Here at Bottle Rocket Apps, we are ALL about the user when we begin our Strategy, Creative and Design process for our clients’ iOS and Android mobile apps.  With that in mind, we offer a peek under the hood at our inner workings with a random collection of UEX, Marketing, and Brand terminology.  To us, it is important we all have a similar understanding when using these terms.

Audience Segmentation is used to for more specific targeting and providing the user greater relevance.  As an example, Pizza Hut segments it’s consumers into three audiences. The Eating Machine (college age males that view food as fuel, eating pizza multiple times a week), the Families (family consumers that consider the pizza meal a family event once a month) and the Adventurist (not loyal to any pizza brand, eating pizza only a couple times a quarter).  In this case, a mobile app for the Pizza Hut Eating Machine might be designed very differently than an app for the Adventurist.

Brand Equities are the brand characteristics that positively set the brand apart from their competition and is partially responsible for their financial successes. mBrand equities for Apple would be beautiful design, usability, and different.  The apps we develop should exploit, extend and reinforce existing brand equities.

Exception Path is used to refer to a user story or screen flow that identifies an error path or paths outside of the Happy Path (see below).

Happy Path is used to refer to a user story or screen flow that identifies the path the majority of users will experience.  It does not include all the alternative paths, exceptions or alerts.  Usually a Happy Path is fleshed out and then a second iteration of the experience fleshes out the alternative paths, exceptions and alerts.

Key User Tasks are the actions the user is most likely to take.  Usually for an app, there are only a few.  Greater emphasis of experience design should be put on these tasks over other less likely user tasks.  Having only a few key user tasks also helps to keep the app focused and of value for the user.

Lo-Fi is short for Low Fidelity.  Low Fidelity techniques can be used to move design along quickly.  Pencils would be considered a Lo-Fi technique.  Photographing white board ideas and texting them to a client would also be a Lo-Fi technique.

Marketing-Centered Design is an approach to design that emphasizes business goals and marketing strategy.  It is more about the messaging being pushed to the consumer than what the consumer might truly desire.  Marketing-centered design in a casino forces you walk past hundreds of slot machines on your way to the bathroom.  A user-centered design would have put the bathroom in a convenient and easily accessible location.  Marketing-centered design is more common in heavily branded apps.  User-centered design is more common in more utilitarian apps.  Usually, we design for a delicate balance of both to satisfy both our clients and their users.

Production Value is used to describe the level of craftsmanship and polish put on something.  For example, one might claim Star Wars had a higher production value than Plan 9 From Outer Space.  It is usually in reference to aesthetics, it does not refer to how something works or if it is “buggy.”  For purposes of a common understanding across the Bottle Rocket team before designing something, we discuss the production level for which we will be designing.  The production level is influenced by time available, budget, and client expectations.

Reason to Believe is a branding term referring to the end consumer’s belief that a company can deliver on its brand promises.  This belief is often related to brand equity.  If I hear that Apple will be releasing an automobile, my reason to believe that it will be a good automobile is that they have a exceptional track record for beautiful design, usability and thinking different about the products they produce.  If our client puts an app in the app store and is asking me to pay $5 for it, as a consumer I will reflect upon my reasons to believe that company will put out an app worthy of the $5.

User-Centered Design is an approach to design that puts the user’s desires and actions above all other design considerations.  It is an approach that greatly values user input and user testing.  Key user tasks are defined and heavily influence the design.  The chief difference from other product design philosophies is that user-centered design tries to optimize the product around how users can, want, or need to use the product, rather than forcing the users to change their behavior to accommodate the product.

Yep, that time of year is almost here yet again…  “Back-to-School” time is when parents and students alike are shopping like mad for all the necessary supplies.  We know it’s not easy to get out of the pool and back into class, but hopefully, our list of apps will help make the transition a little easier.

