ASCD.org – Mobile Recommendations

SUMMARY

As ASCD continues to expand its brand presence in the mobile arena, the need has emerged for a version of ascd.org formatted specifically for viewing on mobile devices. The Website Team has developed a goal of launching a mobile ASCD website by March, 2011.

While a wide variety of mobile browsers and platforms exist, these recommendations assume certain usability standards and/or guidelines that should meet the needs of the vast majority of – but not necessarily all – mobile users. These include:

· Page design is limited to 250 pixels wide

· No Flash content

· Limited graphics to reduce load time

This document outlines our recommendations for ASCD’s mobile website on two fronts: functionality and content. Layout and design specifications are referred to in this document generally, will be conceived and finalized separately by the Design & Production Team.

FUNCTIONALITY

1. Login – Because the mobile site intends to be content-heavy, and much of our archived content (EL, Books, etc.) is limited to ASCD members only, the ability for users to log in via the established SSO mechanism is imperative. We recognize that project timelines do overlap with the organization’s implementation of Personify, but ensuring this functionality should be a consistent focus.

Unlike ASCD.org, where the login box appears on all pages, the limited amount of screen real estate on mobile devices requires a different approach. It is recommended that the user sign-on interface live on its own page or module, albeit with a prominent directive link throughout the site.

Users should not be required to log in before browsing the mobile site; rather only if they want to and/or plan to visit restricted content during their visit. Again, easy and prominent access to the Login link should be visible on all pages, preferably in the header. The login should work such that users logging into a particular page, stay on that page they were originally on before they came to the login screen.

Here is an example of Facebook’s login screen:

2. Navigation – The ASCD.org site navigation is extensive, and while the mobile site will ultimately feature a scaled-down content library, there will still be multiple channels. Again, with limited screen space, ease of use in site navigation is of utmost importance. In developing recommendations for mobile ASCD’s navigation, we consulted several other media sites whose heavy reliance on content roughly paralleled ASCD’s. It is our opinion that, for simplicity and usability, m.cnn.com’s approach was one of the most effective:

Clicking or tapping “Select a section” presents users with a scrolling list of navigational topics, which they can then jump off to by quickly tapping again.

Other examples of popular sites with effective navigational tools include m.espn.com and mobile.nhl.com:

In both of these cases, the navigation is below the headlining content, where as the CNN navigation appears at the very top of the page. From a usability standpoint, we’re not sure that either approach is inherently better than the other, but it is very much a design consideration.

3. Search – As with ASCD.org, users’ ability to quickly locate the content they’re looking for should be a priority, and it is recommended that we maintain a parallel version of our internal search engine that is specific to the mobile content we’re offering. Typically on mobile sites, the site search bar is placed at the bottom of the screen so as not to take space away from the content itself, but while remaining easily accessible.

4. Content Presentation – This is largely a design consideration, but generally speaking, many sites will typically display 2-3 “featured” (or most recent) articles per section, followed by a “More” link, on the Home page.

Deeper content channels may mimic the “featured” content, but with a simple list of additional related content appended (up to 10 items)

As we continue to develop and implement content types in Vignette, managing the “feeds” of these articles (and their timing) will become easier.

5. Advertising – We plan to fully support and sell advertising on the mobile site using standard creative sizes (typically 300x50 or 250x40). These would be full-width, horizontal ads and could be placed in a variety of positions from the top to the bottom of each page. The number of positions to be sold is not yet determined. Integration of mobile advertising campaigns is easily accomplished through AdMob and/or our existing 24/7 RealMedia provider.

CONTENT

Though ASCD provides no shortage of web-based content, not all of it is suitable for mobile usage, because of either a) the formatting of the content itself (rich, interactive) or b) the needs of the typical mobile web user. In an effort to limit the scope of ASCD’s mobile website according to those two factors, the following content channels are recommended for inclusion:

1. “ASCD Highlights/Latest News” – Though this does not currently exist in any form, there is an effort underway to develop a regular feed of relevant content spanning the organizations interests and activities, including the Inservice blog, ASCD EDge, press releases, new product releases, association developments, and more. If developed and formatted properly, this content could be repurposed and would be ideal for home page, above-the-fold presentation on a mobile site, as it would directly address the type of information mobile users would be most interested in. Much of the content from CS, we feel, would fit here. Features such as those currently used on ASCD.org – Flash slideshow,– are not recommended for marquee placement as they are generally not updated with enough frequency to maintain relevance and interest.

2. Educational Leadership – This is the most-trafficked content on ASCD.org, and there is little reason to believe it would not also be highly sought after on a mobile site. We would offer quick access to the current issue’s articles, as well as to all post-1992 (non-PDF) archives.

3. Conferences – Supply users with landing page and additional content for each of the three major ASCD Conferences, the online versions of Conference Daily, and information about upcoming regional Institutes and other meetings. We hope those will be in content type/feed format by March.

4. Books – Highlight recent book releases, and provide sample chapter and study guide content, mirroring ASCD.org.

5. Membership – “Who We Are” and “Learn More” pages, along with overviews of each membership category with information about how to join/renew via ASCD.org.

6. Video – Unlike ASCD.org, which supplies several channels with a variety of video playlists, the limited screen space on mobile platforms necessitates a different approach. Our video provider, Brightcove, has released a series of tools that allow for encoding and presentation of players in HTML5, which requires no Flash. Using these tools, we recommend a standalone Video channel on ASCD’s mobile site, offering a separately managed playlist of recent and relevant videos specifically for mobile users.

7. Professional Development – Similar to the Membership area, this area will feature an overview of our PD offerings, including PD In Focus, PD Online, OSCB, the Teacher Effectiveness Suite and more. On every page will be contact # and information.

8. ASCD Store –Depending on the status of the AMS, we would consider looking at a few mobile-friendly front doors based on the section – home, books, video -- automated lists for most recent products on each, and then link off to the main store website for product pages, searches and other details. It might be a good interim solution until we can know more upon Store status post-launch.

9. Community: It’s unclear right now whether KickApps will have the site mobile-enabled by next March. However, we can link to our various Facebook and Twitter presences online, and certainly provide access to the full website for ASCD EDge.

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

1. “View Full Site” – The mobile site should feature browser detection code that automatically directs users to the appropriate version if they access the site via a mobile browser. However, from a usability standpoint, it is also recommended that we include a link in the footer to “View Full Site”, which would still allow mobile users with advanced browsers (Android, iPhone, etc.) to access ASCD.org should they wish.

2. App-Based Content – Some of the content available on ASCD.org could, in theory, be formatted effectively for mobile devices. However, because of the nature of this content, we believe that they are better suited for a more controlled mobile app environment. Two such examples include Research-A-Topic (highly organized content centered around specific topics), and PD InFocus (subscription-based, interactive tools). Additionally, Educational Leadership archives could eventually be packaged as a separate mobile app.

3. Conference Registration and the Online Store (search, product pages) – This functionality for the currently exists on a separate platform from ASCD.org, and further, is highly subject to the provisions of the new AMS, and so, while this is functionality that we would definitely like to see integrated with the mobile platform at some point, we recommend postponing these efforts until a later date.

4. Newsletter Registrations – Express, SmartBrief, EdAdvocates, Whole Child: We should discuss this piece in particular. Filling in forms on a mobile phone can get unwieldy and we’re concerned about the number of fields we require in this area for a mobile device. Let’s discuss options here, what if any.

5. ASCD EDJobs – Following the launch this fall, what sort of integration should there be – if any on the mobile site?