Evolution of the Mobile Experience

Updated: July 13, 2010

Optimize HTML creative for mobile
Most new mobile devices are capable of rendering a rich HTML experience. Marketers should optimize their email creative (which have typically been viewed on desktops and laptops with large screens) to also cater to mobile devices with smaller screens such as smart-phones, net-books and tablets. Creative teams should test multiple configurations of the email wireframe such as height and width of the email template, image sizes and placement, text placement, background colours and fonts to ensure the creative is engaging regardless of the device the user opens the email with. Consideration should also be given for testing creative in both portrait and landscape modes as accelerometers are becoming common place in mobile devices, offering both vertical and horizontal viewing experiences.

Multi-touch Interaction
Interaction with these new types of mobile devices has also evolved. The days of entering information on a consumer mobile device with a keypad, mouse and trackball will slowly become the exception rather than the rule. With advances in multi-touch technologies, creative teams will have to become familiar with tactile interactions that can take place with their emails, which Apple refers to as "gestures". Consumers can now interact with creative by "swiping", "pinch-and-expanding", "double-tapping" content on a touch-screen. Creative teams will need to be aware of these capabilities to provide the best experience possible. The phrase "look and feel" takes on a much more literal meaning with these multi-touch devices!