Apps are now an essential pillar in mainstream media, But as of 2016 Fortune discovered that more than 75% of app downloads are opened once and then never again. As such, this has led to a highly saturated market with very few apps taking off with repeated access from users. Many believe that the answer to this may lie with user interface.

Galitz’s 2007 book takes an exploration into the importance of strong user interface (UI) in rising media, from screen design to user perspective, 14 steps were established for effective user interface design:

1. Know your user or client
2. Understand the business function
3. Understand the principles of good screen design
4. Develop system menus and navigation schemes
5. Select the proper kinds of windows
6. Select the proper interaction devices
7. Select the proper screen based controls
8. Clear text and messages
9. Provide effective feedback and guidance
10. Accessibility
11. Meaningful graphics, icons and images
12. Proper colour schemes
13. Test, test and retest

Using these, UI was thought to be the most essential part of a computer system, and so the goal of interfaces were simple: To make working with a program easy, productive, and enjoyable. As a result, the world of mobile apps and UI has taken huge leaps to better optimise themselves for the current digital climate looking at 4 key areas.

Optimised user flow 

It is essential to understand how users interact with an app to assist developers in creating a smooth user experience. This can be done via:

• Chunking big tasks such as a checkout process into a number of steps
• Using information already held on users (i.e. uber already using known location to help setting pick up points)
• Maintain momentum by providing a clear next step for users to go onto

Cut out clutter 

Good UI is commonly depend on ensuring the relevant information is clearly available and the more cluttered information is not left taking up valuable space on already limited mobile devices. This can be done effectively by showing only what is necessary on the current step of the flow. i.e. when users are making decisions, reveal the information relevant to allow them to make a decision then go into more detail in following pages.

Tap targets & the thumb zone 

It is also pivotal to understand the imitations of the mobile screen real estate. It is essential that actionable elements of interfaces are large enough to be easily pressed without error. As a general rule of thumb, design controls must have a general area of 7-10mm with a suitable amount of spacing between targets to avoid input error.

To incorporate this effectively, it is integral to consider the ‘thumb zone’. This involves not only making sure targets are large enough, but also understanding how we hold our phones. Only one third of our phone screens are comfortably accessible, this is known as the natural thumb zone. targets out of this area require stretching or changing of hand placement. It is important to understand this concept when developing a new app to ensure the gestures required for functionality are intuitive.

When it comes to intuitive gestures, Thomas Joos (2013) surmised in his article “Beyond the button: Embracing the gesture driven interface” that the biggest downfall of app gestures, is the learning curve. Gestures are often hidden with little explanation, so it is imperative that if apps wish to be succesful, they incorporate commonly known gestures that allow a fluidity in how easily the app can be worked.

Create a multichannel experience

Finally comes the importance of providing a multi-channel experience for users to effortlessly shift from platform to platform with little work. This will boost the maximum amount of time a user stays on the app and in doing so may boost engagement as well as possible sales conversions. It would be beneficial for those who make use of an app to invest more in development to ensure the migration of platforms runs smoothly.

Check back for more content!

Joos, T. (2013). Beyond The Button: Embracing The Gesture-Driven Interface. [online] Smashing Magazine. Available at: https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2013/05/gesture-driven-interface/#the-learning-curve [Accessed 4 Apr. 2018].

Galitz, W.O., 2007. The essential guide to user interface design: an introduction to GUI design principles and techniques. John Wiley & Sons.

Fortune. (2016). Here’s How Hard It Is to Get People To Use Your App. [online] Available at: http://fortune.com/2016/05/19/app-economy/ [Accessed 4 Apr. 2018].

Aarabi, P. (2013). 5 tips for creating great mobile app user interfaces. [online] VentureBeat. Available at: https://venturebeat.com/2013/04/08/5-tips-for-creating-great-mobile-app-user-interfaces/ [Accessed 4 Apr. 2018].