• Evernote (iOS, Android) for note-taking, record keeping and information sharing.
• Bento (iPad) to organize contacts, track projects, plan events, and manage things in a personal database.
• Tam & Tao in Numberland (iPhone, iPad) to see how to write a number, hear its name and count objects to reinforce the learning.
• Dropbox (iPhone, iPad) for a free service that lets you bring all your photos, docs, and videos anywhere.
• Grammar Up HD (iPad) to improve grammar through a multiple choice quiz system for English which provides over 1800 questions across 20 grammar categories.
• Penultimate (iPad) for those that prefer to take notes by hand.
• MathBoard (iPad) for teaching addition, subtraction, multiplication and division problems for elementary school kids.
• Star Walk (iPad) enables you to point your iPad at the sky and see what stars, constellations, and satellites you are looking at in real-time.

And, of course, two of our own:

• The Civil War Today (iPad) as a supplement to history class.
• D2U (iPhone, iPad) for dictation using a world-class voice recorder.

Now, you’re ready… Hurry ’cause the bus is almost here!

We are reaching a new baseline for culture. It’s a baseline where “online” is no longer a technical state. “Online” just is.  Connected consumers now have access, at any time of the day or night, through multiple devices and platforms, to all aspects of their information and product needs.

The digital natives of today have been born into an always-on culture.  For many children that are growing up with early adopters for parents, they have never known a time without cell phones.  They have never known a time without wireless internet buzzing through the walls of their home.  Connectivity flows in the air.

Nearly 50 percent of U.S. online consumers are now advanced users of smartphones, social networks, and other emerging tools, up from 32 percent in 2008, so digital consumers matter.  Not just because there are increasing numbers of them around the world, and not just because digital behavior now impacts virtually every single product category.

No, digital consumers matter because they have stronger relationships with brands.  On average, across all categories and countries, digital consumers have a 15% stronger relationship* with a typical brand.

So, who are these “iConsumers?”  Digital consumers fall into seven distinct groups characterized by the types of digital experiences they prefer:*

• Digital-media junkies:  As the heaviest user of digital activities across platforms, “junkies” are three times more likely to be early adopters of new technologies.  The average junkie age is 28 with 62% being male and 38% female, and these users represent 19% of all respondents.
• Digital communicators:  Active in online communities, communicators are above-average smartphone users and use social networking sites  3.2 times more often.  Average age is 35 with 33% male and 67% are female representing 16% of all respondents.
• Video digerati:  Viewing 2.6 times more videos across all platforms, video digerati are much more likely than other groups to consume Internet-based video content, though they are late adopters of most other new technologies.  With an average age of 34, 53% are male and 47% are female representing 14% of all respondents.
• Gamers:  Representing 10% of all respondents, gamers spend more time gaming than any other segment, 2.5 hours a day, and are less likely to own smartphones.  54% are male and 46% are female.
• Professionals:  Representing the lowest percentage of all respondents at 6%, professionals like new gadgets and are more willing to pay for sleek designs.  They primarily communicate by email, and are heavy Web browsers, yet they are less likely to watch videos online spending 44% more time on email.  With an average age of 43, this category is 53% female and 47% male.
• On-the-go workers:  11% of respondents identify themselves as on-the-go workers who spend less time online than average and more time actually talking on mobile phones.  Few in this category buy the latest gadgets, such as e-readers and they use mobile phones for voice three times more often.  The average age of these consumers is 41 and they are 64% female and 36% male.
• Traditionalists:  Almost 1/4 of all respondents (24%) categorize themselves as traditionalists. Spending 79% less time social networking, they are less interested in Internet browsing and social networking and are more likely to read print newspapers.  The average age of this group is 48 with 61% female and 39% male.

* Source:  2008, 2009, and 2010 McKinsey surveys of 20,000 U.S. Internet users, aged 13-64

As the usage and processing power of smartphones increase in tandem with the rising speed of 3G and 4G data networks, mobile devices are invading the domains of single-purpose gear such as game consoles and portable media players, as well as PCs.  Smartphones are also becoming the device of choice for email, Web browsing, and product research.  Over the past two years, iPhone users have spent 45% more time emailing on their smartphones and 15% less time emailing on their PCs.

As the power and functionality of devices grow, the possibilities for making money from mobile platforms will continue to improve.  Smartphone users are already more accustomed to paying for digital content and services than traditional online users are.  Three-quarters of iPhone users now pay for one or more apps each month, though most remain free.  As more products are distributed over mobile channels, greater competition will raise the importance of design, ease of use, and new mobile payment options.

