I’ve been a proponent of using the PC, browser, or mobile in a unified way – basically, using the channel most suited for a particular activity. One area that can get overlooked is a service subscription process. Of course, it can be easiest to sign up using a PC, but for some services, signing up from the phone might bee just as easy. For example, signing up with a short code via SMS makes it easy to capture already a subscriber’s phone number.
I think it is a challenge to actually make sign up simple for some services, say a blogging app. But, it can be done, for example, by having simple defaults for the person who signs up via the mobile, that then can be changed when they get to a PC. I think Kodak does this with their uploader app. You just upload, even if you don’t have an account. You can then go to your PC and complete the process.
What triggered my thoughts here was Mobile Mike’s insightful comment in his report from his and Russ’ most recent Mobile Monday. I think he also hits it on the head for the quick demo and sign up process (been there, suffered that!):
Link: This is Mobility � Blog Archive � Mobile Demos – Grabbing Attention vs. Creating a Stir.
I know all the reasons why people keep the registration process mostly on the PC, but I still think it’s wrong. Let sign up for your service be as much of an impulse event as possible. Let one user recommend it to a friend and start using it right there at the gathering they’re having, without needing to go back to a PC to sign up and then use at some future point. If I’m at a concert and someone tells me about photo sharing software they’re using, you bet I want to start using it right then. Delaying that event will cause a lot of loss in terms of users. When I sign up later at my PC there’s nothing for me to do, I’ll probably forget about the app pretty quick. The positive use I could have had at the event where I heard about the software is a powerfully marketing tool, use it by enabling it. You need to be able to capture that event if you’re working on a mobile social application. The software and service are situated and realtime, the sign up and start of use should be as well.
