The importance of a mobile first search strategy

Jan 21, 2020

In this blog we explore how Unily’s unified search center can become the essential component in your mobile-first strategy.

Why you should enable fluid search experiences across your enterprise

When Satya Nadella took the job of Microsoft CEO in 2014, he announced a new mantra for the company as "mobile first, cloud first." But the idea of mobile-first is not new. Luke Wroblewski, an internationally recognized digital product leader, introduced best practice rules for a mobile-first approach back in 2009. Since then, mobile use has been steadily rising and now accounts for 48.2% of all website traffic (excluding tablets), according to Statista. Gartner predicts that a major digital trend in 2020 will be "multi-experiences" – meaning a unified user experience across digital touchpoints on any device. This all points to a continuing rise in the popularity of mobile use, and, coupled with the changing workstyles in today's digital workplace, mobile compatibility, and omnichannel user journeys should be at the forefront of your digital workplace strategy.

'Mobile first' is indeed a design choice, where mobile UX and UI are developed first, but it is also a change in mindset that needs to take place in today's enterprise for businesses to keep up with the demands of the modern workplace. It's not merely about being more efficient - it's about clearing any barriers that stand in the way of your people producing their best work. They need to be able to complete their tasks whenever and wherever they are, on any device, as they can't afford to wait around for the right device.

One of the main barriers is finding information in a vast landscape of enterprise applications. You'll need powerful search capabilities so that your people find what they're looking for, but you'll also need a search feature that is in your users' pockets at all times. Unily's unified search center is built from the ground up with slick mobile interactions giving your people incredibly powerful, configurable, and enterprise-grade mobile search experiences.

Consumer-grade mobile UX for uninterrupted comms

According to LinkedIn, 40% of people will go to a competitor after a bad experience with a mobile site. It is, therefore, vitally important to know your digital touchpoints and to have a holistic understanding of your user journeys. With Unily, you can provide an uninterrupted digital experience covering all your users' digital touchpoints, on any device, with an unparalleled level of visual consistency.

Your users will be able to seamlessly switch from one device to another to accomplish their goals. They can, for instance, search their people directory while on the go and find invaluable contact details for relationship building. Essentially, a great mobile UX means that they no longer have to wait to get back to their desks; your users can now collaborate from wherever they may be, on any device. Simply put, with Unily's award-winning UX, your users can pick up their phone and continue from where they left off.

Integrated search experiences – find anything on the go

"Digital experience is no longer limited to the domain of born-digital companies or outlier enterprises in specific industries. CIOs must ensure that their organization puts as much effort into understanding how people interact with and experience digital technology as they put into tracking technology itself."

Brian Prentice - Research Vice President at Gartner

Our digital experience platform has been evolving alongside market and client demands. Unily's mobile search center is compatible with any OAuth 2 application, meaning your people can find anything stored in any of your compatible, integrated applications in seconds. For example, your team could integrate Unily with ServiceNow, so they can employ our powerful search to find any ticket, on the go.

With Unily, switching between devices is fast, responsive, and equally satisfying, so your users will always be able to tap into integrated search experiences irrespective of the device they are using. It is this fluidity and flexibility which puts Unily's unified search center at the center of your communications strategy.

Go further with configurable omnichannel journeys and targeted experiences

Knowing your people is crucial – how they work, what their day looks like, and what they need. Unily's powerful unified search center gives you a deep level of configurability so you can take full control and create tailored search experiences for all your users and their unique requirements. You can choose to segment your users based on their job roles, location, or preferences, in Unily's intuitive CMS, and then target their search criteria. This level of configurability allows you to be more precise so that your people get the search results most relevant to them.

For example, your stats might show that your sales team is more likely to be engaged on mobile because they're more likely to be out visiting clients than in the office. Once you have mapped out the narrative behind your user journeys, you could set up individual search centers directly in Unily's CMS. Select the audience you're targeting - your sales team - then fine-tune relevancy and field search properties, so your sales team can easily and rapidly find what they need on their mobile phone.