User experience drives mobile, AT&T exec to NATPE Mobile delegates

By Giselle Abramovich

January 30, 2008

Rachel Switzky, AT&T Mobility

LAS VEGAS – Providing a good user experience is key to the success of mobile services, since disappointed users may result in lost customers, an AT&T executive told delegates at NATPE Mobile.

To provide a good experience, mobile service providers need to consider how users interact with their devices, Rachel Switzky, client relationship manager at AT&T Mobility said at the NATPE Mobile show focused on mobile’s role in video and television.

“[Consider how the] current mobile infrastructure impacts the development of mobile entertainment,” Ms. Switzky said earlier this week. “The user experience is about engagement and connection.”

Ms. Switzky noted the importance of understanding the main barriers to making mobile content more user-friendly.

The user experience needs to be unique  to retain the attention of an existing audience and maybe even attract new clientele from the competition.

For example, the ABC primetime show “Lost” has been broadcasting Mobisodes on Verizon with missing pieces to help explain the televised episodes and keep fans interested and interacting. 

Having such unique content may help keep and attract customers, Ms. Switzky said.

“I am not on Verizon, [but] would I have switched to Verizon to get that content?” she said.

Ms. Switzky said customers are experiencing the mobile landscape in three ways – the walled garden, the integrated approach and the open-source model.

The walled-garden is the industry term for viewing carrier-approved content providers. Verizon’s V Cast is an example.

The integrated approach is exemplified by Apple's iPhone.

“All the service providers are integrated,” Ms. Switzky said. “When a user goes to the map, they can directly call all the restaurants they are looking for and also see their Web sites via a [mobile] Web browser.”

An example of an open source model is Google’s Android. According to online encyclopedia http://www.wikipedia.org/, Android is a mobile phone platform based on the Linux operating system and developed by the Open Handset Alliance.

What’s important in the end is to give customers what they want, Ms. Switzky said. But what do they want?

“There is an increasing desire for brands to deliver experiences across multiple channels and an increased desire for consumers to more deeply engage through these channels,” Ms. Switzky said. “The boundaries between active and passive are changing, so it’s critical to understand where and when users want control.”

Ms. Switzky said a good example of an environment where users want control is The Fuselage, a Web site where fans talk about the Lost TV series.

The path to innovation and a relevant user experience consists of user research, prototyping, usability and testing, she said.

“From recommendations, we come up with design concepts,” she said. “Then we go back and make sure we are hitting the concepts that resonate with our user groups. You need to understand your users in order to understand how to speak to them. A little bit of research goes a long way.”