Users are increasingly using mobile apps rather than mobile web browsers to search for information on their devices. Specialized apps are better suited for local and context-based searches related to tasks like finding restaurants or flight schedules. Additionally, apps optimize data usage and can provide offline results, making them more practical than online search engines for on-the-go usage. A report found that US smartphone owners now spend 86% of their time using apps compared to 14% on the mobile web, indicating a shifting paradigm.

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THE WEEK IN 3 WORDS

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WEEK #25

3. SEARCH
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Users do not search the way they were searching only 2 years ago. And this is
because users are now more and more using mobile applications to search for
what they are looking (an eMarketer report shows that Google share in mobile
Internet search ad revenues dropped by 17% since 2010).
The reason is quite simple: a search engine like Google is able to give many
results for almost any kind of request, but does not perform well in oriented
search. Users prefer using a specialized application to search for a nearby
restaurant, flight schedules, etc. all related to local search. Another reason may
be because applications perform better in “on-the-go” contexts than online
search engines, because they are able to give users offline results or better
optimize network usage (by reducing the required amount of data to provide
users with results).
A Nielsen consumer report shows that US smartphone owners spend 86% of
their time using applications vs. the mobile WEB (14%). The WEB paradigm is
definitely shifting.

5. PRIME
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Rather impossible to miss, Amazon officially released its first mobile
phone: the Fire Phone.
It comes with an innovative hardware improvement: 4 front camera
that capture head movements. Users can interact with their device
without having to touch it anymore!
Pretty impressive…
But definitely not the most important goal of this device. With a 1 year
free subscription to Amazon Prime and the Firefly feature (products
recognition through camera), the (relatively) hidden plan for the Fire
Phone is to make users buy more on Amazon! Probably not a technical
revolution, but definitely a customer experience one, because the
phone has never been closer to a payment device as this one.

7. YO
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Yo, Flappy Bird, Snapchat… Is the mobile world really a world of
disposable concepts, disposable contents? Is this really all that
we expect from our mobile devices?
This is exaggerated, of course, and those
applications are somehow fun and even instructive
(from a user experience standpoint), but $1,2
millions funds raised for Yo, really?
The paradigm introduced by Apple with iOS and the possibility
for almost anyone to develop a mobile application for minimum
investment is great in the way that it calls for innovation,
creativity, new unexpected usages. But, please, for our sake to
all, don’t give so much credit anymore to Yo-like initiatives.
Otherwise, we will eventually regret our unthoughtful Yo-ing…
As promised here,
nothing inside