Earlier this year, Steve Jobs took the stage in the Moscone Center in San Francisco and announced a new Apple product that he described would be “magical.” Heated debates immediately flooded mainstream media and online channels such as Twitter, with many writing off the iPad as nothing more than an enlarged version of the iPhone. Many thought it was just another e-book reader. Others didn’t understand why anyone would need another device in their life, especially one that had less features than a lower priced laptop or Netbook. I’ll even admit that I myself fell into the group of skeptics.  While my experience may not be “magical” yet, after using the iPad for a month (I composed this article on an iPad), I’m starting to see a few ways “tablets” or “slate” devices like the iPad will affect those of us in the online marketing space.

With a background in Cognitive Science, I’ve always been interested in how technology can change or meld with human behavior and cognition. Since the beginning of the Internet and even the beginning of the PC, using a computer has mainly been a private experience. It’s in the name itself – the “Personal” Computer. The limitations of a GUI (graphical user interface) like Windows or MAC OS has one person controlling a mouse and keyboard and usually one person consuming the information. Touchscreens like the ones on the iPad are more tangible and relatable to the real world, with NUI (Natural User Interfaces). The ability to drag, drop, move, point, and manipulate objects on a large screen with your hands creates a collaborative environment where multiple people can interact and consume information on a single device at the same time. Users of a slate device will expect more interactive and richer experiences than the static information available on a desktop / laptop screen.

When creating a website or application for slate devices, keep in mind the environment and scenarios which are different from traditional desktop / laptop experiences. Take advantage of the sensation of touch and the emotions associated with that to truly create an immersive experience. Take for example an engineer who is researching a new machine manufactured by your company. Currently, they probably go to Google, type in the name of the machine needed, find your website along with a few competitors, find documentation such as PDFs, and then they email the PDFs to a few colleagues to initiate discussion.

Imagine if the engineer has a slate device like the iPad. He or she could find your website, and would instantly be presented with an experience much more similar to that of a paper brochure catalog. Videos embedded on the page begin playing when touched, pages can be flipped through like paper, and schematics can be manipulated using multi-touch on the page. The engineer takes the iPad over to colleagues and they begin consuming information together and become immersed in your website and your product.  An experience like this could never be accomplished through a traditional desktop / laptop experience in the past.

While a desktop or laptop computer is usually sitting at a desk and separated from any other activity, mobile and slate devices create unique and dynamic situations because users are accessing information on your website in different environments and scenarios. Many of the current website usability standards and guidelines are based on research assuming users interact with your website through a mouse and keyboard. With those peripherals gone, users interact with your website in a more direct way, bridging the gap between the online and offline worlds.

2. The Push Towards HTML5

Want your Flash animations and videos to show up correctly on an iPad and all future devices? While other slate device manufacturers are planning on incorporating Flash, Apple refuses to do so. One of the unique aspects of the iPad is that it is always-on, always-connected, and has a long battery life (compared to laptops / Netbooks). Flash is one of the sacrifices the iPad has to make in order to maintain this long battery life. The good news is that the iPad is actually helping advance the switch to HTML5 faster than anticipated, with many websites getting rid of Flash in the past month already.

HTML5 is an updated revision of the HTML language for website development which is intended to improve standards and compatibility with the technology that is available today and in the future. What this means is that your website coded in HTML5 should load correctly across all means of access, whether that be a desktop, laptop, mobile phone, slate, etc. So instead of a Flash animation, using HTML5 in combination with CSS and JavaScript (such as the jQuery framework) will ensure your content loads correctly now and in the future.

A simple fix that you can implement right away is to convert your existing videos to a format supported by HTML5. If you haven’t done so already, consider switching to a video hosting service like YouTube. YouTube was the first of many video hosting services to automatically detect the iPad and switch all videos to HTML5, allowing videos to play within the iPad browser from the YouTube website, or embedded within your website. This will probably be the norm going forth for all low power devices such as slate devices and mobile phones.

3. A Greater Focus on Hardware and Accessibility

The main difference between a slate device and a desktop or laptop is the lack of a keyboard and mouse. The difference in hardware is going to directly affect your website in many ways. Any type of drop down menu that normally displays when a user hover their mouse cursor over a link is not accessible on a slate device. This means that if your site currently relies on a hover menu as the only means of accessing a page, slate device users will be unable to navigate through your website at all. The lack of a mouse also means that users have to use their fingers to navigate. A finger is a lot less precise when compared to a mouse or stylus, so if you have clickable links or images listed too close in proximity to each other, users will frequently touch the wrong link, creating a frustrating experience.

Traditionally, accessibility was commonly viewed as creating websites that could be accessed by physically impaired users through different assistive devices such as screen readers. Moving forward, with an increasing number of Internet connected devices available, users will be accessing the web through many multiple devices.  The way a website is designed is going to be heavily dependent on the hardware used to access it, meaning web development is going to become a lot more similar to software and user interface design.

Conclusion

It’s hard to believe that when television was first invented, many people viewed it as a passing fad and doubted the success of the technology because of the existing domination of radio programming. The same thing happened with the Internet, as it was initially never expected to be a viable method of conducting business.  History has shown that many people have a difficult time accepting change and fail to understand how our behaviors and lifestyles will adapt as technology evolves. No matter how much we try to deny it, the lines between online and offline are quickly becoming blurred and the iPad is just the beginning of this shift. Be seen as the innovator in your space and embrace new technologies. You can minimize risk by having a clearly defined online strategy and focus on what your customers need through a comprehensive user centered design process.