This post is the part of the 3 Sheep Explores strand on this Blog and considers the convergence technologies options in Liverpool in its current role as European Capital of Culture and its Biennial art event. The Capital of Culture is not just one event but a year long series of events, some of which are specifically created for the time or some (such as the Biennial art programme) that are existing events and are incorporated into the theme. This particular post considers how mobile devices can help (or not) navigate the Biennial art street programme.
Mobile users view the Turning Place movie clip.

The role of casual and opportunistic tourist was adopted and the first challenge was accessing any information about Liverpool’s status as Capital of Culture via the mobile web. A search on Google via Opera Mini on a Sony Ericsson W890i brought me to the main Liverpool 08 website. Any readers familiar with Opera Mini will know that one of its strengths is its often valiant attempt to render websites designed with desktop computer access in mind suitable for mobile access. It struggled with aspects of the Liverpool 08 site mainly because the webpages were really getting too long for mobile friendly webpages, with too many assets being downloaded and the Information Architecture didn’t really led itself to mobile adaptation. The difficulty meant that a lot of information was lost. Another search of Google relating to the Biennial event specifically didn’t produced any websites that were mobile focused. So again Opera Mini had to work very hard to deal with the desktop site. This was harder than the Liverpool 08 site and several times I was asked for different versions of JavaScript and Flash when all I needed was a bit of a guide as to what was on. The BBC seemed to have been the only significant players aware of the mobile web. Their BBC Liverpool site has information about how to connect to the mobile version of the site but it’s very limited and with nothing obvious about the Biennial art street shows.

The difficulty with navigating the forced mobilised version of the Liverpool 08 website meant that we were left with little option but to gather paper information on arrival at Liverpool. Although there were lots of big bold banners about Liverpool’s current status there was very little information about what was happening and where. The racks of leaflets at Lime Street Station had a lot of advertising but nothing about Liverpool 08 or the art shows. Eventually we found our way to the World Museum and consequently found our way (via Google Maps for mobile) to the start of the Biennial outdoor trail. It is also worth noting that Liverpool is a busy and often noisy place and the mobile web is ideal (if available) for quick access to accurate information. Without access to the mobile web the opportunistic tourist is left having to queue for considerable time to try and find out information, taking up quite a bit of time for the ‘day tripper’

Once on the trail we found some fantastic art, including the amazing “Turning the Place Over” by Richard Wilson, a clip of which is embedded in this post. The art was challenging and involving, certainly well more than a day’s worth. Google Maps for mobiles proved invaluable throughout the day as a means of working out exactly where we were. However, again an opportunity was missed as there was little coherent information tagged about the art exhibits around the city.

Liverpool 08 has some fantastic things to see and be involved with but in terms of making the most of digital devices in tourists’ pockets and making their exploration of the wonderful city easier an opportunity has been missed. The problems with accessing desktop websites via transcoder technology (e.g. Opera Mini) demonstrate the risky nature of not having a clear mobile web strategy and its negative impact and distraction from the event itself. Much of what was missing would not have been costly to implement. Actually, a good mobile web strategy could well have been cost saving; since less paper would be needed and tourists’ time saved, giving them more chance to shop and use the commercial facilities of the city. The lack of even a basic information site in a mobile friendly format means that visitors are forced to lose time seeking out information from other sources rather than simply reaching in their pocket and finding out ‘where next’.

About This Post

• Written by Stuart Smith
• November 1st, 2008 at 2:37 pm