On Swagger
2. Full Price Promise
3. Sharing the Spotlight

4. Referral to Retailers Only
5. For You Only Exclusives
6. Proof Positive

1. Full On Swagger: Brands that fully own and aggressively pursue direct digital selling usually have the advantage of a base built through their own direct outlet (digital or off-line). Or they start as web/catalog only and pursue expansion into physical stores or online distribution. These brands have the confidence and head-start to own direct selling outright.

An example: Apple. Apple controls product prices at any distribution point and has retailers feeling lucky to add their products to a sku base.

2. Full Price Promise: In this scenario a branded manufacturer sells direct but makes a commitment to always sell at full price. In other words, valued distributors we will not undermine you with discounts that give us an advantage.

An example: The North Face. Other than offering free shipping, The North Face does not discount on thenorthface.com. Interestingly, consumers report a willingness to pay full price in order to buy from the “source.” Reassurance of the real thing is apparently worth extra money.

3. Sharing the Spotlight: Purchase from us or purchase from one of our retailers. This category gives consumers the option to pick for themselves. Some branded manufacturers use this to their advantage by placing high selling retailers as the coveted top options. Store locators play prominently here.

An example: Le Creuset. Le Creuset prioritizes their own Add to Cart but offers the option to shop at their affiliated retailers. They have chosen to merely link to retailer sites, other brands drive you to the actual product .pdp page.

Two other notable forms of Sharing the Spotlight:
- method is using soap.com as their cart and check-out system
- Rubbermaid refers to retailers only if an item is out-of-stock on their own site

4. Referral to Retailers Only: In this scenario a branded manufacturer chooses to not sell direct at all. They serve as a brand portal and refer all sales traffic directly to retailers. This is the most conservative approach and tends to be used by strong brands who rely heavily on retailers (think consumer packaged goods).

An example: Clorox. Clorox and the Clorox sub-brands provide purchase options for online retailers and offline stores. Interestingly, they also provide pricing. This model is not limited to CPG. JanSport and JELD-WEN are other examples.

At Fluid, we’re seeing these final two models less frequently. But we think they are the most innovative and exciting of the bunch. Expect them to expand.

5. For You Only Exclusives: Wal-Mart, QVC and HSN excel at this approach. To sell through us your offer must be exclusive to us (in price, bundle or product). We’re now seeing branded manufacturers empowered by the possibilities this holds. Exclusives in direct selling serve as a differentiator. Exclusives for retail distributors respect the sacredness of an established relationship.

An example: Reebok. Reebok’s custom shoe program gives consumers a reason to go specifically to Reebok.com. It sets them apart from their retailers – without directly competing. The next iteration of this model would be Reebok offering specific custom shoes only to certain retailers.

6. Proof Positive: In this scenario, a branded manufacturer site serves as a beta test for features, functionality and marketing tactics. The result? Arm retailers with proof of what’s working when it comes to moving product. This offers proven solutions that can be ported to succeed elsewhere.

An example: JELD-WEN. JELD-WEN leveraged their site data to show the positive impact of custom tools and guided selling. Their case convinced Home Depot to partner with them to try something similar on HomeDepot.com. Note: JELD-WEN has made the strategic decision to not sell direct online.

That’s a sneak peek of what we’re seeing at Fluid. Please send on any input. Or examples of strong stands on the topic.

Cheers,
Amy

It’s likely over the past 12 months you’ve seen an increase in traffic to your site from iPads. If you’re lucky, you’ve also seen a corresponding increase in revenue driven from iPads. With the holidays right around the corner (you’ve started holiday planning, right?) and no shortage of growth in the iPad user arena, it’s critical your site be ready to deliver on customer expectations when they shop (and purchase) from their iPads this holiday season.

We know that customer behavior and purchase tendencies are different on tablets than from standard browsers and also from smartphones and those behaviors are starting to drive a serious divergence in customer expectations as they traverse your site across their various devices. As far as tablets go, customers expect a richer, more immersive, and, well FUN experience relative to their standard browsing and smartphone usage and that demands a different design approach to meet customer expectations. Simply delivering the standard browser experience to your iPad visitors will not differentiate your brand in the emerging ‘tablet-first’ design space. Customer expect more and if you can capitalize on that expectation, it’s likely you’ll also capture your visitors’ dollars.

