Mobile First

Mobile first has become the new mantra of technology companies, but as with anything, we must think about what we're doing, not just do it because we can.¹

Any time we're building a new product there are things that must be built into the requirements - especially those items that without which our product would be defective. Security and performance are two good examples of this, and neither can easily be 'tacked on' at the end any more than it would be easy to transform a minivan into a race car.² However, contrary to the assumptions about security and performance, we ought determine, before going down the 'mobile first' road, whether or not it makes sense to travel that path.

What I am going to say next will probably surprise you, but...mobile is not for everyone...at least not in the US market. Now, granted, I'm for creating products that handle globalization well - in fact it's been one of the most forceful lessons I've learned over the last several years - but if we're just looking at the US market we have to evaluate the data. After all, we are getting paid to think.

Data now shows that while there has been a hefty increase in the number of people using their mobile devices for banking, those same people are reluctant to use their devices to pay at retailers and restaurants.³ While many retailers are seeing a trend in which consumers will enter their physical locations to do additional research and subsequently make a (better informed) purchase online, that does not translate into purchases using a mobile device. The global financial services giant, PayPal, announced figures at their recent Analyst's Day that also point to this trend. According to those numbers, 25% of PayPal's users are using their mobile devices (compared to 50% of US cell phone users who accessed online banking services) and mobile devices only account for 10% of their total payment volume (TPV).⁴ While this 10% may in fact be a disproportionate number of transactions, and likely is as people pay for mobile-specific items like ringtones and other digital goods, it still points out, in the best case, that big purchases - the kind typically made at retailers and restaurants - are not being paid for using mobile devices.

Of course the situation could change, and it's clear that eBay, PayPal, and a number of other companies are betting on it. In the meantime, why maintain the mantra "mobile first"? There are valid reasons associated with development costs that basically boil down to why develop two (or more) apps when one responsive app will suffice. That is difficult to argue against - after all, if developed well it's likely that quality assurance cycles can be shortened, time between releases can be decreased, as can the number of engineering staff necessary for maintenance and new product development. Then again, I have yet to see any reliable data that demonstrates any of these advantages, and there is still disagreement in the industry whether a responsive web application or a native mobile solution is best in any given situation. At the very least it behooves us to put more thought into our work than simply repeating a mantra that may or may not be useful.

Notes:

1. Robert's Rule #17 (Too often 'we can' erroneously becomes 'we should' and 'we will')
2. Look at BBC's Top Gear Series 12, Episode 3 to see how that transpires.
3. Consumers using phones to bank, but not to buy, Wall Street Journal, March 27, 2013
4. eBay Inc. expects to enable $300 billion of global commerce by 2015