Whether it’s applications, digital devices, entertainment platforms, or e-commerce business models, there is no one size fits all.  These substantial differences among these distinct groups show that brands, marketers, and technologists must develop tailored offerings for all.

As consumer adoption speeds ahead, and mobile professionals rush to provide solutions, these activities will increase driven by three major forces:

1. Mobile-savvy Gen Xers and Gen Yers will become the more active mobile customers
2. Smartphones and tablets will continue to move mainstream
3. Emerging markets will swell the ranks of mobile consumers

Here at @_BottleRocket, we’re seeing dramatic growth of the mobile apps channel in four industries:

• Travel and Hospitality:  Mobile devices and travelers are a logical fit. The travel industry has been quick to adopt the mobile space and eager to develop native mobile apps.  The razor-thin product margins mean that travel companies seek any opportunity they can to engage customers directly, resulting in advanced mobile offerings like the American Airlines’ flight check-in app.  Plus, the on-the-go and immediate nature of travel and hospitality activities, along with the high level of tech comfort among most business and leisure travelers, make the mobile channel an obvious industry that will grow the mobile space.  More than 11% of U. S. online adults have downloaded a travel-related mobile app such as TripAdvisor or TripIt for the iPhone and iPad.*
• Retail:  Product research trumps sales… today. While few customers make mobile product purchases today, mobile devices offer them the ability to research purchases while in a store and also receive targeted promotions in those stores.  While today, the offline-influenced opportunity is larger than direct mobile commerce, signs ahead foretell of a mobile market that will take off in the next two years.  In Europe, 16% of online buyers have already used their mobile phone for a shopping-related activity.  In the U. S., 13% of online adults with a smartphone have used a mobile device to purchase a product without speaking to anyone.*  In addition, 29% of U. S. mobile shopper say they’ve spent $100 or more in the past year via the mobile channel compared to the average amount spent in 2010 which was $62.
• Financial Services:  Mobile banking will displace online banking. Because smartphone apps let customers perform simple tasks more quickly and easily than on a PC, mobile banking will displace online banking for routine transactions and interactions.*  In the U. S., the number of mobile banking customers will pass the 50 million mark by 2015.  Today, 18% of online Europeans use any type of mobile banking, compared with only 13% a year ago.  In addition, mobile investing and stock trading is on the rise with 11% of U. S. online adults with an investment account are now mobile investors.
• Healthcare:  Plans move forward despite low consumer interest. As U. S. healthcare reform takes hold, more customers will interact and transact directly with self-service channels like mobile, and we see both health plans and healthcare providers beginning to develop mobile apps to help educate customers, control costs, provide better customer care, and drive sales.  The complexity of health plan selection and management will mean that consumers adopt mobile healthcare activities at a much slower rate than travel or retail apps, but information-hungry customers will drive the creation of these apps on mobile platforms.

Mobile offers three benefits over other channels– simplicity, immediacy, and context.  Using these benefits to create marketing, selling and support capabilities that allow customers to gather buying information and eventually make purchases on the mobile device is simply a continuation of the eCommerce evolution.

* Source:  Forrester Research

While most developers’ attention is currently focused on North America and Europe, it may be time for iPhone developers to reconsider Asia.  Although the United States has been and still is by far the largest market, China recently became the second largest market in terms of total download volume.  Furthermore, when looking at Asia, a surge in volume could be observed while concurrently download volumes in France and Germany have been declining since December 2010.

The download volume in Asian countries grew significantly in the past six months in the Apple App Store for iPhone.  While other (Western) countries saw a decrease in download volume during the same time frame.  China recently became the second largest iOS market after the U.S.  The download volume in South Korea is remarkably high despite the relatively small size of the country’s population.  Moreover, because the Games category is absent in the Apple App Store for iPhone in South Korea, all downloads are allocated to non-Games, while in other countries, the Games category is, without exception, the largest.  This fact makes South Korea an especially interesting country for publishers and developers in the non-games space.