Surprisingly, the majority of Internet Retailer Top 500 sites not only haven’t starting delivering tablet-specific experiences to deliver on customer expectations, but a wide swath of them deliver sites to the iPad that have serious usability issues. Issues that aren’t problems for the standard browser, but can present serious barriers and frustrations to visitors on iPads.

Assuming there’s no time at this point for a tablet-specific design for your brand’s site, I’ve created a list of common usability issues seen when standard experiences are delivered to iPads, as well as some hints on how to avoid them. Take a look and see any of these issues plague your site, and fix them pre-holiday. Then, start planning for next year!

#10 – Flash

By now, most brands are savvy to the fact that iOS doesn’t support Flash but don’t fall victim to this now classic blunder. You don’t need to get fancy with HTML5 animation to deliver a solid customer experience. If time is a factor, a static image is better than an “Image Not Found” icon for iPad (and any iOS) visitor.

#9 – Links Opening in a New Page

Everyone using an iOS device has experienced this. You’re humming along reading, browsing, interacting; you tap on a link and all of a sudden the page you’re on disappears and a new page appears in its place. What happened? Don’t force your visitor to lose context, ESPECIALLY during some sort of conversion process like checkout. Take a look at each embedded link and judge whether it’s necessary to open a new page (which in some cases might be legitimate) or if that content could just as easily be displayed as an in-line alert or in a small layer.

#8 – Orientation Awareness

Okay, okay. The “fold” on a standard browser really is a myth (as one of my colleagues fantastically puts it: “Do you customers use Facebook? Then they scroll.”) but that myth is more of a reality on a tablet. Not because people won’t scroll, or in this case, swipe, but more because sometimes they don’t realize there is more to swipe to. Take a look at the way your site renders and scales on the iPad and confirm critical content and calls to action are visible without swiping, otherwise, it could be easily overlooked.

Also, make sure your site renders the way you want it to in both portrait AND landscape mode. Pages and images scale based on orientation, sometimes oddly, so take a look at critical pages in both orientations.

In this example a customer looking for a store may think based on the way the page renders in landscape, that this is the only store in their area.

When in reality – there are more results when shown in portrait mode.

#7 – Input Awareness

I like to call this one “Give your Customer the Numeric Keyboard and They’ll Be Your Customer for Life.” It’s a long way of saying it may seem like a small thing to deliver the numeric keyboard when a customer taps into, say, a Zip Code field, but that moment of delight for your customer is priceless. Do it and they will love you.

#6 – Use of Scrolling areas or IFrames Within a Page

While this interaction is undoubtedly more well-known today than when the iPad was first released, the two-finger swipe is still not a natural behavior therefore any in-page scrolling on your site is likely to go unused due to ignorance on the part of your customer. Again, at best, the information isn’t critical but at worst, it is and customer abandon the site in favor of a competitor who doesn’t use iFrames on their site.

#5 – Fonts are Too Small

Too small. Especially when orientation gets switched. It’s relatively easy to bump up font sizes for iPad users using CSS so have mercy on older customers or people who fear wrinkles due to squinting.

#4 – Everything is Too Small

By “everything” what I really mean is any interaction element like checkboxes, radio buttons, swatches – any target a visitor is expected to be able to interact with is small, and the spaces between are too small. Make things BIG and targets tap-able and make the padding/spacing between such elements enough so that a customer isn’t frustrated by accidentally tapping the red swatch when he was aiming for the blue swatch.

Zappos, for all of its great points, doesn’t do a great job on this point. See below. It’s a bit of a nightmare getting to the brand page intended and once you get to a product detail page, you it better be the color you wanted!

#3 – OnHover. OnPurpose.

If you are going to use a Hover-type interaction, make sure it makes sense in the context of the iPad. Something that displays OnHover on a standard website actually takes two taps on the iPad because there’s no hover action to speak of (at least not now. iPad 4 rumors anyone?). Classic example is the “QuickView” action so commonplace on ecommerce sites today. It’s great for standard browsers but iPad users who tap on a thumbnail only to get the “QuickView” button only to tap on that to get the QuickView layer when ALL THEY WANTED was to get to the Product Detail Page are going to get frustrated really fast. Take a look at where you are using OnHover and see if it makes sense to either remove it from the iPad experience, or as in the case of QuickView, expose the action by default.

