All too often, there exist large differences in the user experiences of desktop and mobile applications. One reason why this often occurs could be a lack of coordination among the project teams. The consequences of not having unified user experience translate into inconsistency and unpredictability for the user. Three important tech companies already don’t think enough about unifying user experiences in a particularly salient way—LinkedIn, Yelp and Facebook.
For example, when using the HTML version of LinkedIn, an important networking and job search tool, the user doesn’t know if the recipient has read the message.
This feature is only available on mobile. For example, the user can see a “Read” label and has an icon showing the recipient’s picture. This feature is so important that users may reach for their mobile phones so they can take advantage of this tool.
Yelp is another resource where there is user inconsistency between platforms. For example, search results are different between HTML and mobile versions.
Users are defaulted to GPS current location on mobile but not on the HTML version. This can make it challenging for the user to find the same business using different platforms. Therefore, the user experience is not consistent or predictable.
Finally, on the HTML version of Facebook there is no way for the user to know if the recipient has the Messenger app installed on their smartphone. Nor can the user see how long it has been since their last login.
However, the metadata about whether the user has the Messenger app and the last login is very clear on the mobile version.