Although both mobile websites and native apps are accessed using a smartphone such as an iPhone, Blackberry or an Android device, how each one fits into your online strategy depends on the technical, marketing and user experience constraints. Here’s a quick checklist to help you decide!
| end goals / contraints | Mobile Site | Native App |
|---|---|---|
| Mobile-friendly content to the widest possible audience | ✔ | - |
| Increase brand awareness using viral games | - | ✔ |
| App is used to perform a recurring task | - | ✔ |
| Limited budget | ✔ | - |
| Online content needs to be found in search results | ✔ | - |
| Content needs to be shared across social networks | ✔ | - |
| No internet connection is required | - | ✔ |
| Content needs to be shared across social networks | ✔ | - |
| No internet connection is required | - | ✔ |
| Native functionality (e.g. camera) is required | - | ✔ |
| Online content requires a quick look-up | ✔ | ✔ |
| A GPS is used as part of the functionality | - | ✔ |
| Complex tasks need to be performed | - | ✔ |
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Hi, I really like your check list as it seems pretty organized and thought through but are we still choosing whether or not should we develop a mobile version for a standard website?
As far as I am concerned, taking into account the info and stats for devices used for online browsing, It`s just a matter of when do we launch a mobile version for the site, right at the beginning or a bit delayed to create an extra PR buzz.
I would asses the possibility of using a native app to enhance some features in the original site if such features prove to be highlights for users.
Then again, this applies to complex sites, in my opinion and if we`re talking strictly mobile it`s another deal entirely
Hi Dante,
Thank you very much for sharing your views. Yes I should have made it clear in the post, deciding whether or not we need to develop a mobile-friendly version of the site (mobile site and/or native app) is the first consideration. You need to understand your audience (although my gut feeling is that in the majority of cases it will be a “yes”) to make that decision.
I would be really interested if you could give me some examples of “enhanced” features, it’s always interesting to give examples!
I will update the article to expand on each goal/constraint so watch this space!
Nathalie
I don’t agree with GPS and some native features such as Camera. If you use JQuery and HTML5, you can do most of the basic features which mobile apps can provide.