#2 – Things that are tapable should look tapable. Things that aren’t, shouldn’t.

This really boils down to a renewed need for clean, usable visual systems in web design. Heuristics evolved for standard browsers, but some of those heuristics are being blown away the the advent of a multi-touch interface. While any visual system is going to be magnified on the iPad where visitors expect EVERYTHING to be tapable (because tapping is fun), help visitors avoid disappointment by establishing a clear an obvious visual system to indicate what is tapable and what isn’t. I’m not advocating returning to the days of a bright blue “click here” everywhere, but depending on your demographic, it may serve your iPad experience to have more clear visual indicators of elements that will lead to new pages, open layers, give feedback, etc.

CharmingCharlie.com (shown below although they are currently undergoing a redesign) elected to go with a very Pinterest-y design for a while which works great on a standard browser where OnHover actions make it clear what’s clickable and what’s not, but on the iPad, visitors are likely to tap on most anything just to see what happens.

#1 – Feel the Need for Speed

Don’t assume your visitors use Wifi all the time on their iPads. Performance and responsiveness matters now more than ever. While you might not have control over wireless provider infrastructure and bandwidth, you do have control over page size, image size, tags, etc. on your pages. The heavier the page, the longer it will take to load. Sound like 1998 web design? Well, yeah. The evolution of web design and web technologies has enabled some pretty cool, interactive interfaces but those can sometimes take a lot of code. Likewise, the ability to track and analyze visitor info has translated into awesome “Big Data” but that can also translate into a lot of tags on your page. It’s all very powerful, but with great power comes great responsibility. Code bloat is a problem. Don’t be a part of the problem. Make sure your site loads reasonably quickly over non-Wifi connections and any in-page interactions are responsive. Or else? Well, or else customers will simply move on just like they’ve always done, but they’ll move on faster than they did before, and probably won’t give your site another chance.

The good news is that if you avoid these common issues your brand’s site will be in good shape for the holidays and you’ll see those mobile dollars increasing month over month, year over year. How much you choose to invest in tweaking site design to be device-specific should really be rooted in revenue driven from said devices, but this holiday season will be a great indicator of the kind of growth you can expect in the tablet-driven metrics going forward.

Let me back up.  I’m a big believer in Avinash Kaushik’s “So What?” analytics philosophy that says if you can’t answer what action or recommendation could result by tracking a certain metric after asking ‘So what?” three times, you shouldn’t bother tracking it. It’s a great philosophy and in theory any organization subscribing to this philosophy should be running a lean, mean analytics discipline.  In practice however, most companies don’t ask “So What?” or even “Why?”.   Instead they are swimming in a sea of data with the end result being analysis paralysis.

Sometimes this is self-inflicted (tag everything and review hourly!) but in most cases they’ve companies implement an analytics package and now that data is being collected, they just don’t know what to look at or care about. So they end up doing nothing.  As a colleague once put it “Your web analytics tool is the best tool you’ve already paid for but aren’t using.”

Here at Fluid we’ve recently overhauled our Analytics practice within our Strategy group to make sure even our approach to data is user-centric.  Why?  Simple.  We want to help our clients:

• Achieve a deeper understanding of customer behavior and motivations
• Answer the “why” behind the “what”
• Make quantitatively as well as qualitatively informed design decisions
• Work within a clear framework for measuring success and proving ROI
• Get past analysis paralysis and turn mountains of data and isolated metrics into insights and actions

As digital design and user experience experts, we have the talent, knowledge and expertise to help our clients get beyond the “what” of their data and get to the “why” and “So What?”   Sounds great, right?

If what you’ve read so far is resonating, you know that it’s not always as easy as it sounds.

When we start working with clients on an analytics strategy we focus on a few key things.  If you are at a place in your organization where you’re ready to re-evaluate your analytics strategy, focusing on the following could help you get started.

