If you like to do a little investigating before you meet a new business contact, you’re in luck. Maybe you browse their website or social profiles. But what happens when you’re too busy to do that before you head to your meeting?
LinkedIn recently launched its new mobile profiles, which offer enhanced details on members within the mobile app. So now you can peek at your contact’s profile just before walking into a meeting and know that you both graduated from the same college, or are both a member of the same small business group. Or you can look up someone you just met and instantly connect to them without waiting until you’re back in the office.
New LinkedIn Mobile Profiles Respond to Changing Needs
LinkedIn made the change to its mobile app in response to the fact that 43% of its users visit LinkedIn from a mobile device, writes Charlton Soesanto, mobile product manager for LinkedIn on the official LinkedIn Blog. Soesanto said the company wanted to “innovate and radically rethink, focus and simplify what’s most important.”
It’s probably no surprise to you that the average American spends more than two hours on a mobile device each day. And that time is primarily spent using apps, rather than mobile websites. Mobile apps, if built effectively, are more functional and easier to use than many mobile websites.
LinkedIn has built in features to allow mobile users to access as much information as they have time for. A quick glance at the top of the profile tells you what you have in common, as well as basic info on the person’s company and job title. Got more time? Scroll down and get details on the person’s work history and interests. Got even more time (we’re talking five minutes, folks)? Read their content or click on job titles to learn about what they’ve accomplished.
Additional LinkedIn Apps
This isn’t the only app LinkedIn offers. There’s the new Job Search app (currently only available for the iPhone), designed to appeal to the 40% of LinkedIn users who use the social platform to find a job, and the Connected app, allowing users to stay in touch with their network. There’s also Pulse, Recruiter, and SlideShare to round out the offerings. No word on whether these will all be housed under a single app in the future or not.
The new and updated LinkedIn apps speak to the fact that we’re a society on the go, and one that doesn’t need a desktop to get work done.
Aira Bongco
Looking good. This makes it easier for us mobile users to sift through profiles and contact people. It just made LinkedIn more useful.