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How epicurious got my cell number
March 26th, 2008 by Michael CervinoCall me a Luddite or a libertarian nut, I only share my cell number with those deep in the “inner circle.” Until recently, I had never shared it with a Web property. Until Epicurious.com convinced me the value of sharing was greater than my privacy concerns.
The quick backstory: Our home Internet connection went down. 10 guests coming for dinner in 3 hours. Printed recipe for seared scallops had gone missing. Panic.
A quick search on my Treo yielded dozens of recipes. And every one of the first 7 taps took me to Web sites that were a usability nightmare on my Treo. Even my favorite - Cooks Illustrated - failed my “this is too much of a hassle on my Treo test.” (Ok you iPhone users, no need to comment on that one, I know your gadget is superior!)
Then enter Epicurious. I tap their link on Google, they detect I’m on my mobile, reroute to a WAP version of their site and serve up a simple login screen that fits my window:
Please enter your mobile to unlock your recipes, create a shopping list, search and more.
Hmm. Why do I need to enter my phone number?
Anticipating my question, the second link on the screen was:
Why do I need to enter my phone number?
So I tapped it. Here’s the value proposition they laid out for me:
EpiToGo has a few channels which are customized based on actions you’ve taken both on our website (send a recipe to your phone) and on this mobile web site (your shopping list). In order to maintain these personalization features we need to match your recipes and shopping list to your phone through your specific phone number. If you prefer not to give us your phone number you can click on the logo to enter the other areas of the site such as a robust search of our database of recipes and an updated menu of the week. Thanks for using EpiToGo.
Reluctant to give up my number, I tapped on the logo. No good. Took me right back to the screen to enter my mobile number. Crisis, guests coming in T-minus 2 hours 45 minutes, do I share the goods?
Faced with the hassle of another usability nightmare or going next door to my neighbor’s house to use their net connection (a different kind of nightmare), I made the call. I handed over my number. Tapped submit … and discovered cell phone browsing nirvana.
EpiToGo’s WAP UI is slick. They pared down the core interactions to clearly designed for the mobile user persona — search, save, recall saved recipes, create shopping list. Content was delivered in snippets that fit mostly to one screen. “Next” and “Back” taps led from ingredients list to step 1, step 2, etc. of the recipe. Photos of the steps (if available) were optional taps. Unlike most other Treo browsing experiences, no long scroll pages just byte size chunks.
My take away is that even with the bait-and-switch, the total value proposition was clear and the pay off superb:
- In many ways, EpiToGo sold me on “hello.” That first screen demonstrated the value.
- They made it brief and clear why giving up the goods was worth it
- They designed the cellular interaction for those already engaged — they knew who’d use this service and what selling points would have value
- They executed the UI brilliantly
Too bad the scallops dish didn’t turn out quite as well. Should have done my audience research, half our dinner guests were vegans.