1. Forget about current data, infrastructure, platform, etc.  What are the primary goals of your digital initiative whether it be web, mobile, social?

When answering this question don’t think about metrics.  Think about answering as a narrative. For example, “We want customers to learn more about our company.”  or “We want more people reading our blog.”  or “We want to increase revenue coming from our website.”

2. What are your current benchmarks?

It’s okay if you don’t know.  This may be a rhetorical question that turns into a ‘to-do’ once #1 is answered. In some cases we find out the benchmarks are completely arbitrary – in other words, not benchmarks at all but pipe dreams.  We don’t want to be set up for failure so establishing real benchmarks from which to set goals in imperative.  In other cases we find the benchmarks have nothing to do with the articulated goals and they need to align in order to really measure success.

3.  Who cares about this information?

We try and be realistic when we answer this question by framing it as not only “who cares” but “who can authorize the action?”   It is difficult and frustrating to put together a fantastic analytics strategy and have wonderful, actionable insights, only to realize the people who need to authorize budget for changes as outcomes of the data findings were never part of the fantastic analytics discussions.  Answering this question can help you make sure the right stakeholders are involved in the analytics strategy.  It also helps you, as the analytics “guy” or “gal” keep focused on the the bigger organizational goals and objectives.  It’s all too easy to get so excited or so deep into the data you become one of those “tag it all!” people so by leading up a focused practice, it will be easy for you to build a solid business case for change with the decision makers when you’re able to tie clear KPI trends to articulated business goals and objectives AND those decision makers helped formulate the KPIs.

Once you establish the groundwork by answering the questions above you can get more specific; feature ROI, custom reports and dashboards, real time data analysis, multi-channel funnel reports, conversion optimization, interval reporting and automation, etc.  All that good stuff that really helps you get a deeper understanding of your customers and their behaviors and issues with the experience and start formulating a story around your customer’s journey.

Just make sure you are always answering “So What?” when you enter into discussions around tagging X,Y or Z to track A,B or C.

Footnote:
If you are a Google Analytics user, check out Avinash’s blog.  There are always interesting discussions about web analytics and some good Q&A.  Justin Cutroni’s blog is another good resource for you.  He’s currently an “Analytics Advocate” at Google.  His stuff tends to be a lot more tactical and has great report templates you can add to your GA dashboards.

What’s driving this trend? At Fluid we see four main factors:

1. Mobile (and tablet) first design: Mobile is no longer the second thought to web design. The minimalism and functionality needed to make mobile sing is where designers are starting. Strong mobile growth projections and the shift in consumer behavior towards mobile access are fueling this fire. Just ask Facebook and eBay. Responsive design fits into this niche nicely.

2. Facebook timeline: In January 2012 Sophos conducted a poll that found that 51.29% of respondents said Facebook Timeline worried them (32.36% said they didn’t know why they were still on Facebook). With the roll out completed these numbers have likely changed. 900M active users now see their history of interactions visually.

3. Pinterest: In February ComScore reported that Pinterest passed 10M monthly uniques faster than any stand alone site ever. In March Pinterest served up 2.3B page impressions to 4M unique visitors. That’s 4000%+ growth YOY. Pinterest serves as such a strong source of referral traffic that two things are happening: Digital commerce sites are proactively pinning on Pinterest and Digital commerce sites are adapting their site photography to make pinning to Pinterest easy (and appealing). At Fluid we think infinite scroll is Pinterest’s secret sauce.

4. Instagram: Even before the $1B acquisition by Facebook, Instagram’s 35M users knew they had discovered something exciting. Seamlessly integrated with mobile and social Instagram allows people to express themselves and their activities visually. As one Fluid’s clients put it “Verbal posts, for example on Yelp, are extreme – they tend to reflect love or hate. There’s very little in-between. Visual sharing and tagging gives voice to a silent majority we need to hear.”

Now these are not the only drivers. Sites like Gilt and RueLaLa helped kill the notion of the fold as users automatically scrolled down to make sure they weren’t missing anything. Polyvore was in on visual displays early. And Etsy even looks like the prelude to Pinterest (and is the #1 pinned brand on Pinterest).

