Mobile, Tablet, and Template Issues Have Me Concerned About Renewing.

InsightfulimagesInsightfulimages Registered Users Posts: 8 Beginner grinner
edited May 12, 2013 in SmugMug Support
I have been a Smugmug user for almost one year now. My renewal date is fast approaching. I signed on as a Business membership at $150.00/yr, and I if I continue with Smugmug I will switch down to the Portfolio membership for the same cost, but lose some functional features for my next year. Overall I have been satisfied with the site. It has delivered exactly what it offered when I joined but not much more.

Going forward I have two issues influencing my decision on whether to renew or not. I will describe the major issue first.

I find the Mobile/Tablet functionality to be severely lacking in supporting sales of artwork. When viewed strictly in a mobile platform, Smugmug does not offer a purchase option for photos. This is both from a phone or a tablet viewing the site. I also have realized the captions for photos are limited, and cut off when over a certain amount of letters. I believe the primary goal of joining Smugmug is to sell products, if that is the case, not offering a mobile purchase option seems completely counter productive. Smugmugs suggested course of action is to hope that potential customers who are viewing on a mobile platform (Phone/Tablet) will scroll to the bottom and chose to view "Full Site".

Viewing smugmug in "Full Site" mode creates a different set of problems for someone on a phone or tablet. The flash slideshow issues across different browsers are well documented in these forums. There is another issue that is not so well known. The difficulty in the drop down menus for purchasing a single photograph on a touch screen device is almost so frustrating, that I fear potential customers will decide to walk away rather than deal with the confusion of ordering.

With the worldwide trend of internet browsing having shifted from primarily desktop usage to overwhelmingly mobile/tablet access this is a huge concern going forward for Smugmug. One that needs to be rectified in functionality and not just in forum promises.

My second issue is the lack of new website design and templates. In a thread from June of 2011, we were given a sneak peak of updates on their way. This hasn't happened. To follow up that thread there was a new thread from "Baldy" in April of this year again explaining that new designs are on the way but not ready yet. He listed many valid reasons, but no solid plan of action that Smugmug can share with users at the moment. Innovation is the mark of a great website. At the moment Smugmug is a good site, but falling behind in functionality and lack of updates.

I enjoy having photos here. For me it is currently a hobby with an eye toward making it a business in the future, but I do want to know that my money, and time developing my site, is being used wisely towards a website that will continue to be relevant. Tablets and other mobile devices are taking over all casual and personal web browsing. Having a website that is not customer friendly on that platform is a very real concern for all of Smugmug users.

What does everyone else think? What kind of new information is Smugmug willing to provide to us about innovations and solutions over the next year?

Comments

  • grannyrobingrannyrobin Registered Users Posts: 134 Major grins
    edited May 11, 2013
    Thanks for telling us how you feel about SmugMug and its apps. To the best of my knowledge, the information from Baldy is the most recent available.

    -Robin
  • mbonocorembonocore Registered Users Posts: 2,299 Major grins
    edited May 12, 2013
    Thank you for your very detailed and well said posts. We know our customers want much more from the mobile functionality, and I assure you this is a very high priority for us. Believe me, I want it as much as you do :)

    Michael
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