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News, insight and tips from the social web.
The Hoop blog covers the evolving digital landscape, social media, mobile communications, content marketing and also includes 5 top finds and Fish on Friday. Feel free to make comments.
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Jakob Nielsen: 'mobile sites vs full sites' debate. The Hoop view. »
Jakob Nielsen's views on mobile sites have caused some controversy in the developer community. Hoop look into what he said and whether he has a point or is off the mark.
Recently, one of the world's leading web consultants Jakob Nielsen discussed his thoughts on the mobile sites vs full sites debate, based on his company's - Nielsen-Norman Group - research. The post has been a subject of controversy since, with many people blasting the developer for an outdated view on mobile browsing.
[Image from Use It]
Nielsen stressed that companies should have a mobile optimised site, highlighting why full sites do not work for users on mobile devices. The user experience conversation has been going on for a while and, as any company that is aware of the growing numbers of mobile users will know, having a site optimised for smaller screens can bring about a very decent ROI.
Nielsen said:
"Good mobile user experience requires a different design than what's needed to satisfy desktop users. Two designs, two sites, and cross-linking to make it all work."
Hoop's business developer Gabriela Lacaci gave her thoughts on mobile browsing.
"As a non-technical person, I believe we should have everything. That is, desktop website, mobile responsive design and apps. I find it time wasting to have to revisit the same sites through mobile browsers, when an app sits nicely on your screen. However, this can easily be worked around by making apps that solely redirect to a mobile optimised site. A mobile optimised site for mobile users visiting the main site is a definite for me. And yes, if necessary, have more than one if the main website is a mammoth for content and activity.
I say: if you have too much content, cut it, you are probably saying too much anyway. If it's complicated, simplify it. We want it to be easy and are likely to spend more the easier it is to get to the checkout page. Personal conclusions? Apps, even if just to link to, and tablet/mobile optimised for users of these. As for desktop, maintain older versions for now but don't invest in them, instead phase into responsive designs. And please remember, I am not a technical person.
As a non-technical person, Gabriela is a voice of the public, even though her digital savvy allows her to articulate it much better than most. She realises there is a noticeable difference in experience when browsing a site optimised for mobile. Gabriela also indicates her liking for apps, because of the convenience of hitting the site instantly, rather than dealing with loading time.
So yes, Nielsen was spot on in his assessment that there has to be a different design for mobile users, including cutting out unnecessary content and taking into consideration 'fat thumbs'. What the web design community isn't happy about however, is his inability to mention responsive web design, eliminating the need for two different sites.
As conversations continued online, web designer Josh Clark labelled Neilsen's advice on mobile as "just 180-degrees backwards." Clark continues to state that many people use mobiles as their only access to the Internet, stressing that users should not be patronised and offered a limited experience or forced to browse a full site on a tiny screen.
"When you see a 'full desktop site' link on your phone, you're looking at an admission of failure."
Clark argues that building separate sites for different platforms during an era when new devices - with differing resolutions, screen sizes and portability - hiting the market every week is poor strategy. There is also the issue with separating mobile and full site URLs. According to Clark,
"[Nielsen's] suggestion that there should be a distinction between desktop and mobile website URLs is damaging, too. Any piece of content should have one address on the web, not several. When I'm on a phone, that content should be formatted appropriately for the small screen, and when I'm on a tv-based browser, it should be formatted appropriate for the giant screen. But the URL – the 'uniform resource locator' – should be uniform across devices, one place to go no matter what I'm using to browse.
Nielsen was given the opportunity to respond to the large amount of criticism on the same site, in an interview with Tanya Combrinck. When he was questioned about his apparent neglect to mention RSW, Nielsen response was rather baffling.
"...I was writing about user experience, not implementation. As mentioned above, responsive design is one of the ways to achieve different user interfaces for different devices. It should be up to the engineers to determine the most efficient way of achieving the user experience goals. All we usability people should decide is how the site should work for users, not how this is implemented."
It seemed apparent that he was talking about implementation in his blog post, but now he is arguing that it was about user experience. Was he only talking about user experience? Does implementation not affect the user experience? Surely, if implementation became so hard to maintain because of several sites for different platforms, it would directly affect the user... and their experience!
