the mobile ecosystem & technological strategies

DISIM | University of L’Aquila

Ivano Malavolta

The mobile ecosystem &

technological strategies

Roadmap

Development strategies

The mobile ecosystem

Roadmap

The mobile ecosystem

Mobile is the 7th mass media

1. Printing press

2. Recordings

3. Cinema

4. Radio

5. Television

6. Internet

Mobile is the 7th mass media

Mobile is the ,

most available

mass medium

LARGEST

TO MANKIND

How big is the mobile market?

data source: http://www.slideshare.net/fling/mobile-20-design-develop-for-the-iphone-and-beyond

ONE SYMBOL = 20 MILLION PEOPLE

How big is the mobile market?

data source: http://www.slideshare.net/fling/mobile-20-design-develop-for-the-iphone-and-beyond

in 2009

How big is the mobile market?

data source: http://www.slideshare.net/fling/mobile-20-design-develop-for-the-iphone-and-beyond

in 2009

How big is the mobile market?

data source: http://www.slideshare.net/fling/mobile-20-design-develop-for-the-iphone-and-beyond

in 2009

Mobile is the 7th mass media

7. Mobile

it started at the same time as the Web

it can do EVERYTHING all the other media can do

UNIQUE TRAIT

• Reading (and publishing)

• Play recordings

• Watch movies

• Listen to radio

• Watch TV (and streaming)

• Surf the Internet

Unique benefits of Mobile

Apart from covering all the other media, mobile has five unique benefits

First truly personal mass media

First always-on mass media

First always-carried mass media

Built-in payment channel

At the point of creative impulse

We don’t share our phones with our friends

Information is always available 24/7, even when idle

7 out of 10 people sleep with their phones within reach

Universal click-to-buy + credit cards

Ability to create or consume content whenever the mood strikes

Context

CONTEXT CONTEXT CONTEXT CONTEXT CONTEXT CONTEXT CONTEXT

CONTEXT CONTEXT CONTEXT CONTEXT CONTEXT CONTEXT CONTEXT

CONTEXT CONTEXT CONTEXT CONTEXT CONTEXT CONTEXT CONTEXT

CONTEXT CONTEXT CONTEXT CONTEXT CONTEXT CONTEXT CONTEXT

CONTEXT CONTEXT CONTEXT CONTEXT CONTEXT CONTEXT CONTEXT

CONTEXT CONTEXT CONTEXT CONTEXT CONTEXT CONTEXT CONTEXT

CONTEXT CONTEXT CONTEXT CONTEXT CONTEXT CONTEXT CONTEXT

CONTEXT CONTEXT CONTEXT CONTEXT CONTEXT CONTEXT CONTEXT

Mobile apps have the amazing capability to add

CONTEXT

to information, adding immediate relevance to what we are doing right here, right now

The mobile golden rule

If you can unlock the state of mind of your users and start thinking in their context, understanding how a mobile experience will add value to their lives, you will have the ever-elusive…

KILLER

APP

How can we apply the mobile golden rule?

Think of your app in its context

• Who is your user? Business man, teenager, mum…

• What is happening? Are they hanging out with friends?

• When will he interact? @home? @work? waiting for the bus?

• Where is he? Public/private space, inside/outside, day/night

• Why will he use your app? How do you give Context?

• How is he using his mobile device? Is the device held in the hand? Portrait or landscape?

Example

http://www.endomondo.com

Roadmap

Development strategies

The mobile ecosystem

Developing a mobile strategy

Mobile strategy = How much it will cost you to develop your app?

How much time?

How much effort?

How much money?

Bursting the first myth

Mobile design and development IS NOT CHEAP

http://www.slideshare.net/fling/native-v-hybrid-v-web

Bursting the first myth

Mobile design and development IS NOT CHEAP

http://www.slideshare.net/fling/native-v-hybrid-v-web

The new rules for a mobile strategy

Remember, mobile is a new medium

Don’t try to follow “traditional rules” since mobile has its own peculiarities:

• context

• location, user mood

• device fragmentation

• unique UI patterns

DIFFERENT RULES

Rule #1

Mobile is an ever-evolving area

today you are already outdated

• Forget what you think you know about mobile

- It is most likely incorrect

• Don’t try to emulate other projects

- Focus on what is right for your user, not what is right for someone else’s user

Forget what you think you know

Rule #2

• Don’t trust any report, fact, or figure that 1-2 years old

- It is most likely wrong

• Go to your users and ask them questions in person

- Don’t try to simply validate your ideas

• Record everything

- Your own users’ worlds will help you in focussing on their need

• Don’t forget to innovate

- Try new things, be bold, and don’t be afraid to fail

Believe what you see, not what you read

Rule #3

• Avoid talking about constraints at an early-stage brainstorming session

- Refer back to Rule #1 and forget what you think you know

• There will always be constraints in mobile, accept it!