A comparison of the most popular categories between the U. S. and Asia revealed that there are no significant differences between content preferences.  Hence, iPhone developers could offer the same type of applications in both Asia and the U. S..  The majority of the most popular iPhone applications in Asia is only popular in Asia, but in some Asian countries, worldwide popular applications prevail.  In general, however, localization appears to be key to becoming popular especially when considering countries like China, South Korea, and Japan.  In countries like India and Indonesia, localization appears to be less important.

When analyzing the difference between publishing in Asia and the Western world, Distimo found that paid applications and in-app purchases are not yet popular with and hence, other monetization options have to be considered to become successful in Asia.  The proportion of paid downloads and overall revenue still lag behind that of the U.S. and Europe.  Moreover, while in-app purchases became an important revenue generating method over the last year in many countries, it has not yet in Asia.  Thus, developers will have to look for other ways of monetization, such as advertising, for now and the near future.

Currently, more than 1/2 of the world’s population owns a mobile phone, and we are slowly arriving at the point where the world’s entire population will live in range of a mobile network.  Mobile phones have become the ubiquitous and indispensable digital devices on the planet.

We are already witnessing the vast changes in society that a mobile phone carrying population brings.  From micro-coordinating meetings to negotiating the streets and shops of foreign cities, the mobile phone has evolved from a relatively straightforward communications device into the hub of power for more than one-half of the world’s population.  People are using their mobiles to navigate the ebb and flow of daily life… all just 26 years after personal cellular technology first became a commercial reality.

1.  Value over Culture:  Value of mobile services rather than the cultural environment in which they are developed.  Interaction, entertainment, expression, and transaction.

2.  The Law of the Ecosystem:  The roles of all players (wireless technology, carriers, device manufacturers, platform and content creators) must remain in collaborative balance.

3.  The Value of Time Zones:  Think about the new value of “in-between” time and “golden time” in your busy day.  How does mobile now allow for time to be stretched, bent, and extended?  Ubiquity = everywhere and mobile rules the omnipresent with activities at all times.

4.  Mobile-specific business models are essential to sustain growth:  Companies that curate, package and make sense of content while delivering a brand immersive experience to customers will dominate.

5.  The future is “simplexity:”  Mobile  platforms must be designed for data and linked economics, engagement and communities of interest, participation and social convergence, and above all, service, convenience and context.

6.  The Law of Empowerment:  The vibrant, robust mobile platform allows for one of the greatest impacts on consumer behavior to date.  The mobile platform empowers modern businesses to attract and retain more loyal customers while opening doors for new definitions of security and privacy.  Mobile is literally a remote control for life.

10.  Evangelize the channel:  Spreading the word to the C-suite of your company that mobile is not a one-off project for a junior marketer.  A mobile strategy, creative assets optimized for mobile, and content relevant to what users want on mobile are top priorities.

9.  Mobile marketing requires you to increase your brandwidth: Think about how you will scale your brand across all possible development platforms, the resources that will require and the strategies that will support an overarching brand position.

8.  Don’t expect what you don’t inspect:  Generating quality mobile experiences that deliver more relevance to users, our mobile devices are only as smart as the app developers, the device manufacturers, the networks and the brands that create the apps.  Institute standards and checkpoints all along the journey.

7.  Re-ground your development conversation every 10 minutes:  Mobile, and what that means for the user, is changing by the moment.  “Make it iPod simple” should be the mantra… simplicity with a laser-focus on business objectives.

6.  Nail the mobile touchpoints:  Infuse all customer touchpoints with comprehensive brand attributes and remember that mobile is a “reach” vehicle.

5.  Develop brand specific and mission-statement-worthy apps:  Yet realize that apps are permanent reminders of your competency… or lack of it.

4.  Mobile is a conversation that still begins on a phone:  Here’s your opportunity to be an asset or to be irrelevant by encouraging the user to do more than talk.

3.  It’s their device and you’re a guest, so while you’re there, behave:  Every time they open the device, you are re-earning permission to be there.

2.  The platform wars are far from over:  The platforms most used by mobile developers are… 60% Android, 48% iOS, 47% Java MT, 45% Symbian, 43% mobile web, 43% Blackberry

1.  They aren’t mobile devices:  They’re brand value proposition re-evaluation devices.