LinkedIn product

Making LinkedIn More Accessible Via LinkedIn Lite

I moved back to India in January 2016 as the country manager and head of product to start creating and localizing products for professionals and students in India. In nine months, the team and I worked feverishly to launch three products that continue to deliver immense value to our 42 million (and growing) members in India. More importantly, they also have the potential to scale globally. Which is why I am excited that today, we are launching one of these products, LinkedIn Lite (mobile web and Android app) in more than 60 countries across the world including South Africa, the Philippines and Nigeria.

The catalyst for LinkedIn Lite was a field research trip we went on about a year ago in Nashik, a small city about 100 miles from Mumbai. When we sat down to test the product with a few college students, my heart sank. We had worked on a new feature on the site, but that feature would not load because of the low level of internet connectivity in the area. That was a key moment for the team and me, as it dawned upon us that no matter how good your product is, all is lost if it won’t load for all audiences. Because of this and other similar experiences, we embarked on a journey to rewrite the linkedin.com mobile website with a core focus on speed and simplicity, and level the playing field for all our members when it comes to accessibility.

We started with LinkedIn Lite mobile web which was rolled out to all Indian members earlier this year, and the impact has been quite remarkable. Not only does the site load 5 times faster, we’re also seeing that job applications on the mobile website have quadrupled since the launch of LinkedIn Lite in India. Additionally, more than half of our new members now sign up on mobile, so this has become a huge enabler for professionals in smaller cities in India to sign up and get connected.

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The Android mobile app was inspired by the success of LinkedIn Lite mobile web. Developed in just a couple of months, the app is less than one megabyte in size and can reduce data usage by as much as 80 percent in India, making LinkedIn easier to access than ever before, on any mobile device and in areas of low internet connectivity. It’s a lighter version of our Flagship app and includes all key features such as news feed, profile, networks, messaging, notifications, so our members can stay informed, get ahead in their careers and be more productive.

Now that LinkedIn Lite is available globally, we’ll continue to innovate to make the LinkedIn experience even better for all members across the world. You can access the LinkedIn Lite on mobile web at www.linkedin.com, or download the Android app in the Play Store (in countries where the Play Store is available). The full list of 60+ countries where LinkedIn Lite is available is here.