• Focus on strategy first, what the user needs, and lay down the features

- Then, if the constraints become an issue, fall back to the user goals

• There is always an alternative

Constraints never come first

Rule #4

• Defining the users’ context is the first thing to do

- without it, you don’t have a mobile strategy, you have only a plan of action

• Uncover the users’ goals

- and then try and understand how the users’ context alters their goals

• With goals understood, figure out the tasks the users want to perform

• Look for ways to filter content by context

- for example: location, media, and model

Focus on context, goals and needs

Rule #5

• Don’t try to support everything

- Start with the devices that best represent your core customer

• The most popular might not always be the best device for your project

• Check your server logs for the devices accessing your site

- These are the first devices to target

You can’t support everything

Rule #6

Great mobile products are created, never ported

• Understand your user and his context

- Having an idea of how and when users will access your content will aid in understanding how to best create a tailored mobile experience

• Mobile is a unique medium

Don’t convert, create

Rule #7

People want to use mobile devices in a simple way

• Simplicity fewer technicalproblems

• Easier to iterate and evolve your app

• Don’t try to create a desktop software on a mobile

- Adding feature after feature is an easy trap to fall in

• Build the experience around your users’ main need and nothing else

Keep it simple

Native VS web VS hybrid

BROWSER

<html> <head> <script src=” ...” /> </head> <body> ...

NATIVE WRAPPER

<html> <head> <script src=” ...” /> </head> <body> ...

PLATFORM APIs

NATIVE APP

010101010101011010101010101011011010 010101010101011101 010101010101011010

PLATFORM APIs

Native Web Hybrid

Native

http://bit.ly/GWOaP1

PRO

• Lets you create apps with rich user interfaces and/or heavy graphics

CONS

• Development Time

• Development Cost

• Ongoing Maintenance

• No portability (apps cannot be used on other platforms)

PRO

CONS

Examples of native apps

http://www.ea.com/it/ipad/nfs‎ http://www.whatsapp.com/

Web

http://bit.ly/GWOaP1

PRO

• Offers fast development, simple maintenance, and full application portability

• One mobile web app works on any platform

CONS

• Can’t handle heavy graphics

• Can’t access camera or microphone

PRO

CONS

Examples of web apps

http://asidemag.com http://amazon.com

Hybrid

http://bit.ly/GWOaP1

PRO

• Development speed of mobile web apps

• Device access and app store distribution of native apps

CONS

• Can’t handle heavy graphics

• Requires familiarity with a mobile framework

PRO

CONS

Examples of hybrid apps

http://www.gmail.com http://flipboard.com

Comparison

Another perspective

http://goo.gl/KOdxh

My vision

Mobile web seems to be the only long-term commercially viable content platform for mobile devices

FRAGMENTATION

THE WEB

DISTRIBUTION CONTROL

USER EXPECTATIONS

WEB UBIQUITY

When you go native there are too many platforms to be supported

FRAGMENTATION

The only medium for information and services that lasts from over 15 years

The web is an advanced technology

• webGL

• Local storage management

• Positioning & mapping

• Real-time data

• Push, ...

THE WEB

Before..

Operators

Now

Device and Platform makers

Future

Developers

DISTRIBUTION CONTROL

$$$

STORE A

STORE B

STORE C

STORE D

Users expect things to just work

they don’t care about what platform they have

they simply expect that your app will be available for their device

YOU HAVE TO BE CROSS-PLATFORM

USER EXPECTATIONS

The web is the only platform that

• works across devices

• apps share the same set of standards

• the same app can work also on a desktop

WEB UBIQUITY

Conclusion

Mobile app technologies are constantly moving targets...

- new OSs, new versions of OSs, new UI patterns, new frameworks, etc.

Choosing between native vs web vs hybrid depends on a lot of factors, such as

• Which type of app are you creating?

• When do you need it?

• What are your skills?

+ 39 380 70 21 600 Contact Ivano Malavolta | DISIM

iivanoo

ivano.malavolta@univaq.it

www.ivanomalavolta.com