Mobile that works for your library

Jeff WisniewskiWeb Services LibrarianUniversity of Pittsburgh

facebook.com/wisniewski.jeff

Why go mobile?

State of the union

Development• User needs• Functional and content specs• Interaction design/IA• Testing• Visual design• Development• Testing• Done

Dimensions• Ease of development• Usability and UX• Ease of testing• Ease of deployment• Ease of measurement• Ease of updating

Options

1. Native app2. Mobile web3. Hybrids

Native app• Lives on the device• Downloaded to the device• Built specifically for that

device/platform• Built using some programming

language and SDK

Native app

Companies Must Have An iPhone App or They “Don’t

Exist”

-Walker Fenton, GM of NewsGator’s Media & Consumer Products

Native app programming languages

JavaObjective C

Mobile web• Lives on a webserver• Accessed by a device• Browser as software

interface

Mobile web languages

• HTML, HTML5• CSS• JavaScript

Hybrids Generally use languages

familiar to web developers– HTML– CSS– JavaScript

Installed like a native app

Hybrids

phonegapAppcelerator TitaniumrhomobileMotherAppboopsienetbiscuits

Ease of development• Native apps require coding

in non-web languages• Mobile web uses HTML,

CSS, JavaScript• Hybrids often use web

languages

Usability and ux

SubjectiveApps rated more favorably than

mobile webspeed/latencyclick investmentusability highly influenced by

browser

Usability and ux

Objective:“App users…suffered much less

misery than users in our mobile website tests (Nielsen)”– platform optimized– strong guidelines and

conventions

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/consumers_find_mobile_web_disappointing_slow_to_load.php#more (2009)

Ease of testing• Test paper prototypes• Mobile web site easiest to test– Accessible everywhere– Desktop, simulators, emulators

• Native apps– Tested in SDK– Install to test, refine, reinstall, repeat

• Hybrids..test in cloud

Ease of deployment

• Native apps deployed via mediated process

• Hybrid either via direct download or via app store

• Mobile web instantly deployed

• June 2009 Google Voice app submitted to Apple

• July 2009 app rejected• January 2010 Google Voice

via mobile web launched

The curious case of Google Voice

Ease of measurement

• Apps require special analytics tools

• Mobile web can leverage existing web metric tools

Track activity in your mobile apps(Android and iOS only)

http://code.google.com/mobile/analytics/

Ease of updating

• Native app: cyclical• Hybrid app: depends• Mobile web:

instantaneous

Native apps: the good

• Responsive• Persistent• Automatically “bookmarked”• Built-in marketing via app stores

(caveats apply)• Instant one-click access

COOL

Native apps

Level of commitment ….but more “casual dating” than

“till death do us part”

35% of adults have cell phones with apps, but only

two-thirds of those who have apps actually use them

-http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/The-Rise-of-Apps-Culture/Overview.aspx

Native apps: the bad• Fragmentation• Walled gardens…often don’t

play with other services• The best tend to be single

function…are we single function?– Gmail app, Maps app, Google

Navigation app

My dad got a Sprint EVO 4G last weekend and texted me asking why Pandora, which he was excited about downloading, needed access to his

contact information (when you download an Android app you get a

nice little list of things the application has access to on the phone). I told him

I didn’t know, and he subsequently decided he didn’t want to download it.

-Stacey Higginbotham, GigaOM

Native app got game• Performance• Offline use• Deep integration required…

GPS, camera, etc.• Monetization

Why mobile web?• No child left behind• Findability via mobile search

(can submit to google)• No approval process• Familiar technologies…

HTML5, CSS, JavaScript• Integration between desktop

and mobile– Fennec

Why not mobile web?

• “If you don’t have an app you don’t exist”

• 19 flavors +- of WebKit• How many clicks?• Not persistent

Why a hybrid?

• Develop with familiar technologies

• Persistence of a native app

• Al Gore told me to

Why not a hybrid?

• Still platform dependent

Platform proliferation• Today: iPhone, Android,

Blackberry, iPad?

• Tomorrow: WebOS, Windows Phone 7, Android tablets, Blackberry tablet(s), Windows tablets…..??

Cool tools…code free• Hidden peanuts MSG

http://www.hiddenpeanuts.com/msg

• Widgetbox mobile http://www.widgetbox.com/mobile/

Questions & discussion?Kthxbai