Aarabi, P. (2014). Mobile User Interfaces: A Look at the Future. [online] WIRED. Available at: https://www.wired.com/insights/2014/01/mobile-user-interfaces-look-future/ [Accessed 4 Apr. 2018].

Companies investing time and money into new and innovative branded apps may seem like a more recent occurrence, but studies such as that by Hinchcliffe (2013) have signalled that these are not only working, but they are here to stay. The last few years have seen the release of many similar papers highlighting the benefits of these apps that incorporate user-generated content as well as calling upon the need for development of mobile strategies to better manage their use and effectiveness.

Multiple articles published in the Journal of interactive marketing (2009 and 2011) have posed that the success of these apps as marketing tools is not only due to their high level of user engagement but studies carried out have found that they have positive persuasive impact and boost brand interest.

The exponential increase in smart phone and app users is all well and good, but what makes a good app and how is this helpful to businesses? Well a paper recently presented at the international conference on electronics and information engineering found that the main motivations and rewards from using an app are:

• Entertainment
• Functionality
• Information
• Socialisation
• Intellectual stimulation
• Following a trend
• Learning

Though to be truly be effective, these criteria must be used in conjunction with the business objectives of companies employing such strategies.

Typically branded Apps have four key goals:

Communication: An app will need to effectively communicate the intentions of the brand as well as any information or products that users are trying to be directed towards.

Customer relationship management: The best performing apps have a high level of engagement with their users and make use of this user-generated content (in the form of posts and blogs). This collection of of user data allows for better analysis and improvement of the app to benefit loyal customers.

Innovation: Original and innovative ideas are crucial for the success of branded apps in a rapidly saturating market. Apps that incorporate user generated content can often keep themselves relevant with little input from the company if done correctly, however they face the risk of irrelevant or spam content if not monitored.

Sales: Many branded apps aim to create completely new and immersive purchasing experiences to increase sales as well as providing a new form of interaction for users. A succesful app will have more utility than traditional methods of purchasing a product, Such as IKEA’s app that allows you to see furniture placed in your own room, or clothing brands such as adidas that allow you to see the item of clothing overlaid the users own image.

These are examples of M-commerce focused apps but these weren’t without their own teething problems. Apps that make use of augmented reality require extensive coding and often struggle to run smoothly and efficiently. For a company to gain maximum utility from incorporation of a branded app, i believe they must make use of user-generated content as well as a more innovative method to make purchases. Examples of this can be seen in Starbucks use of their store locator app that combines with loyalty points, relatively simple concepts such as this are not only easier to run but also incite repeat use of the app throughout the day.

Hinchcliffe, D. (2013). 2013 predictions for enterprise social media. Retrieved January 18, 2013

SEO has maintained a well established form of boosting a brands online presence in recent years. Working through both organic forms and paid searches, businesses now have the opportunity to gain the competitive advantage over one another if they are willing to invest time and money.

An advanced web ranking study carried out in 2015 found that on the first search engine results page (SERP), the top 5 results account for 67.60% of all clicks. The following 5 results then only account for 3.73%

.

As a result, marketeers and SEO specialists have worked to analyse the varying aspects of search that need to be improved to boost a company’s placing:

• Relevancy
• Quality content
• User experience
• Site speed
• Cross-device compatibility
• Internal linking
• Authority
• Social

Relevancy – The mid 90’s saw the development of the PageRank algorithm developed by Larry Page and Sergey Brin in an attempt to improve relevancy of search results. For a company to then come higher up on a SERP it would be within it’s best interest to increase it’s page ranking number to appear as a result for more searches.

Quality of content – Regular publishing of quality content has been found to align with search engines long form content algorithms rather then forcing keywords into content to improve SERP results. If a company is to improve their SERP standing, regular content of high quality will need to be posted.

Site speed & Cross compatibility – With the volume of online sites increasing at an exponential rate, page loading times is becoming a critical differentiating factor. If companies are to stand out, it may be in their best interest to shift to an accelerated mobile page (AMP). This used in conjunction with a site that is functional on all devices can substantially boost online standings.

