Why businesses should not ignore the power of touch-screen web surfing

Two thirds of UK businesses have no idea how their websites function on touch-screen devices such as the iPad and iPhone, according to a new LinkedIn poll.

Commissioned by user experience specialists Foresite, the poll reveals that of the 103 UK company directors who answered the survey, fewer than a third (32%) had tested if or how their websites worked on the devices. 

Not only is it important to see how a company’s website appears and how the brand is represented, but businesses must know what ads on their site look like and make sure they are functioning.

With more than 3 million people across the globe holding onto an iPad already and with more than 1 million iPhone 4’s sold in the first few weeks, touch-screen devices are a market that is rapidly expanding and anyone who is online must keep up.

Last week, I was the lucky winner of a three month unlimited ‘buy one get one free’ pass to a particular brand of cinema complex. I immediately looked that cinema chain up on my iPad, which was on the coffee table (I didn’t want to walk to the study to get my laptop of course).

I typed in the cinema’s name and the website immediately popped up. A good start, but then I could not click on anything or navigate around the site. Instead of going to see a movie on Sunday (and spend a a couple of tenners at the candy bar) I didn’t know what was on so I decided to stay home and watch the Long Way Down on DVD.

I’ve had similar experiences with supermarket brands and banks – this is not good news for online business. 

Barnaby Moffat, Managing Director of Foresite, said: “The iPad is not the first device to use touch screen technology, but it is the first to bring it into the mainstream and will no doubt change the way companies approach web design. Organisations who view their websites as sales portals should now be considering touch interaction.”
 
With a total of 50 million iPhones in circulation, touch-screen technology is becoming increasingly relevant to businesses.

Moffat continues: “Using the iPad to interact with a web page, makes you think in a different way. Rather than the usual point and click of a mouse, intuition prompts you to browse, scroll, push, pull, pinch, flip, and twist your way around a website. Users will navigate differently.

“At some point, your clients, customers and other audiences will interact with your site (and therefore your brand) through touch. At the very least, you need to make sure the touch experience with your site isn’t a bad one. Businesses should start exploring the opportunities so they don’t get left behind and can appeal to this rapidly-expanding, mobile ecommerce demographic.