Wesley Hogg, Executive Creative Director at Reading Room discusses how good ideas are generated and highlights some examples about how basic human drives power great ideas.

2. Mobile Ideation
(for Human Beings)
2

3. What’s coming up
3
How brands use mobile
Things to think about
If you only remember one thing…
1
1
1

4. 4
How brands use mobile

5. 5
To access website content
 Brands want users to access their content on the go
 Rise of responsive design: One website that works across devices

6. 6
A marketing channel
 Advertising that mixes offline and
online (AXA print ad + mobile)
 Location-based mobile marketing
like Foursquare check in deals
 Quick Response (QR) codes for in
store sales promotions
 Banner ads that offer rich media
content
 Mobile commerce lets users buy
things anywhere. M-commerce is
expected to be worth $31 billion by
2016 (Forrester)

7. 7
Offer utility
 Mobile applications may not be
marketing oriented
 This borough council app from
Norway lets users of a local
community access news, jobs,
weather information, traffic cams, etc
 Another app by the British Library
lets users discover historical
manuscripts

8. 8
Quick recap
Common uses of mobile by
brands:
Website access
Marketing
Utility

9. 9
Quick recap
All well and good but how do we
actually come up with ideas for
mobile?!
I need
an idea!

10. 10
Things to think about
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11. 11
People are lazy
 Your app user might be drunk, half
asleep or distracted
 Your app needs the simplicity of
consumer electronics like micro-
waves and washing machines
 Think simple. Think OBVIOUS

12. 12
We love shortcuts
 Cut out steps
 The more steps a customer has to
go through, the lower the chance of a
sale
 Amazon has one-click purchasing
 Simplify your process

13. 13
Mobiles are also used indoors
 ‘Mobile’ does not mean users are
outside all time
 People use their mobiles at home
while doing something else such as
watching TV, cooking, taking a
dump, etc
 What can you do with mobiles in a
home context?

14. 14
The power of small
 ‘Paper Toss’ is a game that lets
you toss crumpled paper into a bin
 Angry birds is not as elaborate as
Modern Warfare
 Ideas don’t have to be big (or cost
the earth) to be a bit hit

15. 15
Start with problems
 The photo printing industry was
surprised that people kept and
viewed photos on Facebook and
Flickr
 People are unhappy with search
engines not because they don’t know
how to search. They are unhappy
because they don’t know what they
want
 Is there a problem that needs
fixing?

16. 16
People are sheep
 Traffic jams are caused by large
numbers of people following GPS
instructions blindly
 Expect people to blindly follow
instructions on mobiles
 Be careful of what you ask people
to do – they may well do it! So think
through your process or user journey

17. 17
Introduce complexity s.l.o.w.l.y.
 Wii Sports Resort game doesn’t let
you play 100 pin bowling until you
master 10 pin bowling
 Apple doesn’t release all their new
features at once. They release
functions incrementally
 Avoid overloading your user;
introduce complexity slowly

18. 18
If you only remember one thing…

19. 19
“Two things are
infinite: the
universe and
human stupidity;
and I'm not sure
about the
universe.”
A clever fellow once observed

20. 20
Technology
changes.
Human
nature does
not.
But seriously

21. 21
Technology
changes.
Human
nature does
not.
Therefore

22. 22
Feel the <3
 We want to love. We want to be
loved
 Grindr is an app that helps bring
men together. Quite literally

23. 23
We have egos
 Here’s the most expensive app
ever sold: ‘I Am Rich’ app sold on
iTunes for $999.99
 Clicking on the app icon would fill
the screen with a large, ruby red gem
on a red and black background
 Eight people actually bought the
app until it was pulled from the App
Store

24. 24
We are competitive
 Involve a whole city in gianourmous
game of tag
 Click to watch video
http://vimeo.com/jungvonmattsthlm/
mini-getaway

25. 25
We like to share the things we like
 Merely rating things is so 2010
 Be a greedy pig: Discover + add
location + photograph + rate + share

26. 26
We want to avoid pain
 A community of real time traffic
reporters
 Never be stuck in traffic again.
That’s the idea, anyway
 Click to watch video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qQux6-
Cqig&feature=player_embedded

27. 27
We have a funny bone
 Apple claims ‘there’s an app for
everything’. It’s true. There’s even
an iFart
 Click to watch video
http://www.youtube.com/watc
h?v=6OXONkzmIfE

28. 28
We like to discover new things
 Nike True City. Rediscover your
city with real insider knowledge
 Click to watch video
http://www.youtube.com/watch
?v=Qet4NGswKfA&feature=rel
ated

29. 29
We have doubts
 Will the red armchair look bad
against my teal-coloured wall? See it
virtually with your mobile
 Click to watch video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=tqeLNxoBtjM&feature=player
_embedded#!

30. 30
We love to play
 It takes a brave client to launch a
new car through an iPhone game.
The results will make your heart race
 Click to watch video
http://www.youtube.com/watch
?v=wdpO_Any1as&feature=pl
ayer_embedded

31. 31
Ideate for human beings!

32. Questions?
Wesley Hogg– Executive Creative Director
Tel: +44 20 7173 2800
Reading Room
65-66 Frith Street
Soho
London
W1D 3JR
http://www.readingroom.com