When reading the interview, it feels as if Nielsen is backtracking. He even goes as far as to give negative comments on RSW design, ironically, because as Mat Marquis' Tweet points out, the very platform Nielsen used to ignore RSW was responsive!
Hoop's experience manager Nick Smith uses his expertise to articulate where we at Hoop felt Nielsen went wrong:
"I agree with him that a desktop site is often not suitable to mobile. However, I think his approach to always have mobile separate from desktop is flawed. My approach would be to start with desktop functionality and work out how (if) it translates to mobile.
This is a quite a complex conversation that he's boiled down to a binary decision. His approach doesn't work in the real world. This post seems solely about the user experience, but I think he's not researched well enough if he doesn't take new technology into account (he doesn't explore responsive techniques at all). A friend in UX recently told me he's not sure he can keep up with all of the new technologies in web design. He was staggered at the pace of change and the way it affects his work.
I think Jakob is suffering from this."
Categories: Insight
Tags: Design, Jakob Nielsen, Mobile, Responsive web design, User Experience
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Top 5 finds #38 »
Smartphone gaming with a twist, tiny treats for your necklace, interactive video calls, fantastic tree inspired chair and Walk Off The Earth's Little Boxes. It's this weeks fantastic top 5 finds.
1. Spaceship Pilot
As we know here at Hoop, mobile is the future (or more accurately, the present... but that's another conversation we'll save for later). However, we also know that doesn't mean the end of desktop browsing and when the two work together we get excited.
Spaceship Pilot gets you to scan their QR code with your iOS device, which then launches a mini site on your iPhone/iPad and uses its accelerometers to control a space ship on your browser. Whilst it can often lose connection and getting past level two is a huge achievement, it is a lot of fun.
2. Miniature Food
[Image from The Wondrous]
A whole table full of Mexican delights but this supper won't fill you up more than a single olive as you notice that the only 'real' thing on that table is the match. Amazingly, Israeli artists Shay Aaron [Etsy] has created these tiny miniature food jewellery - so no, it is not edible.
Originally, we thought that Shay Aaron's tiny tasters were a one off. However, after finding the Mini Food Blog, we discovered that there's a whole market out there for miniature food. Not actual stuff you can eat, but beautifully hand made designs of steaks, burgers, pies, vegetables, eggs and pretty much anything you can think of.
3. Galileo - making communication interactive
Thanks to services such as Skype and Facetime, communicating with colleagues and loved ones miles away has never been so easy. However, Josh Guyot decided that, when Skyping with his son, the lack of control over where he could look made him feel even more disconnected.
With the support of Kickstarter, Guyot is now able to control where he can see and, if his son walks out of view again, he can follow thanks to his company's new piece of kit, Galileo. The iOS-controlled robotic iPhone device means you can remotely spin your recipient's iPhone to where you want to look, meaning people don't have to bunch in to fit the camera's vision. The device can be applied to more than just video calling however, as it also has benefits for photographers, demonstrated in the video.
4. GVAL chair by OOO My Design
[Image from OOO My Design]
According the OOO My Design website, the GVAL chair "pays homage to the most archetypical of all production materials, wood, in its most natural form: a tree." The tribute is attained by the shape of the chair and the texture of the plywood, taking inspiration from the pattern of tree rings, commonly considered it's memory.
Designed by Vanesa Moreno, Gustavo Reboredo, Louis Sicard & Nenad Katic, the smooth, sleek and modern design is not only pleasant to look at, it also packs an ergonomic punch as the lighter insides pull out to either make a foot-rest or, if you put both together, form another chair entirely!
The GVAL chair won first prize for the Making Chairs category in the international competition, Art On Chairs, awarded by the Paredes Center of Furniture Design. See, we aren't the only ones who like it.
5. Little Boxes performed with little boxes.
The incredibly talented Canadian five piece Walk Off The Earth have followed up their internet sensation cover of Gotye's Somebody That I Used To Know (where all five members performed the whole song on one guitar, racking up over 80million views so far!) with another video viral delight.
