going mobile - jboye - 2011

Going Mobile!How UVU Launched Their Mobile Initiative

Nathan Gerber Director, Web Development ServicesUtah Valley University

Introductions

Nathan Gerber @nathangerber 16 years Web IA experience

Director, Web Development Services

Noel-Levitz Associate Consultant, Web Strategy Services Team

Utah Valley University Largest state university in Utah

(almost…one more student)

32,000+ students

28,000+ public pages

What We Will Be Covering

Why we did it Research shows…

What we did We decided to…

How we did it “Baby steps, Bob, baby steps”

Tools we used CMS, sniffer, GA, lots of devices

Next steps Where do we go from here…

Can you find my son in this picture?

You Are Here

So, what’s the big deal with mobile?

Morgan Stanley – Mobile Users by 2015

Smartphones Outsell PCs

Mobile Phone Use, 2009 – 2011 80% of adults (18-29yrs) own mobile phones in

2010… no change from 2009

2009 2010 2011

Take a photo… 66 to 76 to 93%

Send & receive text messages… 65 to 72 to 95%

Send & receive email… 25 to 34 to 52%

Access the Internet… 25 to 38 to 65%

From Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC

E-Expectations: Noel-Levitz

24% may drop college after poor web experience

23% searched college websites via smartphones

Most desired web content: Information on academics… 54%

List of academic programs… 28% Cost related information… 30%

Do you have my program? How Much will it cost? Will I fit in?

Google Analytics for UVUFor President’s Report

1551% IN 8

MONTHS

(from 10,534 to 173,953 visits)

*Still only 2.5% of overall traffic

Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC

Build A New Mobile Site?

“Mobilize, don’t miniaturize”… anon.

“… the mobile context is so different from the desktop one it deserves direct consideration vs. just mangling down a full-size site.”

- Drew Stevenson, University of Minnesota, 2010

This Is How We Felt

Mobile web project

Web team resources

What We Did…You May Consider

1 Present data to President,

get buy-off

2 Best decisions on how, start

small

3 Add to it, change it, make it

better (input)

The Big Guy Has To Agree

Met with AdministrationShared our research

Found out which devices they have

Explained the need to those who don’t

Their response: “Ok, but don’t spend too many

resources and don’t ask for any more. After all, it is only 2% of our overall traffic.”

We approached it as an information item, not for approval(Learning to deal with HIPPOS)

Initial Decisions

“The user IS mobile, not just holding one.”

- Justin Gatewood, Victor Valley Community College

“Mobilize, don’t miniaturize”▪ Anonymous

“It is not about making our site work on a mobile device, it is about what our users need when they’re mobile”

- Mobile Web Team, Utah Valley University

Now For The Tech Stuff(…well, sort of)

Native App or Mobile Web?

Native Apps

Pros

Controlled user experience

Use hardware features

Off-line usage Uses app code on

device

Cons

Develop for each platform

Different experience based on device

Cost/time to develop/deploy

Testing not as easy Upgrades/version

requires new download

Mobile Web

Pros

Cost/time to develop is less

Upgrades quicker Accessible to all/no

installation More discoverable

Cons

Customer satisfaction User

experience/performance depends on design

More difficult to access native device capabilities

No offline mode

App or Site – Future?

That is so last year!

Is there an app for that?

What about a framework?

Mobile Web – Other Questions

http://www.dmolsen.com/mobile-in-higher-ed/

Second Decision

What devices do we build for and support? iPhone, Android, iPad, iPod Why? Because our users have them

(and so do our Administrators)

Mobile Device Usage – World

Mobile Device Usage – US

Third Decision

How big do we make our first attempt? Start with info for students Choose top content Don’t try to publishing everything* Be willing to make mistakes* Be flexible* Design and redesign* Add apps where needed

*from TAMUmobile – HighEd Web 2010

Baby steps, Bob, baby steps

What Is The Top Content?

http://www.dmolsen.com/mobile-in-higher-ed/

UVUmobile

UVUmobile

UVUmobile Features

Width changes with device orientation

Page weight is light

Sniffs for mobile devices

Content coming from OmniUpdate (CMS)

Other system feeds presented by OU

Content is driven by user need (Content is King!)

Types Of Content – One CMS

Where Is The Content

How To Use In Mobile

Existing web page Publish through XSL – CSS to present in mobile format

Piece of existing web page Special DIV, publish through XSL– CSS to present in mobile format

Content specific for mobile, relevant to existing web page

Special DIV, publish through XSL – CSS to present in mobile format

Content from other systems Use OU RSS features – CSS to present in mobile format

Fourth Decision

What comes after the first rollout?

User driven – feedback system

Focus on key audiences – Current/Future Students

Functions and features

What do our users need to do when they are mobile?

University Website

Source: http://xkcd.com

Mobile Web

Three Phases of UVUmobile (at least)

Start with browser site Static content, links to other apps

Expand features User Services Add apps where needed Current and future students

The great merge Public site and mobile site come closer

together User needs

Tools Used

OmniUpdate Browser sniffer Analytics HTML 5 Lots of devices Some Emulators Other High Ed mobile sites

http://mobiforge.com/emulators/page/mobile-emulators

Next Steps for UVUmobile Creating a launch panel for other UVU

apps

Create app functionality where needed

Integration of OmniUpdate and other systems data sets

Continual migration of public site and mobile to together In concepts, principle, driving factors

Other HigherEd Mobile Sites

http://www.dmolsen.com/mobile-in-higher-ed/?page_id=43

http://www.edustyle.net/gallery_mobile.php

When evaluating, look at: Design Usability Content Services Focus Keep mobile user in mind

Summary

Mobile is changing the way we view/consume content and services

Research, decide, modify as you go Choose what works for your institution Keep Admin informed CMS is a key tool – XML Get on board! Higher Ed is already

behind

“It is not about making our site work on a mobile device, it is about what our users need when they’re mobile”

- Mobile Web Team, Utah Valley University

Questions?

Nathan GerberNathan.Gerber@uvu.edu@nathangerber

THANK YOU