Tips for Mobile Strategy?
1 Oct 2010 - 10:27am
6 replies
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I've been tasked with coming up with a mobile strategy for a large government website. I need to come up with recommendations for a mobile version fo the site and possibly ideas for an app or two. Never done anything with mobile before. Can anyone point me to some good starting points? Books, webinars, articles - anything appreciated!
Comments
I can't get too specific, but the site provides international travel information to US and foreign citizens. As part of the redesign of the site we want provide the client with mobile recommendations. We haven't begun brainstorming for app ideas yet, but I'm just looking for resources on how to create a mobile strategy or roadmap. What pitfalls should I be aware of? What tradeoffs should I take into consideration? Etc.
Hi Lodar,
I've come across a lot of really useful resources on this topic, and have been involved on a couple mobile projects. I think the most important thing to address is the context of the users, and what type of information they'll want/need to access while they are mobile. Also, what types of devices do you want to support? Will you port the existing content and optimize for mobile, or present an entirely difference expereince? When it comes to apps, you need to decide not only what devices you want to deliver it on, but whether or not an app is really necessary. People tend to want apps before they actually investigate why their audience might need one. If you do move forward and create an app you then need to decide whether you'll choose to build a mobile web application, or a native device application, as there are pros and cons to each. Luckily, there is no shortage of great information and presentations out there:
Mobile First
Luke Wroblewski has a great presentation on mobile strategy and design. You can find it on his site, or here is a direct link to the presentation.
Mobile Design
Some good books are: Mobile Design and Development by Brian Fling, and Mobile Web Design by Cameron Moll. You can also get some good tips on Cameron's site.
Apps vs. the Web
A List Apart has published an article discussing the pros and cons of building a native app vs. a mobile web application.
Human Interface Guidelines
Apple has a bunch of documentation that present guidelines for human interaction on mobile devices. This is pretty useful if you'll be planning the interaction.
Well, those should be enough to get you pointed in the right direction. I have written a couple articles addressing user context too. Check these out if you are interested: Mobile Web Design: What You Should Know and iPad and User Centered Design
Hope this helps!
Dennis
(sorry if this goes through multiple times, I was having problems submitting the comment)
Mobiforge.com seems to be the place to go for all things mobile. You should find lots there.
Here's a couple of articles I've referenced:
Opera web optimization guide
W3C mobile web best practices
Hopefully that will at least get you rollin'!
Hugh Griffith
Visual / Interaction Designer
www.interactionhero.com
208-343-4420
Skype: hughgriffith
Gtalk: hugemm@gmail.com
On Fri, Oct 1, 2010 at 10:44 AM, lodar <liz.odar@gmail.com> wrote:
Here are some posts I did that are more related to picking the right features for a mobile app and building it in a way that supports your business strategy. Plus one on basic UI considerations (but there's lots of content around that).
Feature Design Principles for Mobile http://nmc.itdevworks.com/index.php/2010/04/feature-design-principles-for-the-iphone-ipad-and-web/
Business Model Principles for Mobile http://nmc.itdevworks.com/index.php/2010/05/business-model-principles-iphone-ipad-and-web/
UX Princples for Mobile http://nmc.itdevworks.com/index.php/2010/04/user-experience-principles-for-the-iphone-ipad-and-web/
Hi Lodar,
We maintain a bibliography on mobile usability including a special section on mobile applications for travel (see mTravel section):
http://interux.com/library/Mobile_Usability.htm
I personally have been involved in the mTravel application development (see my article: Burmistrov I. (2009) Mobile air ticket booking) so feel free to contact me regarding specific questions about this theme.
Best,
Ivan