Little Boxes, a cover of the 1962 hit by Malvina Reynolds, has only been uploaded for a couple of week and has already hit over 1million views. The best thing about the video however is that it performed using instruments made of boxes or tubes, with the added delight of long haired singer/guitarist opening and closing his guitar box to add to the beat. Creativity, musicianship and viral marketing (for O2) fused brilliantly.
Categories: 5 top finds
Tags: Design, HTML5, iPhone, Kickstarter, Photography
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Startups of the week #14.1 »
There are vast amount of sustainable smartphone concepts online but a 23-year-old Londoner has seen his design turn into reality thanks to ADzero.
1. ADzero
There are few topics that are 'trending' more at the moment than smartphones and sustainability. AT&T are even about to launch a new program to rate the eco-friendliness of all the devices they sell. The Eco-Rating program will evaluate all of their devices from production to disposal. We think we have found one that will pass with flying colours. Introducing the ADzero.
[Image from ADzero - Photography by Karen Storey]
ADzero are a startup company from both China and the UK after it's co-founder, Jerry Lao, discovered 23-year-old London design student Keiron-Scoot Woodhouse's Sony Ericsson Xperia LED concept back in 2011. Impressed by the design, Lao traced the Middlesex University student back to a product design forum to approach Woodhouse about turning his idea into reality.
For the following few months, Woodhouse began to sketch up new ideas and came up with a beautiful design made out of bamboo. This makes Laura, the companies latest prototype, light-weight, durable and highly sustainable, to the point that farming it actually helps the environment. It also looks fantastic. On the Android OS, ADzero are developing their own ICS user interface.
After an impressive showing at TENT London, things began to quieten down as the team were busy working on the product and Woodhouse started his third year at university. That was until January this year, when BBC picked up on the device and started a plethora of well known tech blogs, including Mashable, TechCrunch and Engadget, to write up about the phone, which includes a unique ring-flash design, allowing evenly illuminated pictures.
ADzero have set the mark for sustainable, individual and beautiful smartphones which would appeal to most eco-friendly consumers. However, the company are targeting the more boutique market, rather than trying to hit the pocket of everyone. With such a beautiful design though, we think they'll shift more than enough.
Categories: Startups of the week
Tags: Design, Mobile, sustainable
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5 top finds #34 »
Exploring the oceans with the BBC, flashmobbing with Intel, how to combat digital piracy, Panagea makes a come back and Sacha Baron Cohen gatecrashes the Oscars. It's 5 top finds...
1. Diving the depths
Ever wondered what it's like travelling the world's deepest oceans? As four teams race to reach the depths of the Mariana Trench, the BBC take a look at what life is like 7 miles down.
2. Ultrabook pop-up theatre
Intel's marketing team flashmob's its way across LA, demonstrating "the ultra thin design & responsiveness of the Ultrabook™". Well worth a watch!
3. "Right vs. Pragmatic"
Marco Arment, cofounder of Tumblr and the brains behind read-it-later service Instapaper, has an interesting take on the current publishing battle raging between old media publishers and the digitally-savvy user of the 21st century.
4. Pentagram rebrand IDA
Hot off the success of branding the new Windows 8 OS, Pentagram recently unveiled a lovely new visual identity for the International Design Alliance's IDA Congress. You'll find the details over on Logo Design Love.
5. Sacha Baron Cohen does the Oscars
So Sacha Baron Cohen's got a new film out this year – what better way to market it with a bold stunt at the Oscars? You can't deny the man's got guts, even if Ryan Seacrest was left more than a little unimpressed.
Categories: 5 top finds
Tags: Content management, Design, Digital strategy, file sharing, flash mob, SOPA, User Experience
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5 top finds #28 »
Social sharing trends from 2011, Google Street View tours Japan after the tsunami, Ice Cube discusses LA's architecture, a success story on Kickstarter and a delay to Google's Motorola Mobility takeover. It's 5 top finds...
1. Social sharing trends from 2011
Given we're winding 2011 down and gearing up for 2012, now's the time when all the interesting analysis from the year starts surfacing. We spotted an awesome infographic the other day, courtesy of AddThis and Clearspring;
AddThis, a sharing platform, and Clearspring, a social data aggregator, present the sharing trends of 2011. With over 1.2 Billion users analyzed, this may be one of the most comprehensive sets of data available about online sharing.