Internal linking & Authority – Companies should also aim to have easy to use interfaces with posts that push traffic around the site, allowing them to be ranked as a more ‘trusted’ site. This not only boosts site authority but can increase overall traffic.

Social – Finally is the resource of social media, as inferred by ‘The search engine optimisation bible’, social media optimisation strategies should be integrated into SEO workflow to boost traffic and eventually link back to the site or SERP.

Pay-per-click (PPC)

As with all SEO methodologies, PPC has limitations and benefits. Bidding for certain keywords can often cause exceedingly high costs for companies to out bid one another, with some companies even having dedicated teams to check rankings and bid accordingly.

It is important for companies to note that many search engines now recognise PPC ads. Meaning that even though you may have a high ranking with one search engine due to a successful PPC campaign, this not may be the case with other search engines. This means that it may be necessary to run multiple PPC campaigns with different search engines to improve overall ranking, however this can come at a large cost to the business.

Companies must learn to use both organic search and paid advertising synergistically if they are to create an effective and cost efficient campaign as they grow.

McIntyre, E.S., 2015. Search engine optimization. ON October, 11.

Page, L., Brin, S., Motwani, R., & Winograd, T. (1999). The PageRank citation ranking: bringing order to the web. Retrieved from Stanford University website: http://ilpubs.stanford.edu:8090/422/1/1999-66.pdf

https://www.ampproject.org/

Ledford, J.L., 2015. Search engine optimization bible (Vol. 584). John Wiley & Sons.

www.searchenginewatch.com/2016/01/21/seo-basics-22-essentials-you-need-for-optimizing-your-site/

Khan, G.F., 2015. Seven layers of social media analytics: Mining business insights from social media text, actions, networks, hyperlinks, apps, search engine, and location data. CreateSpace.

Berman, R. and Katona, Z., 2013. The role of search engine optimization in search marketing. Marketing Science, 32(4), pp.644-651.

Killoran, J.B., 2013. How to use search engine optimization techniques to increase website visibility. IEEE transactions on professional communication, 56(1), pp.50-66.

Companies exploring a range of marketing channels to expand their user base is no new concept. Understanding these channels and using them effectively however, is a different ball game.

Online partnerships have, without question, been an integral part of companies improving their online presence, and with good reason. Many online partnerships can include (but are not limited to):

• Affiliate marketing
• Sponsorships
• Co-branding
• Link-building
• Widget marketing

Few companies can implement these partnerships well but recently Red Bull and GoPro have done just that. The new 2016 partnership has given both companies wings (pardon the pun) as we see the companies have shared content rights on co-production. Allowing content to be distributed on both RedBull’s and GoPro’s digital channels. A bold Co-branding move will ensure both companies growth will go further as their user bases come together.

But these two lifestyle giants haven’t been the only companies to come together to form a Goliath of an online presence…

Smaller start-up companies have also seen the benefits of utilising online channels and have jumped on the band wagon. One of the most notable of which could be the relatively new start-up Gymshark, a fitness and lifestyle clothing brand.

Gymshark has built up their user base and online presence almost solely through the use of social media and its influencers. Created in 2012 by a group of ambitious teenagers, the company now has a social media following of over 3 million users while selling their product in over 131 countries. With their main source of sales being through influencer or ‘affiliate’ endorsements, of whom are on a salary and can be seen wearing and pushing their product.

The rapid growth of Gymshark is testament to the effectiveness of affiliate marketing and sponsorships in the current digital marketing climate. With many studies supporting the effectiveness of such methods in the last few years for the growth of a company.

However these collaborations of online channels do not always have to be big affairs. Nikon displayed this excellently this year by teaming up with the Telegraph by providing them with their newly released DSLR camera’s for them to shoot a range of digital content including:

• An interactive gallery that captures two professional photographers’ experiences behind the scenes at the tomato-throwing festival La Tomatina
• Online features offer expert advice on mastering tricky photography styles and shots
• Video content on what it was like to photograph the world’s biggest food fight
• Digital distribution also includes native iAds and features on Apple News, plus the Telegraph’s Live app
• A cover wrap of Telegraph Magazine on 18 November frames the story of La Tomatina in more detail

With both companies displaying the creative energy brought about by first time link-building, it allows the potential for bigger and more exciting content to come our way in the future, while also inciting other companies to reach out and expand their reach and user base.

