Failure 1 - Targeting

This version of the Tesco shopping app is only available on Nokia phones. Nothing wrong with that - Nokia are still the biggest phone seller on the planet. So why allow the advert to be shown to Android users? It will annoy users, reduce your CPM, and make users less likely to click on adverts in future.

Failure 2 - Sizing

This is the full resolution on the advert.

(full resolution)

168*28 is barely enough to contain all the information you want to impart - let alone make it look attractive. The Tesco logo is tiny and indistinct - the wording blurred and hard to read.

Failure 3 - Mobile Friendly

Here we come to the failure that we see so often. A lack of mobile friendly landing page.

Responsibilities

Guardian needs to make sure its ad-server are only showing adverts relevant to the user viewing the site. The ad-server needs to make sure its adverts are scaled correctly for different phones. Tesco needs to ensure that its advertising agency is buying advertising space correctly. Nokia needs a mobile friendly page for non-Nokia devices.

Lost Opportunity

Just think what Nokia could be doing with this landing page for non-Nokia phones.

• Show off the amazing capabilities of the app.
• Display screenshots of the app.
• Tell the user which phones the app works on.
• "Don't have a Nokia? Take a look at these awesome devices!"
• "Here's a map to your nearest Nokia store..."
• "Get £100 off any Nokia device when you trade in your Android phone!"

You know the crazy thing? They do most of these things already!

If you try to download Ovi Maps on a non-Nokia - you get this page?

Nokia really need to have a joined up strategy for how they deal with users who have competitors' devices. Both the Guardian and Tesco need to do some quality control on their adverts and ad servers.

Here's how to make a successful downloads platform:

1. Make it easy for your customers to buy things.
2. ...er....
3. Nope. That's pretty much it.

So, here's the front page of the Ovi Store.

Count the errors

Here's every error I can find on the above the fold page...

1. Incomplete titles. "Star Trek Noki"? Surely "Nokia"? Looks sloppy and unprofessional.
2. Poor descriptions. "Ringtones In Cinemas Now!"? Ringtones aren't in cinemas. Is that one ringtone or several I'll be downloading? If you don't tell me what it is I'm getting, why would I download it?
3. Ratings. Why would you put unrated (or rated zero) content at the front of the store? You want your killer apps there.
4. Search. Why do I need to click through to search? There should be a text field and button there, not a link.
5. Colour differentiation. Using white and then light grey doesn't help customers easily scan across the page. A darker shade would help.
6. Menu bar. Is there an order to it? Is there a reason it splits haphazardly over three lines? The longer the menu - the less space for content. As it is, it's a pretty poor use of space.
7. No Nokia branding. I know they're trying to promote Ovi as a brand - but no one knows about it yet. The use of the Nokia logo would really help customers trust the store.

...and breathe...

Let's assume we're reckless enough to click on "Star Trek Noki". What do we find?

Oh dear...

Let's take this from the top. Don't forget, this is the Nokia Ovi Store's FIRST link. This is what they really want you to buy.

1. Where's the description? What exactly am I buying? It turns out, this is the product placement tune in the new Star Trek film. Some descriptive text would help. I thought it was going to be the film's theme tune!
2. The description - such as it is - appears half way down the page. Why do I have to scroll to see what I'm getting?
3. Photos? Why do I need photos of a ringtone? Why are there "more" photos when there's only the one?
4. The product photo is, essentially, black. A bit of colour to liven up the page wouldn't hurt.
5. The review - why isn't it in English?
6. Are the related links Games, Videos, Ringtones? Some context would help.

I clicked on download and got a blank page. Once I refreshed the page, the download started.

Huh?

Files should be named. It makes it easier for the user to find in their filesystem, it looks more professional when downloading.

So, I play the file and what do I get

Real professional lookin'

Add some fracking ID3 tags! It makes it easier for the user, it looks more professional and it costs the supplier nothing!

Gah! Fine. Ok. I'll go back to the store and grab something else. I click back and am presented with this monstrosity.

Where do we go from here?

Nothing. Not even a page telling me how to get back. How is this meant to encourage me to buy more? This page should thank me for downloading. It should encourage me to buy more. In this case, I'd expect to see more Star Trek merchandise that Nokia want to sell to me.

Contrast this with the N-Gage download from the N-Gage site.

Much better

Once my download is completed, I get sent back to a nice page which lets me continue enjoying the store.  Nokia have this technology for Ovi - but not in the Ovi Store. Bizarre.

Last, but not least - registration. I know that Nokia has to have a registration process - they don't have an MNO's advantage of seeing a customer's phone number. They also don't have an associated account which they can reuse - like Google or Apple.

Oh... No... Wait... They do. I've registered for a Nokia account, an Ovi account and a Mosh account. I don't seem to be able to use any of them with Ovi Store. NIH syndrome?

To be fair, the sign up process isn't too bad. Apple could learn a lot from it.

A pretty good sign up screen

The only criticisms I have are the "Mobile Number" field should be masked so the user can only enter numbers. I also think that a captcha is a bit of an overkill on a mobile site.

Good to see that the example number is from Ofcom's reserved range.

Overall, this is a step backwards for Nokia. Mosh and the original Ovi were quite good. This is just a mess.  By my count, there are at least 25 basic mistakes just from going to the front page and downloading a ringtone.

25 mistakes in 3 clicks.

[Disclaimer. In the interests of fairness, I work for Vodafone. Specifically looking after Vodafone live! a direct competitor to Ovi. The thoughts expressed in this post are my own and not those of my employer. I have nothing against Nokia; I kick up as much of a fuss about Apple and BlackBerry too!]

They've just announced a new app store - Ovi Store.  This is to replace the broken mess that is Mosh, N-Gage, Download and the current Ovi.  Why do I get the feeling that there are several fiefdoms within Nokia all working against one and other rather than working together?

So, let's take a look at the new service.

Nokia Ovi Store - Wow!

Wow... just wow. A blank page. Not even a "coming soon" message.  Lest you think I'm using some kind of shonky phone, I'm on a Nokia N95 8GB, firmware 20.0.016, in rather good HSDPA coverage.

You're supposed to be able to get to Ovi via the "Download!" application. I don't think I've used "Download!" since I first got the phone. On the surface it's a nice little App Store. If Nokia given it some love and attention, it would have got the recognition it deserved as the first integrated app store. As it is, it was left to die.

...please wait...

After 5 minutes of waiting for the "Download!" store to finish "Processing" I got bored. After 15 minutes nothing more had happened so I tried to cancel. Turns out you can't, so I rebooted the phone.

Never mind! I'll try going through the regular Ovi site.

Can you spot the store link?

No link to their brand new store. Hmmm.... odd.... Maybe I have to sign in to see it. Yes, that sounds plausible.

This isn't looking good...

Ok, a dodgy certificate isn't the worst error in the world. It's one of those things that says "We haven't tested our site and we really don't care if scary error messages put off our customers."

In any case, the sign in service doesn't work.

Ovi Error

Ah... Well, let's try again...

It just gets better and better

Right. So the site has no links and it doesn't work. Perhaps I imagined the Ovi Store launch? Let's check the Internet Oracle that is Google...

There's something there...

Google has found it! It must be there. Ok, so there's still a dodgy certificate - but I can't wait to start spending money with Nokia! Here we go!

Oh. Just another blank page.

So, there you have it, folks. The word "FAIL!" is overused, I feel. How about we agree to replace it with "NOKIA!"?