Evidence-based design principles for cross-channel and cross-device experiences, developed in 2013.

1. Designing For Multiple Channels
Julie Guinn Ÿ Design Innovation Group

3. Why Cross-Channel Design
Our customers live and work in an increasingly
complex ecosystem of technologies. One that
already includes an array of form factors,
operating systems and applications—from
laptops, smartphones and tablets, to smart
TVs, game consoles and embedded devices—
and is constantly expanding.
What our customers expect from this
ecosystem is evolving. Rather than a
collection of siloed, disjointed experiences,
they now expect a seamless network of
interaction points, across which their
products, services and data are always
available and always in sync.
With these changes, it is more important than
ever to take a holistic look at behaviors and
experiences across channels. Creating
delightful, cohesive cross-channel
experiences requires solving not just for
devices, products and features but also for
connections, transitions and relationships. It
requires addressing the product family as a
product in its own right.
Visit mobilemusings.intuit.com for more.

4. Ecosystem Facts
More of us now own more devices.
Pew Research Center: State of the News Media 2012
13%!
own a laptop,
smartphone and tablet
31% of smartphone
owners also own a tablet
23% of laptop owners
also own a tablet
52% of laptop owners
also own a smartphone

5. Ecosystem Facts
The more devices we own, the more devices we use to get things done…
67%!
23%!
16%!
9%!
Research on a smartphone then
buy in a store.
Research on a smartphone, check
out the product in a store, then
purchase on a desktop or laptop.
Research on a smartphone, check
out the product in a store, then
purchase on a smartphone.
Check out a product in a store,
then purchase on a smartphone.
Google: Our Mobile Planet Report 2012

6. Ecosystem Facts
… and the more devices we use at once.
Google: Our Mobile Planet Report 2012
86% !
Use
smartphone
while…
Play video
games
28%
Use Internet
43%
Watch TV
52%
Read
magazines
16%
Watch
movies
34%
Listen to
music
51%
Read a book
17%

7. Principles for Cross-Channel Design

8. What are the cross-channel principles?
Increasingly, Intuit has become responsible for
delivering products and services through
multiple channels within our customers’
technology ecosystems.
Developing and managing cross-channel
experiences presents unique design
challenges and opportunities.
To help support teams that are tackling these
challenges, the Design Innovation Group
identified six core principles that drive
delightful, cohesive cross-channel
experiences. These principles are drawn from
our research with consumers and small
business owners to understand how they use
their devices and their expectations for
experiences that are shared across them.
Visit mobilemusings.intuit.com for updates,
resources, examples and more.

9. Plan Your Family"
Design your product family as deliberately
as you design your individual products.
Embrace The Channel"
Design for each channel individually while
maintaining the overall feel of a product family.
Impress The First Time, Every Time"
Deliver benefit, ease and delight during initial
experiences with your product on every channel.
Principles for Cross-Channel Design
Never Leave Them Hanging"
Support complete tasks and workflows
within a channel; break them with care.
Transition Gracefully"
Make it easy for users to move between
channels.
Be Great In Context"
Understand and adapt to the contexts
in which your product is used.

10. Design your product family as deliberately as you design
your individual products.
Plan Your Family

11. Plan Your Family
Design your product family as deliberately as you design
your individual products.
• Does your product become more useful,
usable and delightful by being available on
multiple channels?
• Does each channel have a clear role and
relationship to the other channels?
• Do your features and interactions take
advantage of having multiple channels
available?
• Is your product available on the channels
that matter to your users?
“I just finished getting a fabulous
facial at a new spa. I am going to
pull up my Yelp app and write a
review recommending the place.
Having this app on my phone is so
convenient.” –Carmen
“Another great thing would be
having my phone or iPad be my
remote control. I used to have
that when I had Comcast, but
not with U-verse.” –Michael
“I would love it if I could program
my TiVo from my phone when I'm
out. Currently, TiVo does have a
phone app, but you can only use it
when you're near the TV.” –Kim

12. Family Models
Through a landscape review and customer research, we identified four broad models
for cross-channel product families. This list is not meant to be exhaustive and will likely
evolve as our technology ecosystem evolves. However, it may provide a useful starting
point for evaluating existing product families and defining new ones.
Consistent"
In consistent families, a product looks and
works similarly across channels though
features and interactions may be optimized for
specific channel characteristics.
Continuous"
In continuous families, a product is adapted,
sometimes extensively, to address specific
contexts or usage scenarios anticipated on
different channels.
Simultaneous"
In simultaneous families, a product engages
multiple channels simultaneously to create a
unique experience that would not be possible
with a single device.
Auxiliary
In auxiliary families, a product leverages
additional devices to enhance an experience
on a primary device, for example to extend
screen real estate, offload secondary functions
or mirror content.

13. Consistent
Facebook
Facebook is an example of a consistent product family. It offers a similar experience, with some
optimizations and enhancements, across devices.
Web! Phone! Tablet!