But it’s not just new start-ups that have discovered the benefits of online partnerships, academic papers have long noted the key concepts that come from a symbiotic partnership:

• Creating a Win – Win situation for both companies: A truly effective online partnership requires that both parties receive similar levels of growth and exposure that allows for a mutually beneficial relationship as they move forward.
• Opens new channels for expansion: Companies crossing over to utilise each others social media platforms and following, allows growth via one another in areas where they may be lacking (e.g. a company who’s main exposure is via electronic words of mouth can be put into contact with affiliates that they can also partner with)
• Can coordinate multi-product departments: Partnerships don’t just allow for increased exposure, but also the chance for companies to expand into a range of different products and services. This allows their target market to increase exponentially.

Online partnerships are just one aspect of a wide range of marketing channels that marketers must learn to make effective use of if their businesses are to thrive in a rapidly expanding online environment.

Chaffey, D., Smith, P.R. and Smith, P.R., 2013. eMarketing eXcellence: Planning and optimizing your digital marketing. Routledge.

Chaffey, D., Ellis-Chadwick, F., Mayer, R. and Johnston, K., 2009. Internet marketing: strategy, implementation and practice. Pearson Education.

Davenport, E. and McLaughlin, L., 2004. Interpersonal trust in online partnerships: The challenge of representation. Trust in knowledge management and systems in organizations, pp.107-123.

https://gopro.com/news/gopro-and-red-bull-form-exclusive-global-partnership

https://uk.gymshark.com/

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/photography/tips/la-tomatina-2017-festival-pictures/?WT.mc_id=tmgspk_nwk_1838_ApkvB4K9wMhB&utm_source=tmgspk&utm_medium=nwk&utm_content=1838&utm_campaign=tmgspk_nwk_1838_ApkvB4K9wMhB

User flow is essential to understanding a users needs and creating pathways that provide a set direction and end goal when accessing a webpage. User flow attempts to analyse:

• What is trying to be accomplished
• Does is reassure users to continue
• Understanding if any additional information is needed
• if there are any barriers to completeing the task

A site that adopts the concept of user flow quite succesfully is that of MVMT watches. Their initial landing page provides clear categories that allows users to navigate easily through the website to find desired products and efficiently added to the checkout cart before completeing the purchase.

The userbility and professional look of a webpage and its flow is critical in invoking user confidence in the website so that a larger percentage get to the final checkout page and complete their purchase. MVMT do this well through use of a simple yet functional website that gets users to the final check out page in as few clicks as possible and allows for as few ‘drop offs’ as possible

References

Optimizely.com. (2017). Optimizely: The World’s Leading Experimentation Platform. [online] Available at: https://www.optimizely.com/optimization-glossary/user-flow/ [Accessed 25 Oct. 2017].

MVMT. (2017). Watches and Sunglasses by MVMT – Join the MVMT. [online] Available at: https://www.mvmtwatches.com/?utm_content=not_purchased&gclid=CjwKCAjw7MDPBRAFEiwAppdF9NdwZE-_mruIRxSmZHlJV5K7ww0hukKcsRTezNmtTOAGv2ZPtFkCtBoCwekQAvD_BwE [Accessed 25 Oct. 2017].

Orbit Media Studios. (2017). User Flow Analysis using Google Analytics: Examples for every website owner. [online] Available at: https://www.orbitmedia.com/blog/user-flow-google-analytics/ [Accessed 25 Oct. 2017].

Ikea has maintained being a well established multinational furniture manufacturer for years, however there has been a need for them to improve social analytics in order for them to gain a better understanding of what their consumer base perceptions are Continue reading →