IDC estimates that there are currently 900 million consumers globally under the age of 16 using Web 2.0 products, accounting for a third of the online population. Over 80 percent of the 900 million young Web 2.0 consumers come from India and China.
In fact, the combination of growing broadband penetration in Asia and increasing demand for online video user-generated content provides a huge opportunity for designers and advertisers to tap upon. It gives online media platforms the flexibility to craft winning content and advertising strategies. According to analysts, instead of taking “eyeball share” from search or banner ads, online video will likely steal share from traditional terrestrial broadcasters.
By 2009, video advertising spending is expected to reach USD1.5 billion, an impressive increase of 567 percent in just four years. With more and more companies looking to find out how best to take advantage of the Web 2.0 wave to drive greater brand awareness and mindshare, what can developers do to tap into this growing market?
The Web 2.0 Reality in Asia Today
As consumers of rich content become more savvy, delivery mechanisms becomes less prominent, and the ability to create compelling experiences that meet business needs efficiently and effectively takes a higher priority. The possibilities are endless – especially with rich Internet applications (RIAs) – it allows on-off line capabilities, an in-browser experience that provides ubiquity of deployment, and the richest possible experience delivered on a platform like Windows (that takes advantage of GPU rendering and hardware acceleration).
In Asia, the range and depth of innovation is staggering and we are witnessing some of the greatest designs in the world being developed in the region. There are a growing number of content creators and consumers ranging from large multi-nationals working using RIAs to leverage cost efficiencies, to IT outsourcing companies who are growing and differentiating their business by building rich internet experiences for their customers.
In Korea, for example, the majority of the population is online and consuming high bandwidth content on their PCs and mobile devices. Designers and developers therefore not only need to provide rich content via video and modern engagement models such as social networking, but an engaging experience that fits on a 3 cm x 5 cm screen as well. Their ability to create a consistent visual identity, branding and experience which can be scaled to a website or a home media centre are design challenges that other parts of the world are just beginning to conceptualize and deploy.
The REAL Role of Technology
Building a Web application using fancy technology does not ensure a better user experience. As firms rush to incorporate RIAs into their site designs, they should create a solid understanding of users’ needs and implement structured testing techniques to understand and validate appropriate use and design of RIAs. As such, it is important for designers to be equipped with the rights tools to make sure that organisations are able to deliver experiences that are as compelling internally as we, consumers, have learnt to expect on the consumer web.
Technology today allows advertisers to take advantage of a robust set of content delivery options, for example, placing information not only as bumper ads which are common, but transparent overlays, with or without user controllable display. It’s about enabling designers and developers to deliver the next generation of media experiences and RIAs for the Web, and providing the perfect means for developers to integrate Web 2.0 into the business DNA.
What’s Next?
Companies, both globally and in Asia are looking at innovative business models with IT at its core. In fact, by the end of the year, almost one third of large companies will have some form of Web 2.0 enabled business initiative underway.
There is no running away from the fact that consumers are driving change – the tech savvy young workforce will persuade mainstream enterprises to use social networks. In essence, it is the expectations of consumers for a rich web experience rather than upcoming technologies that will drive the way customers and partners want to deliver data and information.
As a result, this new age is less one of Web 2.0, but more that of how Software + Services will enable us to get the information we need on the device or surface we want to receive it on, at the right time, and in an engaging, informative and interactive manner. Companies failing to employ these consumer-oriented Web technologies will find themselves at a competitive disadvantage.
The author is User Experience & Designer Market Lead of Microsoft Asia Pacific |