14. Continuous
Allrecipes
Allrecipes is an example of a continuous family where the product is adapted for specific
channel use cases. Users can search for recipes and create shopping lists online, access the
lists from their smartphone while shopping and view a cook-friendly version of the recipe on their
tablet once they’re in the kitchen.
Web! Phone! Tablet!

15. Simultaneous
Comcast Xfinity
Xfinity is an example of a simultaneous family where
devices work together to create a unique experience.
Users can browse and discover content and control
their television using a tablet.
Scrabble
The scrabble game allows players to use
a smartphone as a tile rack while using a
tablet as the game board.

16. Auxiliary
Coda
Coda, an OS X web editor, is an example of an
auxiliary family where additional devices are
leveraged to enhance the experience on a
primary device. Users can preview their site on a
tablet while coding on a laptop or desktop.
AdobeNav
Adobe Nav allows users to display their
most used Photoshop tools on a tablet,
freeing up screen real estate.

17. Embrace The Channel
Design for each channel individually while maintaining the
overall feel of a product family.

18. Embrace The Channel
Design for each channel individually while maintaining the
overall feel of a product family.
• Are you following the established visual and
interaction conventions of each channel but
retaining familiar design elements of your
product family?
• Are you leveraging each channel’s unique
strengths and capabilities but maintaining a
recognizable core of features and content?
• When channel and family conventions
conflict, do you optimize for the channel
experience?
• Where you break with channel or family
conventions, does it create a noticeably
better experience?
“When swiping vertically didn’t
do anything, my first instinct
was that the screen was frozen.
It didn’t operate in a way that
was familiar.” –Carmen
“Citibank has a defining logo
and color. Colors need to stay
cohesive. I want to know that
I’m at Citibank, I don’t want to
second-guess.” –Tara
“The menu usually brings up the
settings option, sign-out, and
other features. Some apps don’t
have a menu button, those
annoy me.” –Kevin

19. Evernote
The desktop version of Evernote is optimized for managing notes, the tablet version for
browsing and consuming notes and the smartphone version for capturing location-tagged
photos and audio.
Desktop! Phone! Tablet!

20. Impress The First Time, Every Time
Deliver benefit, ease and delight during initial experiences
with your product on every channel.

21. Impress The First Time, Every Time
Deliver benefit, ease and delight during initial experiences
with your product on every channel.
• Can users quickly understand the benefit of
using your product on multiple channels?
• Does using one channel make adopting
other channels easier, faster or more
delightful?
• Do you tailor first use on each channel
based on the user’s experience with other
channels?
• Is the design and behavior of each channel
consistent with expectations set by other
channels?
“I download free apps and
then clean them up if I don’t
like them. They’re not worthy
of being on my screen, taking
up real estate.” –Barbara
“I use the DIRECTV app, so I go to
the website thinking it must have the
same capabilities but better! Whoops
—I don't get it, where can I control
my DVR and set future recordings? It
caused me to stop using the site and
just stick with the app.” –Dan
“I started using Mint.com because I
found it as an "editor's pick" on the
Android market. After using it on my
phone, I realized what a nifty app this
was and with a name like Mint.com it
was fairly obvious that they would
have a web site as well.” –Kevin

22. Wunderlist
Web! Phone!
The Wunderlist landing page makes it easy to understand the product’s multi-channel
benefits. The on-boarding experience is tailored to the version installed: a list is pre-
populated with keyboard commands on the desktop and with touch commands on
mobile devices. Onboarding is skipped if the user is already familiar with the app on
another channel.

23. Never Leave Them Hanging
Support complete tasks and workflows within a channel;
break them with care.

24. Never Leave Them Hanging
Support complete tasks and workflows within a channel;
break them with care.
• If a user begins a task on a channel, can
they finish it on that channel?
• Do you know which features and tasks
typically proceed or follow a given task?
• Do you accommodate likely pauses and
interruptions during workflows?
• When you enable a partial workflow, are the
end points logical and considerate from a
user perspective?
“You can't submit a review
on the [Yelp] app, you can
only save it, it's really dumb.
It's just a really terrible app
in that way.” –Michael
“With Bill Pay, there was one bill that
keeps saying it’s due but I already
paid it in a different way. But the
option to mark it as paid is not
available on the iPhone app so you
do need to go online.” –Barbara
“I switch devices when there are less
functions available on the phone app
than the actual full site. I find it a bit
frustrating when I cannot perform the
same functions at my convenience
on the phone.” –Carmen

25. eBay
Web! Phone! Tablet!
The eBay mobile apps provide a paired-down experience tailored for mobile devices.
While they do not offer all the features of the full website, they do provide end-to-end
functionality for a few key tasks such as watching, bidding and completing auctions.

26. Broken Workflows
In the course of our research, we encountered products that annoyed participants with
broken workflows. Cross-channel design requires choices about what to support, where
and how to message differences across channels. Even the most rational choices and
gracefully supported transitions will inevitably leave some users disappointed. Did these
these companies make strategic trade-offs or design missteps?
TripIt!
Users cannot set up their personal network from
their smartphone but are directed to the website.
Target!
Users can only view limited product details in the tablet
app but a link is provided to full details on the website

27. Broken Workflows
Yelp!
Users can write a review on their phone
but must log in online to submit it.
Twitter!
Users can follow new people on the tablet app but
must go to the website to assign them to a list.

