Pranked? I Wish. What April Fools’ Day Can Teach Us About Mobile Content

Posted by: Natalya Minkovsky, Director of Strategy & User Experience Apr 06, 2011 0 Comments

I spent most of April Fools’ Day away from my computer, which usually isn’t a problem. Having a smartphone means steady access to my e-mail, favorite websites, and social networks. But as I learned on Friday, access to mobile content doesn’t always equal getting what you want.

In many cases, limited mobile content is good. When accessing content on my phone, I appreciate simplified information architecture and content tailored to the mobile format. When someone has thought through a site’s most essential features, as well as those features that are most useful to you when you’re on the go, the user experience is often better than when trying to use the full site on your mobile phone.

But on April Fools’ Day, I found myself wishing that I hadn’t been rerouted to the mobile versions of some of the sites I visited. In my Twitter stream, people were talking about some of the day’s web pranks, from Google switching Helvetica to Comic Sans in searches to Whole Foods’ unappetizing faux website content. But when I went to wholefoods.com on my phone, I was served regular old content. And Google search looked the same as always. The only prank that did translate to mobile was Hulu’s throwback to the 1990s—when I went to Hulu.com on my phone, I could see the “Geocities redesign” everyone was talking about. (But this appeared to be because Hulu served up its full site instead of a mobile version).

Did Whole Foods intentionally not create a mobile version of its prank site? Or was this an oversight? Since the company has a mobile version of its website, it understands the importance of mobile content, so maybe Whole Foods just decided that creating two versions of its prank was not worth the cost. And I don’t really fault the company. After all, this was a silly one-day prank, and users who really wanted to see it could click on “Switch to Standard Site.”

But with more and more people accessing the web on their mobile phones, overlooking mobile content can have consequences bigger than a few impatient people who want to see your prank. If your site was designed to sell a product or service, or if you’re a government agency offering information to people who need to make an important life decision, a poor mobile experience isn’t something you can get away with.

Some takeaways from April Fools’ Day that apply to the mobile user experience year-round:

• In mobile, simplicity is key. But give people the option to switch from your mobile site to your full site. Even if it doesn’t look great or work perfectly on mobile, if there’s content on your full site that didn’t make it over to the mobile version, users may get frustrated if they can’t get to it.

• Your mobile strategy should account for seasons, holidays, national observances, and special events. When launching the mobile version of your site, make sure that you’ve planned ahead for content that rotates in and out so that both mobile and standard users are getting the same information. Not sharing this content on your mobile site should be a strategic decision, not an oversight.

• Consider content that helps users pass the time. On April Fools’ Day, I was looking for a diversion. That’s a common task for people accessing mobile sites. When thinking of what to serve up for mobile, consider content that helps people pass the time while in line at the grocery store or between meetings.

• On the other side of the spectrum, when they’re not looking for a diversion, mobile users are often looking for an answer to a time-sensitive question. I’m at the pharmacy—which of these allergy medicines is right for me? Consider delivering even the most complex, serious content in bite-size pieces so that mobile users can get answers to their questions without scrolling through dense narrative (though hopefully your website doesn’t have much of that either).

• Make mobile content extra-shareable. Mobile users are often social media users as well. Make it easy for them to do the most common social media actions, such as sharing your news (or April Fools’ Day prank) via Twitter or Facebook.

What have you taken away from recent mobile experiences? Please share them in the comments.

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Natalya Minkovsky

Director of Strategy & User Experience

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