How to choose the best platform for your digital product
Where to begin
Let us begin with a simple question: are you reading this post on your mobile phone or on your desktop or laptop? Have you already thought about your own usage — whether you use your mobile phone or desktop more often while doing things online and offline?
Whether you are wondering where to build your digital product or are just curious about the future of device usage, this post will bring some clarity on the topic and help you decide.
Statistics
First, we need to consider this:
Mobile usage has drastically risen throughout the last ten years, and the tendency is only going up. With 7.26 billion users worldwide in 2022, it’s more than worth asking yourself whether you should build a mobile app instead of focusing on a desktop experience.
The percentage of internet mobile traffic was 53.98% in 2021. Especially after the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, mobile usage, and internet usage in general, has risen dramatically. Nowadays, many businesses are functioning only online.
After knowing that, it should be quite easy to choose, right? But don’t be so fast! There are things to ask yourself before committing to one device.
Checklist of six important questions
Before deciding where to build your product:
1. What is your target audience preference? Your target user group and their typical device usage will help you build a better user experience. Also, consider a forecast of predicted future usage.
2. In what industry/market is your product? Research shows that many e-commerce users will begin their shopping experience on a mobile device, but will switch to desktop in the moment of purchase. Same with finance software and complex transactions. Users tend to prefer desktop over mobile for more complex actions. On the other hand, social media platforms are used on a mobile device more than 90% of the time.
3. What is your budget? The budget for building a mobile app might defer from the one to build a desktop experience. To make sure you plan for success, plan all considered expenses ahead.
4. Are there some technical limitations to consider? Always consider a discussion with your development and design team. There might be some key features planned that can only exist on a mobile (or a desktop) device.
5. Do not copy the competition blindly. You might be tempted to design your product exactly like some of your competitors. Bear in mind that some solutions they came up with might not work in your case.
6. Consider accessibility. There are different usage and accessibility factors that mobile, tablet or desktop usage are offering. Make sure to align your decision with the user accessibility preferences.
Conclusion
So mobile, desktop, or both? Both mobile and desktop have their own advantages and disadvantages. Mobile device and usage, in general, is drastically rising and is established as the preferred, easy-use device by users. On the other hand, desktop has more space to showcase details, and it’s preferred by many users when it comes to executing critical actions.
With the handy checklist above, you should be able to determine what’s best for your business and product. So go and build your next big thing!
Thank you for reading! 💜
This article was originally written by GEOBO. We are a design studio, specialising in branding for fashion and creative tech companies.
