At AllianceTek, we often describe ourselves as business solutions architects rather than just software developers.  This is because software alone does not necessarily provide any benefits to a business, and may in fact, be detrimental to its operations.  Instead of just providing technology, our role is to determine how technology can best be applied to a business.

A business, or any other organization with a function, is essentially a collection of tasks to be performed at various times.  As businesses attempt to leverage information technology to gain an advantage, they are basically trying to find a solution that saves time, money, and improves the quality of these tasks.  Unfortunately, the reason a new IT solution may not result in these expected benefits is because the technology does not align the people, processes, and systems that make up a task. 

All tasks – from paying a bill every month, to installing a new system, to assembling a product – require three parts.  There is a human part that initiates it, a process with a series of steps, and a system that controls the frequency of the task. 

When these parts of a task become misaligned, the result is lost time, money, and poorer quality.  For example, if the task has no system to regulate the frequency, then it may not be performed on time.  If a task has no process, then the person performing the task wastes time determining and re-determining how to do the task each time.  And if a task has no human element, then the quality may suffer because there is no one there to follow through with it and recognize how to make it better.

Issues occur when one part of a task tries to do the part of another.  Your workers should not have to be responsible for remembering how and when to do a repetitive task; these things should be handled by the process and system elements.  Forcing workers to remember these things prevents them from contributing to an instance of the task and causes a business to stagnate rather than grow.

How do the people, processes, and systems become misaligned?  One reason is because the task may not be clearly defined.  Try this as an experiment:  Take a routine task performed as part of your business and try to determine a way it can be automated.  If this does not come easy, it may mean you have not clearly defined the task.  Only clearly defined tasks can be automated, and automating a task forces you to define the task.

Recognizing patterns in the way a business operates and defining tasks from these patterns is largely how IT solutions can successfully deliver benefits.  Once a task has been defined and its people, processes, and systems aligned, the task can now be delegated, automated, or outsourced.  This empowers the people handling these tasks, because now they can focus on finding more efficient and less expensive methods of handling the task.

It’s not news to anyone at this point, but the prominence of mobile devices is still changing the way we work and live our daily lives. The smartphone becoming a ubiquitous presence in our lives and, according to a research study by In-Stat, over 65%, or over 200 million people, will have a smartphone or tablet device by 2015. Of course, due to this proliferation of mobile devices, I’m often meeting aspiring mobile developers with an idea for the next big app to penetrate the saturated mobile marketplace.

However, I have to keep remind such developers, who are migrating from desktop and web application development, that developing a mobile application requires some special considerations or they risk undermining their creative ideas. The following is a list of 6 important things mobile application developers should keep in mind when designing their apps.

1. Choose your target device carefully – There are many mobile device platforms on the market, from the popular iPhone to the security-oriented BlackBerry. Whether its Android, Windows Mobile, or iPad, each device has its own audience that has expectations about what apps they want to see on that device. Before you begin developing, you need to choose a device, or devices, that have the same audience as the target audience of your application.


2. Choose the right development platform – Now that you’ve chosen your target mobile devices, your next decision is what development environment you should use. Cross-platform environments like Mono, Phonegap, or Titanium save time by allowing you to develop for more devices at once, but give you less control over device-specific features, like user-interface. Developing just for a native app gives you complete control over the user interface and features of the device, but increases the development time. If you need more information, check out this decision tree to help you choose the right development platform.See our Article: Decision Tree ARTICLE


3. Design your app for the mobile market – An application designed for a mobile device should be different than an application for the web or desktop. For example, mobile applications should be careful not to overload the screen with too many text or menu items and take advantage of mobile-specific features like touch-scrolling and buttons. Also, mobile users expect less waiting, so use animations to smoothly transition the user between screens. Finally, don’t forget to utilize the orientation feature and zooming if the user uses the appropriate gestures. There’s more information on developing a mobile application in this article.See our Blog: How To Design Applications For iOS


4. Take advantage of device-specific features – The array of features offered on our mobile devices is always growing. Your app should take advantage of any device-specific features like GPS, cameras, etc., to offer the user a more robust experience.


5. Identify your deployment environment – Apps can be developed for general use or for internal use at a company. Consider how your application is going to fit into the currently existing environment so the transition is smooth and seamless. For example, an app designed for a large company can take advantage of the iOS Developer Enterprise Program.


6. Optimize Offline Compatibility – A connectivity interruption can erase sent data. App designers should utilize data storage so data can be stored on the application indefinitely until connectivity is restored and the data can be sent to the end-user.



 

At the end of 2011, iOS has approximately a 250 million install base and, according to a study by Ericsson, this number will skyrocket to 1.24 billion iOS subscribers in the next five years. It’s no secret that the mobile market is growing, so it’s no wonder that desktop and web application developers want to tap into this new market.

But developers of these stationary platforms need to understand that there is more to mobile development that simply porting their existing applications as is. Mobile users have their own expectations of how an application should feel. They are less forgiving of unnecessary clicks, taps, and pauses to get to the information they want. Developers need to be aware of these new usability standards to compete in the highly saturated mobile market.

The following list explains 10 guidelines that desktop and web developers need to consider when converting their applications to iOS.

1. More Icons and Optimized Text – Web users are used to following text to navigate an application, however mobile devices have less space for text descriptions. Instead, developers need to use more icons and buttons that are self-explanatory to guide the users. Think about using more graphical icons, white spaces, and only use text where it is appropriate.


2. Fluid Animations Instead of Pauses or Flickering – Mobile users don’t seem to have a lot of patience and pauses and loading time on a mobile application can earn it low marks from them. The mobile application should always have a flow, and if there must be a pause, fill that time with an animation effect that fluidly transitions from one screen to another.


3. Optimize Memory Management – Mobile devices do not have the same powerful hardware as a desktop computer so mobile applications should be designed to utilize a minimal amount of memory. Whenever objects are loaded or crated, they need to be released from memory when they are no longer on the screen so that memory can be reallocated. Fortunately, the design framework supports a lot of such memory functions.


4. Respond to Gestures – Mobile applications need to be designed with touching in mind. Use big, clickable controls, buttons, and sliders to allow your users to interface fluidly with the app. Use scroll bars to try to show everything on the screen. Don’t use smaller fonts or use more buttons to avoid scrolling. Make sure you take advantage of orientation changes so that the app will change depending on which way the user is holding the device.


5. Optimize the Controls – Again, mobile application developers have to contend with smaller screens and less memory, which means less room for buttons and controls. Try to consolidate the number of controls on the screen at once.


6. Minimize Input Effort – Users don’t like to drag their fingers all over a screen just to get a reaction. Design your mobile app so a light flick of the fingers is enough to register input.


7. Appropriate Use of Notifications – A common pet peeve of mobile users is the use of too many notifications. If there is a new version of an application, for example, don’t continue to remind the user of this. Only one notification the first time they open the app is necessary. If it’s an ecommerce app, you can use a notification to let the user know an order was made.


8. Optimize for Devices – While, the iPhone and iPad use the same OS, they are not the same device. You must ensure that your application runs well on both devices, understanding the strengths and limitations of each.


9. Focus Your App’s Purpose – Desktop and web applications have room for a variety of features, but the best mobile apps are targeted for just one purpose. Don’t weight down your app with extraneous stuff like advertisements, links to blogs, and other extras unless they are directly related to the purpose of the app.


10. Make use of Common Controls – Users expect convenience and consistency and common controls make for better code reusability and easier maintenance. For example, if the application has a menu bar, then it should be used on each screen of the application and always reuse the same common file.