Note: This trend is not a return to the days of brochureware (thank goodness). Images today need to work way harder than that. And in this trend, product images are trumping brand images.

Some examples to steal for your next trend deck:
The Shift from Verbal to Visual

Fab.com: Fab.com exudes the beauty of visual design. It reinforces the design of the products they sell and the brand they have built. Their recent redesign (May) reflects a shift from flash sales to social sharing – a shift we’ve seen the market make. Also Fancy is worth a look – a Pinterest-like site that started with the premise of digital shopping vs. trying to add it on later.

Volkswagen: Volkswagen ported the look and feel of Facebook Timeline to their core site for the Beetle What was Beetle doing in 1958? I now know that’s when the Bug started “breeding like rabbits.” While users can still utilize the tab structure, the whole site is available on downward scroll.

National Geographic: National Geographic is world renowned for its photography. Recently on a joint venture with The North Face to summit Everest the photos shared were via Instagram. Surely this is a sign. Both that photography has undergone a momentous shift and that National Geographic has caught on to a powerful way to drive traffic to their photographs.

Old Spice: Old Spice continued its reign of creative ideas that yield social response with DevastatingExplosions.com. A simple site with an irresistible visual call to action. It drew 600K visitors who pressed the button in the first 12 hours – 4M in less than a week. Will it sell more product? Who knows. Do I want to interact with it? Absolutely.

Coachella + Tupac: Tupac Shakur died in 1996. Technology brought him back to life via a hologram to perform at Coachella. It left folks in awe. It also left an industry wondering could Elvis or the Beatles or Micheal Jackson be next? Yes this is a twist on traditional digital commerce but I think it shows the power that visual + digital can yield.

Do like what you’re seeing with this trend? Is your brand on board? Bring on any other examples.

Cheers,
Amy

His conclusion: Instagram was a good deal. And not indicative of a bubble. See his analysis here.

Three reasons why this is awesome:

1. Cold hard facts. Baio uses a cost per acquisition model to which any marketer can relate. It makes $1B tangible. eBay paid $84.42 per PayPal user. Yahoo $111.11 per Flickr user. Google $48.53 per YouTube user. Intuit $113.33 per Mint.com user. At $28.57 per Instagram user, Facebook is looking rather savvy.

If the relative data cohort was how much it costs to feed hungry children or how far to the moon Kevin Systrom’s 400M new $1 bills would reach, we’d be telling a different story. This is what I love about data – it holds rich stories.

2. $30 can get you a lot of different things. Some ways to spend $30:

15. Fifteen days of access to a San Francisco gym
14. 3.75 months of NetFlix (streaming)
13. Five round-trips over the Golden Gate bridge (cash not FastTrak)
12. Thirty $1 tips to buskers on the L subway platform in NYC
11. 37.5 clicks on a Facebook ad (based on average CPC of $.8)
10. Ten minutes of a therapy session
9. Two mixed drinks in a swanky Manhattan bar
8. Thirty songs on iTunes
7. Two days of a rental car on Priceline (if you’re lucky)
6. Ten slices at Joe’s Pizza in Greenwich Village
5. A half-an-hour massage
4. 1/19th of one Apple share (market close value = $580.13)
3. Fifteen minutes of a visual designers time (maybe)
2. A two-pack of Polaroid 600 instant film (on eBay)
1. One Instagram user (with 34,999,999 more to follow)

Multiply each item by 35M. Think Zuckerberg made the right call?

3. Instagram’s story fuels Silicon Valley/Alley dreams. Thirteen employees, fifteen months in operation, two smart founders who seem like nice guys. It makes us believe that anything is possible – recognizing that anything in this instance involves an incredibly intelligent, simple product meeting opportune market timing and adoption rates that broke all the rules.

Like any great drama this story has foils – Kodak and Hipstamatic (profitable in their own right and a new Instagram partner). A good-natured missed opportunity in Rob Abbott who declined an early chance to shape Instagram full-time. Plus plenty of envious and inspired people salivating over Instagram’s success – as well as a loud cheering section wishing them well.

I am in the cheering section. Congratulations Instagram. Congratulations indeed.

Who’s in to be next? Game on.

Cheers,
Amy