natc 2013 - mobility solutions - an engineering perspective by souvanik sarkar, cto, interrait

Mobility Solutions – An Engineering Perspective

Souvanik Sarkar

NASSCOM Annual Technology Conference 2013

Mobile application development is an exciting, sexy and challenging landscape.



iPhone

C#

I will be sharing some of our experiences in bringing order, and thereby revenue, to the chaos.


Defining the boundaries

• Enterprise Mobile application An application on a mobile platform that requires periodic (frequent?) connectivity with an enterprise application in the data center to do its job.

• CustomerThe company contracting services from an IT service provider to develop applications for its customers.


Mobile App Scenario #1

• Customer is a US $3B+ enterprise

• Required a mobile application on Android and iPhone for directly connecting with end-customers of their product‒ This would be their first mobile application for end-customers

• Key challenges during development‒ Freezing on the detailed requirements did not happen till very late in the

development cycle‒ Freezing on the User Experience and look-and-feel took much too long‒ Connectivity with their enterprise applications in the data center required an

enormous amount of heartburn‒ Deployment of the middleware on the datacenter required deploy-test-redeploy

cycles



• Customer is a US $5B+ enterprise automobile manufacturer

• Required a browser application on the iPad for their dealers that would assist in the sales process‒ This would be their first browser application for dealers

• Key challenges during development‒ Freezing on the User Experience and look-and-feel took much too long‒ Freezing on the detailed requirements did not happen till very late in the

development cycle‒ Browser compatibility issues between Safari and IE on the desktop‒ Sizing of servers incorrect – production cut-over resulted in very long

response times



• Customer is a US $40B+ enterprise, manufacturing consumer products

• Required a mobile application on Android and Windows for their field service to directly access customers and product information

• Key challenges during development‒ Freezing on the detailed requirements took a long time

‒ Freezing on the User Experience and look-and-feel took much too long

‒ Connectivity with their enterprise applications required a lot of time; no request for changes at the server application were entertained

‒ Development and UAT environments were not in sync


Key Challenges faced

• Freezing Requirements

• Managing customer expectations of the mobile application‒ Time to development

‒ User interface

‒ Features in the initial version of the application

• User Experience‒ Quality of UI design

‒ Number of clicks to achieve task

‒ Number of pages to navigate to reach desired information


Key Challenges faced …2

• Testing‒ Done manually – too much effort to automate, not enough payback

‒ All features not tested – short-cuts when trying to meet a delayed milestone

‒ Connectivity with the enterprise application always an issues – did it return the data

• Architecture‒ Additional features sometimes required rework of design

• Deployment‒ Keeping Development, Test and UAT environments in sync almost never

happened‒ Production environment is never under our control


Lessons Learned

• User Experience and UI design‒ Has the most impact on the engineering of a new mobile application

‒ Budget sufficient time for this phase, and then some

‒ Separate look-and-feel from function – use wireframes for sign-off

‒ Plan for offline mode in native apps – this is a key user experience item


Lessons Learned …2

• Requirements‒ Write Requirements down

‒ Separate Business Requirements from Technical Requirements

‒ Define use cases as much as possible, but don’t let it drag you down



• Architecture‒ Spend time on architecture – it will payback during scope creep (with or

without change requests!!)

‒ Use OS framework for screen management as much as possible, rather than writing custom code



• Testing‒ Create unit tests using JUnit or NUnit

‒ Create a small application to test connectivity with the enterprise application

‒ Always test the main use cases and business requirements

‒ Have manual testers comment on navigation and user experience



• Deployment‒ Have multiple releases – customers like to play with mobile apps

‒ Plan for deployment early on in the development cycle

‒ Have a test deployment in the middle of the development, and repeat it if all the key issues are not sorted out

‒ Plan for approaches to App Store discovery



• Application version control‒ Ensure that the application has strict numbering, linked to source code

versions

• Team composition‒ Have a mix of people in the core team –

UI, architecture, testing, deployment, enterprise connectivity



• Manage Customer Expectations‒ Have regular and frequent discussions with the customer about the progress

of the development

‒ Keep providing the customer with deliverables – wire-frames, look & feel, initial build of the app with no functionality, limited functionality, initial connectivity to enterprise application

‒ Continually relate features with business requirements


Mobile Application Development Cycle


Business Requirements

Design Develop Test Release

User Interface Requirements

UI Wireframe

Graphics

1 2 3 4 5

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Developing enterprise mobile applications is a very creative and satisfying venture.

It has its own challenges that are unique, and inherent to this landscape in software development.

Successfully navigating through this landscape requires a focus on engineering, at least as much as on creativity.


Thank You
