App Usability Beats Mobile Web...For Now

"Do we need an app for that" remains the first question that many media companies and marketers ask when contemplating their mobile strategy. With the new emphasis on the mobile Web, mobile search discoverability and advances in HTML5 coding, many companies this past year turned their focus from apps to the Web. But according to design guru Jakob Nielsen, apps still constitute the best strategy when it comes to usability. In a new report comparing the two mobile platforms, Nielsen and his Nielsen Norman Group conclude that “as of this writing there is no contest: ship mobile apps if you can afford it.”

He says the company’s usability studies show that users just work better in apps. “The empirical data is all you need to know. It’s a fact that apps beat mobile sites in testing.” By designing specifically for the strengths and weaknesses of a given operating system, it remains much easier to optimize apps than sites. The difference in usability between a standard Web site and a Web app is not as great as it is between mobile apps and sites. Because of the inherent slowness of connections, small screens and lower interface precision, “the weaker the device, the more important it is to optimize for its characteristics,” they say. Moreover, the micropayment systems built into current app stores make a stronger business case for apps than the less adept payment mechanisms available on the Web.

Still Nielsen also says that ultimately the mobile Web will become a better solution as app platform fragmentation bloats development costs and HTML5 advances and mobile bandwidth increase mobile Web functionality and usability. They contend that the introduction of the Kindle Fire, Windows Phone and good prospects of even more form factors will make app optimization for specific platforms much more costly and complicated.

On the mobile Web, however, the use of responsive design, which adapts content and interfaces for multiple form factors, will help minimize development. “High-end sites will need 3 mobile designs to target phones, mid-sized tablets (like Kindle Fire) and big tablets,” they write. HTML5 will help the Web sites tie more seamlessly into operating system and phone functions as well.

Ultimately, Nielsen sees apps becoming more focused on tasks that are “true applications” such as photo editing, while mobile sites will be better suited to m-commerce, social networking and news.

The big question that Nielsen leaves unanswered, however, is when the needle will shift more in the direction of the mobile Web. Nielsen cites his own predictions in the early 2000s about the imminent arrival of new mobile interfaces and enhanced usability -- changes that ended up taking seven or more years to appear.  “I do believe mobile sites will win over mobile apps in the long term,” says Nielsen. “But when that will happen is less certain. Today, if you are serious about creating the best possible mobile user experience, my advice is to develop apps.” 

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