28. Transition Gracefully
Make it easy for users to move between channels.

29. Transition Gracefully
Make it easy for users to move between channels.
• Do you actively facilitate necessary and
likely transitions?
• Is all data synchronized across channels?
• Can users easily and confidently pick up
where they left off after switching channels?
• Can users apply their knowledge from one
channel to another?
“I use Evernote on my desktop
and my cell phone. The ability
to sync was a game changer
for me.” –Kevin
“If I get a notification from my
bank or Facebook that I want to
see without someone at work
looking over my shoulder, I will
pull it up on my phone.” –Marty
“I tried watching a movie through
Netflix on my phone. I can never
get through watching the entire
movie on my phone, so I usually
watch the remainder in the comfort
of my home.” –Carmen

30. Amazon Kindle
Kindle devices and apps automatically sync the last page read, notes, highlights and
bookmarks across devices, allowing the user to continue reading where they left off, even
on another tablet.

31. Google Chrome
The Chrome browser remembers open tabs, bookmarks and passwords across devices,
allowing the user to seamlessly pause and resume a browsing session anytime and on
any device.

32. Be Great In Context
Understand and adapt to the contexts in which your
product is used.

33. Be Great In Context
Understand and adapt to the contexts in which your
product is used.
• Do you know the likely and intended
contexts in which users will experience your
product—their internal state, external
environment, the people around them and
how they want to be perceived?
• Will your experience be appropriate in those
contexts?
• Does your product sense and adapt to
changes in context in a timely way?
• Do you provide opportunities to control
features and content that could be
inappropriate or undesirable in a given
context?
“Today I was checking in with
Mint.com again, because I had
some time while I was on the
porcelain throne for a good 5
minutes.” –Joshua
“I worry about not being able to
access Evernote if I lose reception,
as seems to happen in places like
Costco. I don't know if it queues up
data for situations like this, so I'm
going to open my shopping list
before going in.” –Rachel
“When I’m loading at the
warehouse, it’s cold and I have my
work gloves on. Swype doesn’t
work with gloves and I don’t want
to be standing outside in the rain.
So, I’d rather voice record
because it’s faster.” –Gabe

34. Allrecipes
The Allrecipes tablet app offers a cooking mode, which displays recipes in large, easy-to-
read type and resizes features so they can be swiped easily with a knuckle in case of
sticky fingers.

35. TuneIn
The TuneIn smartphone app offers a car mode which enables voice commands and
displays key features as extra large buttons for easy viewing and control while driving.

36. The Research

37. Overview
Broad, foundational research on cross-channel experiences to:
• Understand behaviors, motivations and expectations around cross-
channel experiences today.
• Identify characteristics that contribute to good experiences.
• Develop principles and best practices for designing cross-channel
experiences.

38. Scope
Locations: US, Bay Area & Chicago
Participants: Small Business Owners & Consumers
Channels: Desktop, Web, Mobile Web, Phone & Tablet
Mobile Platforms: iOS & Android
Platform Ecosystems: Single & Mixed Platform Users

39. Research Approach
Landscape Review
Primary
Research
Principle
Development
Initial Release
Diary Study
Field Visits
Follow-Up
Diary Study
November 2011
August 2012

40. Participant Profile
Merchant
Profile
• 12 business owners
• Micro or small businesses
• 0-20 employees
• $10k-$1M in revenue
• Max 25 – 30% in the upper end (800K – 1M)
• Range of business types and gender
Technology
• All must conduct business on multiple platforms
• At least desktop/laptop and mobile device (phone or
tablet
• Mobile platforms include iOS and Android
• At least 50% will have a tablet they use for business
• At least 25% will have one iOS device and one Android
Product Usage
• All should access at least one program on multiple
platforms for business use
• At least 50% use at least one Intuit business tool
• At least 50% should use some financial application on
multiple platforms
Consumer
Profile
• 12 consumers, ages 18-65
• Range of age, occupation, income, activities done on
devices, and gender
Technology
• All must use multiple platforms for personal tasks
• Mobile platforms include iOS and Android
• At least 50% will have a tablet they use for personal
tasks
• At least 25% will have one iOS device and one Android
device
Product Usage
• All should access at least two programs on multiple
platforms
• At least 50% use at least one Intuit tool
• At least 50% should use some financial application
across multiple platforms

42. Glossary
Technology Ecosystem"
The devices and applications that a customer"
interacts with.
Channel"
An interaction point through which customers
access or experience a product.
Product Family"
A set of related products that a customer might
reasonably think of as a single product based on
the products’ names, brands or features.
Product"
A customer-facing application or service.

43. Additional Resources
Intuit Multi Platform Research
• Top Line Summary"
http://bit.ly/xchannelsummary
• Full Report"
http://bit.ly/xchannelfullreport

44. mobilemusings.intuit.com