How the BBC launched what it believes to be Asia’s first mobile responsive website - BBC
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Transcript of How the BBC launched what it believes to be Asia’s first mobile responsive website - BBC
Insight Valley Asia 2013 | May 16 & 17 | Bangkok, Thailand | www.insightvalley.com
Insight Valley Asia 2013 | May 16 & 17 | Bangkok, Thailand | www.insightvalley.com
Thank you to our sponsor & partners!
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How the BBC launched what it believes to be Asia’s first mobile responsive website
@WSaudiences
Or…An insight fairy tale: taking mobile to the media ball
Once upon a time, a long time ago, in a kingdom far, far away
A storm was brewing- the perfect mobile storm
Mobile internet devices 'will outnumber humans this year‘ Cisco report says number of smartphones, tablets, laptops and internet-capable phones will exceed number of humans in 2013
Since the 00’s there had been rumours that this perfect mobile storm would come…but alas it never did
“Mobile has been over-hyped in the short term but under-hyped in the medium term to long term” Sir Martin
Sorrell 2009
But in 2012 it looked like the waiting was over and the perfect mobile storm had arrived: the year of mobile was here
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2007 2009 2011 2013 2015
Intern
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Global mobile and desktop penetration Desktop Users Mobile Users
And it was decided a media ball should be held to celebrate- to welcome mobile and allow it to make it’s debut
The lands were scoured far and wide- where should the media ball be held?
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100%
Russian Spanish Hindi Arabic Indonesian
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BBC World Service: Desktop vs Mobile UVs
Desktop Users Mobile Users
And finally decided that Indonesia was one of the most perfect places for mobile to make it’s debut
0%
20%
40%
60%
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2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Mobile and desktop penetration in Indonesia
Desktop Mobile
But for the BBC to take it’s mobile site to the media ball, a serious transformation was needed to reflect fragmented user behaviour- which is where the research fairy god mothers came in
“…It’s about user intent, their discovery route to you, their context of use and the device they hold. This is where the traffic lies. ”
• Mobile websites and apps optimisation best practice guide:
Seven ways to optimise your mobile strategy, Econsultancy, 2011
And the transformation needed to be dazzling- because the pressure on debutantes was higher than ever
2 in 3 Expect the websites they visit on their smart phones to be as easy to navigate and access as they are when they visit them from a desktop and with open feedback there’s no where to hide
Firstly the fairy god mother decided that a beautiful dress was needed for mobile to be fit for the ball
Scan headlines & pics
Read 1-sentence summaries
Read first 2-3 paras
Homepage
Article
Occasional skim to bottom
Occasional click-throughs for stories of interest
Sub-indexes rarely used Sometimes return to interesting content
later
And that dress needed to be simple and elegant, visually beautiful, but most importantly needed to show off it’s best assets
Strong images Teasing headlines
Enticing summaries
Increasing content on homepage
Prominent time stamps
Time is short on mobile and content needs to capture interest
Secondly the fairy god mother decided that mobile needed to know the dance steps for the ball
…with the option to read more if interested
Each no more than 2-3 paragraphs
Lighter, accessible tone
Some clear mobile-specific expectations emerged:
Delivering the key facts - who, what, where, why
Lots of short, timely stories frequently updated
A broader editorial agenda for completeness
Frequency to replace depth
And the timing of those dance steps was as important as knowing the right moves
Early morning Late night
Mobile time of day usage
Thirdly the fairy god mother decided that a coach was needed to get mobile to the ball
Our offering was felt to be strong and distinctive to competitors- but very different- challenging learned behaviours meant we
needed to shout about it to go against the grain
And that coach needed to have a wow factor and be something to talk about across the land
Provocative
Unusual angle
Definite stance
Positive, motivational, uplifting
Fun or funny content
‘Close to the heart’
Indonesia is one of the largest social markets in the world- key
And finally the fairy godmother knew that mobile needed to get it’s Prince Charming
News buffs
Aspirants
Generalists
Tabloiders
The Prince however wasn’t an easy catch for mobile, and serious work was needed
Aspirants Generalists
Short form style
Soft touch
Talkability
Short form style
Soft touch
Personal relevance
And in order for mobile to woo him, it needed to follow a number of steps to get it’s man
Dial down depth and analysis
Short and frequent
A broader news agenda
Relevant and talkable
Magazine features,
And so the fairy god mother waved her wand and went to work on her mobile debutante
And once the mobile debutante was ready, the fairy god mother, fearing that some things may not be quite right, decided to try her out, to make sure everything would be perfect for the ball
Move away from traditional user testing to Rapid Iterative Testing
Day one- test- day two optimise- day three test- day four optimise- day five test
Issues: translation vs interpretation
Solutions focussed research- solve problems, not just identify them
Issues: flexibility of prototype vs ability to work on low tech phones with poor connectivity
And finally, after all the hard work had been done, mobile was finally ready to go to the media ball
BBC Mobile product
Delivers optimum experience for device screen
Prominent time stamps to demonstrate freshness
Highly visual, teasing headlines and enticing summaries to encourage click through
Short and frequently updated articles and increased emphasis on homepage
And they all lived happily ever after…
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Intern
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Example of increase in traffic to mobile
The end?
Move from feature phone to smartphone to tablet
Enhanced connectivity and reduced costs of usage
Rise in location based services
Rim vs IOS vs Android devices
Monetisation of mobile content
@WSaudiences
Insight Valley Asia 2013 | May 16 & 17 | Bangkok, Thailand | www.insightvalley.com
Thank you to our sponsor & partners!
Gold Sponsor
Supported by
Organised by
Insight Valley Asia 2013 | May 16 & 17 | Bangkok, Thailand | www.insightvalley.com