You can read the article on TheNextWeb and see the full infographic on Flickr.
2. Tsunami streetview
It's hard to believe but the earthquake and subsequent horrific tsunami that destroyed the coast of Japan was in March.
A virtual tour via Street View profoundly illustrates how much these natural disasters have transformed these communities. If you start inland and venture out toward the coast, you'll see the idyllic countryside change dramatically, becoming cluttered with mountains of rubble and debris as you get closer to the ocean. In the cities, buildings that once stood proud are now empty spaces.
In the 10 months since, the country has gone some way to rebuilding itself but, as Google's 'Memories for the Future' Street View project shows, there is still a huge amount of work to do.
3. Talking buildings with Ice Cube
Did you know Ice Cube studied architectural drafting before pioneering gangster rap with N.W.A.?
No, we didn't either.
But, according to the man himself, it's the gospel truth. We spotted Cube discussing the Eames' house in Los Angeles over on Creative Review. Well worth a watch.
4. The 'Cadillac of iPhone docks'
We're always impressed by the ingenuity of people advertising products on crowd-funding platform Kickstarter.
Nine times out of ten, we've found that iPhone docks are more hassle than they're worth. It seems Casey from Portland's industrial design Elevation Lab agrees with us. He posted a Kickstarter project yesterday afternoon asking for funding for his (CNC'd block of aircraft-grade aluminium) dock, and 15 hours later the project has $110,570 (almost $36,000 over the project's goal) worth of funding from 1,200 backers.
We'll hopefully be seeing the Elevation Dock here in the UK one day; they look awesome!
5. The European Commission presses pause
Remember when Google tried to purchase Motorola Mobility back in August? It seems the EU Commission isn't happy with the proposed deal and has delayed the proposed takeover on antitrust grounds.
Among key questions that it has already tried to tease out are whether Google would favour Motorola over other hardware manufacturers which license Google's Android software for mobile phones and tablets. Google has repeatedly insisted that it would not.
The Guardian's Technology blog has the details.
Categories: 5 top finds
Tags: Apple, Design, Environment, Ice Cube, Infographic, iPhone, Kickstarter, Memories for the Future
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5 top finds #17 »
We thought we'd make your Friday a bit more enjoyable, so here's this week's 5 top finds. A new animation from Wallace & Gromit's makers, a discussion on beautiful web design, being asked for money by the American Government, growing your own bike and an innovative marketing ploy to get a job at Google.
1. The world's largest stop motion animation, shot entirely on a mobile phone
Do you remember Dot? We wrote about her a few months back, and today her makers are again getting some love on the Hoop blog. Aardman and Nokia again join forces to produce the world's largest stop motion animation, "Gulp", shot over five days on the Welsh coast using the Nokia N8. You can see the video here but it's the "Making of" that really blows us away. Superb stuff.
2. An insightful editorial on web design
We were impressed by this TechCrunch article, entitled "The Beautiful Internet". Whilst we agree with most of what Devin Coldewey (rather brilliantly says), we were a little concerned about his point about getting "the great unwashed" from their older browser versions. Which was wonderfully summarised in this piece from Isolani.
Web development isn't about getting everyone on the newest browser iteration, it's about catering to your target audiences' needs.
3. Apple has more money than the US Government
We followed the US Government's wheeling and dealing to raise the debt ceiling with baited breath last week. When it was announced that Apple had more cash in the bank than the 50 states of America, our jaws hit the floor.
But we knew things were really bad when the US Government gave us a ring and asked for our money.
4. Bamboo bikes
We've featured wooden bikes on the Hoop blog before, but none as innovative as this one. The above trike wasn't built into the above shape, the bamboo was grown (yes grown!) by its builder Alexander Vittouris as an entry for a competition run by Good Design Australia. Amazing!
5. Google, hire m.e
We've all been there, finding the perfect job but not quite knowing how to apply. If you're Matthew Epstein, you spend $1,200 on a moustache, a website and a video and you end up getting phonecalls from Microsoft, Google and Amazon three days after launching your "employ me please, Google" marketing strategy. Kudos to the guy, we're impressed!
Categories: 5 top finds
Tags: Apple, Bikes, Design, Digital strategy, Google, Mobile, Sculpture, Twitter
