The Key to Mobile Content Adoption: A Great User Experience
By:  DP Venkatesh, CEO of mPortal

It is safe to say that mobile content consumption has not reached its potential in the <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />United States. Despite occasional “bubbles” of popularity for some mobile applications and content, consumer adoption has been less than stellar. Some blame the “walled garden” carrier set-up in the United States that prevented third-party content providers from easily offering content to users. With the walled gardens now a memory and mobile content consumption still not up, we need to examine the real root cause: usability. Beyond mobile content profitability, there is a greater potential cost of the usability challenge: without customer adoption of content and other applications, the innovative nature of mobile technology will not be fully realized in the United States. What operators and handset manufacturers need is a unified approach that will make mobile content easy to find, preview and buy.

Finding content or “discovery” remains the biggest problem with mobile content purchases. Mobile content today is not organized in the way most consumers think, intuitively.  Instead, content is organized into silos, with separate menus for ringtones, wallpapers, and games. This is in contrast to web and other types of content which are grouped according to theme – actor, artist, genre – for example.

Success requires a two-part approach. First, the organizational aspect needs to be addressed. Content needs to be re-organized according to themes, menus should be pre-populated, and the ability for related content to be suggested needs to be built-in. Second, the user interface needs to be examined. User interfaces vary by carrier and device. A consistent interface with content discovery options for prominence on idle screens and keypads for one-touch access should be mandatory.

Allowing a consumer to preview content is the next step in usability. People are not likely to buy something if they have any doubts as to whether or not they want it. For those consumers that have preview option, content is slow to arrive because of the architecture. You have to use the browser to find a link, click on it, go to a site, download another menu and so on. It's a back-and-forth, jerky way of getting the preview content.  A single click preview with local caching of information and menus no more than three level deep coupled with access to the network only for critical data may be just the right answer for most of the users.  With an effective user interface design, content previews could become a rich media experience where different applications are linked.

The last phase – purchasing – seems to be self explanatory, but today’s mobile consumers must go through a lengthy process to purchase content only to repeat that process if they want to buy something else. Even if they are buying a similar piece of content (say a wallpaper featuring the artist whose ringtone they just bought), they have to start over. A one-click purchase process is a good first step in making mobile content more user friendly. Extra features, such as reminders so that users do not purchase the same content again or recommendations for additional content that might be of interest, will bring mobile content purchasing up to the level of online buying.

Overall, when designing services, service providers and handset manufacturers need to start by thinking about the customer experience, not how to protect their turf. A good plan would be to work backward from the consumer’s perspective and look to make the experience as easy and intuitive as possible. There is always a need for compelling content at good prices but without an improved user experience the best content in the world would be useless.  Most people don't buy today because the process is confusing and slow. Not until ease-of-use in discovery, previewing, and purchasing content come together will there be mass-market take-up. Also, until usability is addressed, the mobile marketing and advertising campaigns will not recognize their full potential.

D.P. Venkatesh, Founder and CEO, has more than seventeen years experience in the telecommunications industry across Wireless, Internet, and Media sectors. His roles have varied from executive management to strategic planning and business development.

As CEO of mPortal, Mr. Venkatesh oversees all aspects of strategy, sales, and marketing for mPortal. Over the past five years, he has led the company through its various growth stages.

Prior to founding mPortal, Mr. Venkatesh was with McKinsey & Company in their Hong Kong Office as part of their global Telecommunications Practice and worked with several leading global communication providers as a strategic consultant to their Boards and Management teams. Mr. Venkatesh holds an MS in Industrial Engineering and an MBA both from the University of Cincinnati, as well as well as a BS in Chemical Engineering from Anna University.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />