Monthly Archives: March 2012

Weekend Roundup: Fiddle Favorites

The rhythm of the weekend, with its birth, its planned gaiety, and its announced end, followed the rhythm of life and was a substitute for it.

~F. Scott Fitzgerald

Ah it’s that time again, time for us to sit and gaze at the week behind us. So, without further ado, let’s take a look at some of our favorite stories, highlights, and developments that took place this week in the mobile world.

  • Brad Frost interviewed a Blackberry user about his use of mobile web. While his answers tended towards comical, the interview does shed some light on the fact that when designing for mobile most designers neglect non-iPhone or Android users.
  • Our friend and SEO expert David Amerland wrote a nice piece he called The Webmaster’s Guide to The Mobile Web. A certain mobile web building company gets a nice little mention (yes we’re shameless self promoters!) so check it out.
  • Taylor Wilson built a nuclear fusion reactor in his garage when he was 14 years old. Okay so this may have nothing to do with the mobile web but when I was 14 I split my time pretty consistently between playing video games and visiting various Taco Bells so one day when we’re all piloting our hover crafts to the nearest teleportation booth, I hope you’ll join me in taking our hats off to Taylor.

Okay guys that’s all for us this week. Have a great weekend, surf the mobile web, build something awesome in your garage, and as always, follow us on Twitter @fiddlefly and check us out on Facebook, Google+, and Pinterest (yup, we’re pinners now too!)

The mobile web revolution we aren’t talking about.

While we could probably go on forever talking about the astonishing growth of the mobile web, it may officially be time to recognize it as common knowledge. The numbers are all there for the world to see, and in truth they’re probably not even necessary as all you need to do to recognize the amazing effect the mobile revolution has had on our lives is look around a waiting room. The magazines lay dormant while we all sit in semi-circles inches apart from each other staring at small screens emailing and tweeting and interacting with people on the other side of the globe. While the mobile web continues to spread around the planet, it may come as a surprise where that growth is moving faster than anywhere else

We often assume powerhouse nations to be the epicenter of global technological change, but when it comes to the mobile web, several big market nations such as Japan and Germany have actually been relatively slow to adapt. While some of these big European and Asian markets sit on their hands, the community that is actually embracing mobile web more rapidly than anyone is Africa.

Mobile web users in Africa have doubled over the past year and are projected to continue doing so over the next four. More than almost anywhere else on the planet, mobile web traffic in parts of Africa far exceeds desktop or personal PC traffic, sometimes even reaching up to 90 percent of the population preferring mobile. In South Africa alone mobile data is projected to increase 49 fold by 2016, and similar patterns are popping up all over the continent. These numbers are not just significant, they’re downright remarkable.

So why is this all taking place? Well there may not be one simple answer to that, but aside from the factors that are common to us all (convenience, accessibility, efficiency) one of the most influential factors in Africa’s mobile web boom is that the average mobile web user in Africa does not have access to alternative technology. That’s not to say desktops do not exist in these regions, however many African mobile users cannot afford a home computer, or often electricity itself. The mobile devices allow them access to the web without having to pay for electricity (they can charge and access devices from community centers or internet cafes), therefore enabling them to connect with the world in a whole new way.

In truth, Africa is actually experiencing the mobile web in much the same way the rest of the world first experienced the original internet. While most global mobile web users have a back pocket filled with various forms of experience in web technologies, many African users have never been able to access the web at all and now are doing so organically through the mobile platform.

Of course, mobile providers are noticing the growing opportunities for expanding their networks in Africa, and many are launching initiatives to flood the African market with more affordable and easily available devices.

So maybe the rest of us can all learn something from the mobile web users in Africa. This evolution is not just a technological advance, it is a global phenomenon. While we may not realize just how many doors the mobile web opens up, the users of Africa certainly do.

Maybe Louis CK said it best when he claimed that “everything is amazing and nobody’s happy” but we’re doing our best to make a liar out of him.

Tell us what you think about the mobile revolution in Africa. We always want to hear from you and if you would like more updates and tidbits about the mobile web, make sure to follow us on Twitter @fiddlefly and check us out on Facebook and Google+ as well.

Weekend Roundup: Fiddle Favorites

“I’ve been thinking Hobbes –”
“On a weekend?”
“Well, it wasn’t on purpose…” ~ Calvin & Hobbes

Ah the weekend is upon us and we all know what that means; time to look back at some of our favorite happenings from the past week. It was a big week for us here at FiddleFly as we launched our new site with all new content and brand new features, and while we were busy churning out great things, big stories were breaking all over the mobile web industry. Check them out:

So enjoy your weekends fiddle followers. Whether you spend it relaxing at home or building a rocket ship in your garage, just make sure to remember to follow us on Twitter @fiddlefly and check us out on Facebook (there are rumors of a new timeline wink wink) and Google+.

Make a splash page that leaves some ripples on the mobile web.

Here at FiddleFly we’ve been shouting for businesses to go mobile since the very beginning, and it seems people are hearing the call. As users are beginning to get familiar with our new platform, they are realizing that what is possible on the mobile web is truly becoming limitless. One particular page of mobile sites that tends to be grounds for plenty of creativity is the introductory page that we refer to as the splash page.

While dynamic features and awesome designs are endless fun, they can also make the splash page decision process a bit more complicated. Some site builders opt to avoid splash pages like a nagging mother-in-law, while others consider them next-of-kin. A good splash page can be a lifesaver as it will be your first chance to catch a mobile browser’s attention. It can of course also be the death of your site if the page is unsuccessful since we know that mobile users are not a patient bunch. The choice to splash or not to splash can be a tough one, so we thought we’d do our best to offer some suggestions for the soon-to-be site builders among you.

If your mobile site is meant to double as a marketing tool, a splash page done right can be invaluable. This is perfect for startup companies (like say, a mobile web software company wink wink) that want to immediately display credibility, or companies that want to back up a great product with a dynamic introduction.

A great splash page should accomplish several things. First, you need to keep people around. This can be done in plenty of ways such as including interesting animation, a powerful or playful message, or creating a touch of mystery.

The design firm Quasar uses an animated vortex along with bold text, while the interactive design studio Aardvark Brigade uses humor and graphics for its splash page

After your splash page has people hooked, it needs a call to action, usually getting visitors to enter the site by tapping. If done correctly, a great splash page can earn the trust of your visitors and end up keeping them on the site much longer than they otherwise would have. Of course if your splash page is too distracting, too complicated, or takes too long to load, you will risk losing users before they even get into the site. The key is to quickly grab their attention but don’t make them wait around. If you decide to include a video or lengthy animation, make sure to always include an option to skip it as returning users will be put off by sitting through the same thing twice.

Depending on your business, the answer may be to scrap the splash page altogether and lead users straight to a homepage. This solution may be right for small businesses whose goal with mobile is simply to provide easy-to-find resources like maps or contact info. Likewise, for companies with a well-established customer base, directing visitors straight to the navigation may be the way to go rather than adding extra steps. For example, Bank of America’s mobile site doesn’t try to lure potential customers, but rather targets existing ones by taking them straight to a list of options.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bank of America’s mobile homepage.

Keep in mind these are just a few practices we’ve found useful, so there’s always room to explore different paths. We want to hear what you think about splash pages as well so tell us your thoughts. Follow us on Twitter @fiddlefly for more updates and make sure to check out our Facebook and Google+ pages as well.

The startup quandary: do we want followers or do we want fans?

There is a simple answer to the question above: we want both. What is not so simple of course is exactly what that really means.

With the bevy of tech conferences that have and will be continue to be going on throughout the past and coming weeks (SXSW, MWC, LWS, etc.), we’ve all been introduced to a host of startup companies all vying for their little slice of the public’s affection, and the truth of the matter is that many, if not most of them, will eventually fail.

While a sexy startup can attract plenty of attention from the public in a very short amount of time thanks to social media sharing, we’ve noticed that a surplus of followers doesn’t always equate to a long life in the tech industry.

Now, we certainly recognize the value of spreading the word about your company, and we’re not here to argue that getting hundreds of thousands of “likes” is a bad thing, but we do want to take a minute to think about what those “likes” actually mean. For an established company, say Coca Cola or Pepsi, Facebook likes are nice, but don’t really serve a purpose beyond providing the brand with one more stat to toss around. For startup companies, likes can help build a brand while providing marketing without having to spend money, however they also tend to be a bit over-valued. The main reason for this is that likes can get buried in a newsfeed (even with the new timeline format) and while they suggest that someone found something useful or interesting, these likes don’t actually represent any real connection they may have with the product or business.

In terms of Facebook a much more valuable strategy is striving to get people to share your content. Sharing is a much more personal means of spreading the word about something a person actually cares about, and immediately sparks conversation between not only current users and potential users, but users and the company itself.

The same philosophy applies to other social networking channels. Twitter is the obvious choice here as a bloated number of followers is often tossed around as an influential stat. What companies tend not to focus on however is who these followers are. If you run a startup company and you have 100,000 followers, you’re probably pretty excited. However if only 300 of those followers are actually interested in your product and the rest are just following because their friend retweeted a hilarious picture you posted, does it really help your business? This is why Twitter follower stats are the online marketing equivalent of hiring based solely on a resume: nice on paper but not necessarily true in practice.

So how do we solve this problem? Well there may not be a simple answer, but the one we like the most is to start conversations. While we love to see startups growing, we love it even more when we see startups building relationships with their customers. A great example of this was the social networking/design company Fab. When Fab saw its customer base ballooning, it launched an initiative to make customer support and interaction THE priority in its business model. Rather than sitting back and being enamored by the attention, the folks at Fab focused on building a product that was truly effective and creating a user experience that is extremely personal. The result has been Fab becoming one of the fastest-growing businesses on the web today.

Here at FiddleFly, we want to connect with users. Does that mean we want to shut our doors to the world and ask for a password through a tiny window? Of course not. What it means is that we want our followers to really be fans, and we want to be fans of our followers. This market is crazy exciting, and we never get bored talking about it, so we want to find people who are just as excited as we are.

To keep the conversations rolling, tell us what you think below, and if you’re interested in mobile web and all the amazing things it can be, follow us on Twitter @fiddlefly and check us out on Google+ and Facebook. Just be sure to keep in touch!

Weekend Roundup: Fiddle Favorites

Ahh the weekend, time to dress up in green and make bad decisions right? Well before you do that, why not check out some of our favorite articles from the week highlighting new developments, new studies, and new toys from the mobile web landscape.
That’s all for us today, have a great St. Patty’s everyone. For more updates and intersting reads, follow us on Twitter @fiddlefly and check us out on Facebook and Google+.

A minimalist mobile site doesn’t mean do the bare minimum.

Anyone who has looked into going mobile with their website has surely found that building a mobile site tends to demand simplification. One of the greatest hesitations we hear from people when they’re optimizing sites for mobile devices is the fear of losing the character and life of their brand. Sure, taking your sites to the mobile platform may mean scaling them down a touch, but if there was one message FiddleFly could permanently write in the sky, it would be that mobile web minimalism can still be engaging, dynamic, and absolutely stunning.

The common notion is that constricting creative design to such a small canvass dulls the result. That couldn’t be farther from the truth! Finding ways to make your brand stand out with only six square inches to work with demands that you be even more creative than if you have unlimited space. The key to dominating the mobile landscape is to take all of that creative energy and find ways to employ it on only the essentials.

Take Harley Davidson’s mobile site for example:

Harley’s mobile site uses a clean and easy-to-navigate approach.

While at first glance it may seem there is a lot going on, Harley’s mobile site is incredibly efficient. Not only are all the options easy to find and navigate through, but Harley also includes a dynamic photo reel of its bikes that customers can scroll through without having to leave the homepage.

The digital interactive agency SevnthSin uses another great trick for combining minimalism and excitement; utilizing interactive features. This can be difficult to do without creating confusion for users, but if you can find a way to make the interaction fun without being distracting, you can not only make your site very clean, but also can drive users to stick around. By presenting all of the site’s features with icons and inviting users to drag their desired option to the launch pad, Sevnthsin has created an engaging web experience that is both straightforward and fun:

 

As users drag icons, they highlight and the animations change.

The trick of course to all of this creative minimalism is that it tends to be difficult and time consuming to achieve. That frustration was in essence the impetus for FiddleFly in the first place, and is still the force that always drives us to build software that makes new things not just possible on the mobile web, but simple as well. Features like animated gifs, integrated video or interactive social media can draw tons of attention to your mobile site while also serving the purpose of helping your customers. That’s why we made them so easy to incorporate into your mobile creations.

At FiddleFly, we see the value in minimalism, we just don’t define it the same way most companies do. If you have something wildly creative you want on your mobile site, you don’t need to whittle it down to a sketch, you just need to find the right way to show it to the world and FiddleFly can help.

Tell us about your creative designs, some of your favorite mobile sites, or your thoughts on minimalism-just make sure to keep it brief. As always, connect with us on Twitter @fiddlefly and find us on Facebook and Google+ as well.

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