Making efficient use of mobile screen real-estate, Q&A with Lynette Hundermark

29 Jun 2015

With the rapid rise of tech trends such as mobility, cloud, the Internet of Things, and big data across all industries, more and more companies are pressed to enter the digital realm. It is no longer an innovation on a company's part to make their services or products available online, but has become a necessity as consumers are constantly on the go and want their information, products and services on the go as well. For this reason, companies brave the digital world and establish their own mobile strategies and develop mobile apps to give consumers what they want.

Lynette Hundermark

According to Lynette Hundermark, the founder of Useful and Beautiful, a mobile product strategy and development company, "Your mobile strategy should integrate into your overall digital strategy which in turn needs to compliment your business and customer goals." We had a talk with Hundermark to see what else she had to say about mobile apps and strategies.

What are the key factors keeping companies from going mobile?

Lynette Hundermark:

Lack of education/information on how mobile can be integrated into their digital strategy

Some companies have a mobile solution, but it is treated as a silo which means it's less effective

Not understanding what platforms they should target. Most companies still want to roll out an iOS solution when their target market is on another platform.

The lack of an experienced mobile strategist to help them mobilise properly.

Can you take us through the process you take clients through when developing their mobile sites, apps or solutions?

Hundermark:

Understanding the target market

Understanding the business goals

Understanding how the mobile solution will add value to the end user

Identifying the key platforms to target

Mapping out a product strategy

Designing the user experience and design

Development

Quality Assurance

Ongoing market research, keeping the product updated based on latest trends, monitoring the user behaviour and enhancing along the way

If you had to create a tick list for what makes a good app, what would be on the tick list?

Hundermark:

Mobile user experience and great design

Incorporation of core functionality

How does the app add value to my life/enhance my productivity

Does the core functionality work (I've seen some brands release apps with a core functionality that is actually broken)

Does the app work on new operating system updates?

Performance

Incorporation of native phone functionality

Can I perform simple tasks with ease?

Can you help demystify the mobile world for us in one paragraph?

Hundermark: Creating a mobile solution on your phone that a user is able to engage with while on the move, that has most (if not all) of the functionality they would expect to have on a desktop site, but presented in a usable form, making efficient use of the mobile screen real-estate.

What are your favourite apps that you have worked on?

Hundermark: I've loved working on every app that I've been part of. It's hard to pick a favourite as each app fell into a different sector.

Sterkinekor - entertainment
Bidorbuy and Leisure Books - m-commerce
Kalahari - e-reader app
General Electric - enterprise
Old Mutual - financial services
Obami - education
News24 - news apps
RealTimeWine - social media wine sharing platform

Each app has provided me with insights on user behaviour for that particular sector and its hard for me to pick a favourite.

The rise of cloud, the Internet of Things, and big data is causing the pace of change to accelerate. The digital world is changing constantly and there is an emphasis on keeping up with the latest trends. Is this very challenging in your field of work?

Hundermark: Challenging because technology is changing at such a fast pace, but also exciting at the same time. At the end of the day it is my job as an expert to keep up-to-date with these trends so that I am in a position to advise my clients on what is currently the best out there for their target market. Technology is my passion and I feel privileged to have the opportunity to work in a field that I love. For me, there really isn't a disconnect between work and play so it is not hard for me to keep up with the pace as it's something that I embrace anyway.