Two years ago, as the mobile marketplace began to grow, we made the decision to launch a mobile site. The design was simple (ie: boring) and the content was minimal (although that’s not a bad thing). It served its purpose over these two years, providing a little “About Us” info to those who were curious and our address to those who were wondering around Old Town trying to find us, but with the mobile marketplace in full force it was time for us to step it up.

Earlier this year, an eROI power team was put together to take our mobile site to a whole new level… and that’s exactly what they did. Our new mobile site launched last month and if I do say so myself, it’s pretty damn awesome!

I sat down with the project team to hear what they had to say about the goals of the site, what they learned from the process and how they feel about the outcome.  Here’s what they had to say…

Me: First let’s introduce the team and their roles in the project. We have:

Maureen Pimley – Project Stakeholder

Alex Williams – Strategy

Stephen Aase – Design

Verity Kent – Design

Amanda Garceau – Development

KC Anderson– Project Management (although she is soaking up the sun on her Honeymoon and can’t be here for this discussion)

Me: Okay, guys tell me a bit about the goals you had for the new mobile site.

MP: We wanted eROI to bring together a team of people who had shown interest in mobile technology to discuss the direction the industry was heading. We recognized how quickly mobile was establishing itself as a prominent marketing channel and we wanted to make sure we were positioning ourselves to understand it’s place and relevance. Tackling our own site offered a great opportunity to put our knowledge to the test and begin to sharpen our expertise.

AG: eROI was definitely lacking a good mobile site; we knew that the normal information needed to be easily accessible for people on the go (phone number, address, etc.)  We also wanted to showcase our work in a creative way that ties all of our related resources together (blog posts, case studies, etc.)

VK: I agree, it was long overdue for us to create a good mobile site!   Along with wanting the site to function as intended by providing the user the information they are looking for in a mobile-friendly way, we also wanted to also highlight some interesting technologies and of course, stellar design.

AW: Exactly, we wanted to blend content our mobile audience needs with a unique immersive experience tailored to touch screen devices like the iPhone and Android family, and  I think we achieved that.

SA: From a UI/UX standpoint, we wanted to give the site an intuitive visual navigation style that beamed the eROI brand. We also wanted to allow a user multiple avenues into the same areas of the site throughout the homepage. Giving maximum exposure to the areas we wanted them to visit.

Me: Awesome. So what did you all learn from this experience?

SA: One thing I learned from this whole experience was more about content strategy. We really had to focus on what we wanted people to see and do and not get caught up in trying to just recreate eroi.com. We had to tailor content, provide a different type of user flow and understand that at the end of the day, getting in touch or showing our portfolio were the two most important parts of the site.

AW: As Stephen said, mobile users need different things than a desktop user.  Creating benchmarks and analyzing statistical data for mobile isn’t as cut and dry as it is on the web. Crafting your content and your story for mobile isn’t simply stripping things away. It takes focus and a whole new set of user stories.

AG: One of the things we wanted to experiment with was movement.  We initially tried out jQtouch and learned the ups and downs of that technology.  We ultimately decided that it was not going to work well for what we wanted to achieve.  We then moved to regular jQuery animations and incorporated touch where possible.  I think we all learned a lot about touch and how it differs from a mouse click, also accounting for different scenarios (horizontal vs. vertical layouts)

VK: This project actually reinforced a lot of things that I already knew, or assumed, like designers working in tandem with developers is CRUCIAL. We were able to test whether something was intuitive or not before we got too far along. Clear definition of vision at the outset (and being able to reference that vision during the process) is so important.

And, as Amanda mentioned we all learned a lot about the different touch motions and the challenges of not having rollover states. Mobile sites are not easier to design than regular websites!

MP: During the course of the project we were able to work together to establish some baseline strategies as well as some design and development standards. We pushed ourselves to experiment with existing technologies and how to use them to achieve what we were looking for. In the end, we were able to achieve a knowledge base that we now employ in the mobile sites we are now developing.

Me: I am so impressed with the outcome of this site. How do you guys feel about it now that it’s launched?

AG: I think that it turned out well.  I love the mesh of projects/resources.  I have heard good feedback so far!

SA: I think it was a great success for our team here at eROI. We did some great user testing that led us to continue to refine the current piece. In fact we are still listening to what could be improved, and like anything online, its evolution will be a necessity for its continued success.

MP: Right from the start we received great feedback. The site has even been featured (not solicited by us) on a number of sites that showcase great mobile site design. I view this as a huge compliment to how much we learned and how well we executed on those learnings. I am so excited to continue pushing our limits to discover what’s next in the space.

VK: I think it’s wonderful. I’m excited for next iterations based on what the analytics show.

AW: I think everyone is very happy with it. We have a very high level of engagement on the site, but the work is not done. It’s just beginning.

Me: Thanks guys. Can’t wait to see what’s next!

If you haven’t seen the new site yet, check it out! You can do so by going to www.eroi.com on your smartphone

If you don’t have a smartphone here are some screenshots…