Mobile, WTF?

There's more mobile phone handsets in this world than television sets. Even Mr Strong has an an iPhone (not sure how I feel about that.) We've known these facts for a while now and considering mobile in your product roadmap has become unavoidable.

Problem is, this doesn't mean product managers and businesses will know what to do. It's highly likely they wont. For a long time mobile shared a small quarter of the office, it wasn't necessary to know much about mobile. Nowadays, mobile occupies a spacious open plan office of its own, complete with panoramic window and breathtaking city views.

When working on your mobile strategy, a few things you may consider are:

• Research, research, research. The mobile market is unquestionably complicated. Relevant factors to consider are geography (e.g: simbian phones are big in Asia, iPhone's big in W.Europe) your target demographics (e.g: iPhone maybe limited to the contract paying under 30's) platform (android, simbian, mac os x, bada, blackberry etc) service providers and stores (nokia, google, apple, palm etc) and devices. (gulp.) (double gulp.) The GSM website is good for research.

• Having a mobile strategy is not simply about clamouring to do an app. You need to connect any development to a clear opportunity. The opportunity could present itself through any combination of factors in my above point. The opportunity may well not be obvious, and there may well not be one. Only lots of research and analysis will guide you.

• Don't be afraid to say no. It's perfectly feasible and ok not to do mobile as a priority. I said 'considering mobile in your product road map has become unavoidable' I didn't say there is a guaranteed opportunity for everyone. The important thing, perhaps, is you can't afford not to give mobile due diligence.

• Don't expect parity between your web and mobile strategy. For example, at a recent NMALive event the conclusion speaker's seemed to draw was that  mobile development within many commercial and public sector businesses has presented many (mainly) advantages in PR & Marketing and sponsorship. In some cases downloads, repeat usage and direct revenue were not the main ambition and certainly not the result.

• Don't just think apps :-) A decent mobile experience of your website could only require some browser optimisation for a specific device/or devices. Some browsers will naturally provide a perfectly good experience of your site. Absolutely, definitely, check this out first.

• Design for the medium you are working on and also use the conventions associated with the device and the platform. There seems a few things here.

...Initially, you should really think about the type of experience you build. For example, if building an app for longevity and repeat usage: news & reference and utility apps are going to deliver more longevity, probably, then games etc.

...Consider the device itself and whether you can use it's features (gps, speaker, wide screen etc.)

...Interface and function. Nothing more annoying, for instance, than iPhone apps that don't use apple icons and conventions when there's no clear reason not too. Or, apps that look like an app but when you begin to navigate expecting an app experience you are launched in to a safari experience. (note: this could just be something that annoys me!)

• Finally, and seriously important, once you have a strategy, you need a roadmap. I absolutely dread arguments and discussions that begin 'oh, we'll just put it up and leave it there.' This is perhaps the toughest challenge product managers have. If you start on a mobile journey, and it succeeds, mobile will quickly become a part of the day to day and the typical product development cycle.

So there you have it, this post has been about scribbling together a few thoughts I've had about mobile. In the spirit of openness, my experience of mobile is pretty low, so I am depending on the bright sparks I know read this blog to let me know what you think or fire me off in the right direction. Please do !