Customization tools: Web app or desktop app?

When a company is planning an interactive customization experience, they need to consider if they want to develop a web application or a desktop application for download.

Of course a web app (an online product configurator) is the most convenient for Internet shoppers, but some companies may opt to invest in developing more powerful desktop tools that require a download to the user’s PC or Mac.

Picaboo is a great example of a desktop customization app.  Their photo album creation application is very similar to desktop photo management application like the Mac’s iPhoto app.

LEGO is another example of a desktop co-creation application.  LEGO developed the DesignedByMe application to offer an auto-CAD type desktop experience with their building blocks.   Performance is snappy, the navigation panel is rich with features, and visualization includes 360 degree spin.

Three reasons to consider desktop applications over a web app:

Performance

A desktop application can handle larger tasks via a local CPU without needing to depend on Internet connectivity.  For applications that involve large file upload or download, a desktop application can offer better performance.

Navigation

Historically, browser-based applications have had limited navigation options.   HTML has not supported full-menu based functionality.  For an example compare your favorite desktop application (like PowerPoint or Skype) to user interfaces you’d typically find on the web.  Another good comparison is Microsoft Office and Google Docs.

Visualization

Desktop apps are historically better at presenting large graphical files because they may cache them locally without needing to stream them over the web.  The result can be a much more visually rich desktop experience that doesn’t depend on Internet connectivity.

Of course desktop applications have their weaknesses:

• Require a download – this extra step can deter most shoppers
• Expensive to develop
• Slower to release updates, more difficult to get users to adopt updates
• Cross platform compatibility issues; Mac and PC

There are two reasons that we’ll see more web apps and fewer desktop apps in the ecommerce and customization markets:

1)   Shoppers prefer convenience

Shoppers have proven to be impatient and demanding.  Online shopping starts with search, then discovery of destination sites that offer browse, search, and customization.  Once shoppers find or build what they want they expect to able to quickly “add to cart” and check out.   Downloads don’t usually make sense in the context of shopping.

2)   Advancing web technology

If we look at the history of desktop applications and non-standard 3^rd party browser plug-ins like Flash, the purpose of these applications was to compensate for weaknesses of the browser, namely performance, limited connectivity, and limited support for advanced visualization.

Browser technology has come a long way in the past few years, as has Internet connectivity and performance.   Dozens of online customization sites offer full, desktop-like functionality within a standard browser.    Advanced Internet functionality, high performance, and cross-platform support are all supported by innovative ecommerce applications that use standard CSS and HTML protocols.