Designing Mobile Apps: A Roadmap for Businesses JAMES DELLOW PUBLISHED BY
Designing Mobile Apps: A Roadmap for Businesses is published by Ark Group UK/EUROPE OFFICE Ark Conferences Ltd Paulton House 8 Shepherdess Walk London N1 7LB United Kingdom Tel +44 (0)207 549 2500 Fax +44 (0)20 7324 2373 publishing@ark-group.com NORTH AMERICA OFFICE Ark Group Inc 4408 N. Rockwood Drive Suite 150 Peoria IL 61614 United States Tel +1 309 495 2853 Fax +1 309 495 2858 publishingna@ark-group.com ASIA/PACIFIC OFFICE Ark Group Australia Pty Ltd Main Level 83 Walker Street North Sydney NSW 2060 Australia Tel +61 1300 550 662 Fax +61 1300 550 663 aga@arkgroupasia.com Online bookshop www.ark-group.com/bookshop Editor Evie Serventi eserventi@ark-group.com Head of content Anna Shaw ashaw@ark-group.com UK/Europe marketing enquiries Robyn Macé rmace@ark-group.com US marketing enquiries Daniel Smallwood dsmallwood@ark-group.com Asia/Pacific marketing enquiries Steve Oesterreich aga@arkgroupasia.com ISBN: 978-1-908640-39-0 (hard copy) 978-1-908640-40-6 (PDF) Copyright The copyright of all material appearing within this publication is reserved by the author and Ark Conferences 2012. It may not be reproduced, duplicated or copied by any means without the prior written consent of the publisher. ARK2139
Designing Mobile Apps: A Roadmap for Businesses JAMES DELLOW PUBLISHED BY
Contents Executive summary... V About the author...vii Acknowledgements...IX Chapter 1: Introduction... 1 Background... 1 Key drivers... 3 Technology trends... 3 Overview of planning and implementation... 4 Chapter 2: Key concepts... 7 Introduction... 7 What is a mobile app?...7 Mobile capabilities... 8 Smartphones and tablet computers... 10 Major mobile operating systems... 11 Other devices... 13 Mobile app and device management... 14 Consumerisation of IT... 15 Future trends... 16 Next steps... 18 Chapter 3: The business context for mobile apps... 21 Introduction... 21 Strategic context... 22 Making the business case for mobile... 22 Focus on the relationship to intranets... 25 Focus on training and learning... 26 Focus on social business... 26 Build or buy?... 27 Other issues for employers to consider... 30 Summary... 32 III
Contents Chapter 4: Understanding user requirements... 35 Introduction... 35 Why is understanding the user important?... 35 What does a good app experience look like?... 37 Understanding the user s needs... 39 Understanding the user s context... 44 Other design considerations... 47 Next steps... 48 Chapter 5: Developing use cases... 49 Use case development framework... 49 Developing mobile app use cases... 53 Types and styles of mobile apps... 56 Next steps... 59 Chapter 6: Smart enterprise mobile app roadmap... 61 Roadmap options... 61 Supporting mobile IT architecture... 64 Examples of getting benefits quickly... 65 Governance... 67 Designing, developing and deploying mobile apps... 70 Prototyping and in the field testing... 72 Summary... 74 Chapter 7: Case studies... 77 Case study 1: King & Wood Mallesons... 77 Case study 2: Zurich Financial Services Australia... 81 Case study 3: Woods Bagot... 85 Index... 89 IV
Executive summary THE DATA on the adoption of smartphones and tablets and the growth in mobile data usage all bear out what many of us can see for ourselves in our everyday lives. Even more pervasive than the personal computer (PC) revolution, which spawned the creation of a whole new industry and made the fortune of companies like Microsoft, this new mobile computing revolution is evolving and growing even more quickly. Powerful mobile devices are now in the hands of everyday users and the workplace is one of the most obvious places to see this in action. While the value of mobile applications ( apps ) targeted at consumers is already well recognised, many organisations are also looking to utilise similar apps for commercial gain by deploying them to their own staff or their business partners. From the boardroom to the shop floor, you are likely to see all types of different users making use of a variety of mobile devices and mobile apps for example, the CEO using her ipad to browse board papers on the company extranet while sitting in the airport lounge, the manager approving time sheets on his Windows smartphone while he lines up for coffee and the sales associate using her Android tablet to show customers rich media content about the company s products. But this mobile revolution is different: while in some cases employers are providing mobile devices to their workforce, in many cases employees are following the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) trend and supplying the equipment themselves. Furthermore, the apps they use could be corporate tools or simply off-the-shelf apps downloaded free of charge or purchased for about the same price as their daily coffee. Against a backdrop of a broader consumerisation of IT, user expectations are rising and the user experience is now critical to maximising the value of mobile in the workplace. This in turn creates the need for new, more agile and iterative approaches to implementing mobile apps. This report provides the foundations for understanding the opportunity to design mobile solutions that provide real value from a strategic and business perspective by optimising around the user experience. It also includes a background of key mobile concepts, a roadmap for developing mobile apps and case studies from early adopters. The report equips readers with the necessary tools to not only understand mobile applications in an organisational context, but also identify the real value of mobile applications from their own organisation s strategic and business perspectives. Chapter 1 provides the contextual overview for the report, identifying the key drivers which support the demand for the use of mobile apps in the business environment. Chapter 2 describes the technical attributes of mobile software and mobile devices. Understanding these attributes is a critical step to designing workforce mobile apps that leverage these unique capabilities and planning what kind of enterprise V
Executive summary information technology infrastructure might be required to support them. Chapter 3 focuses on the strategic context and building a business case for mobile apps, including a review of options such as buy or build, and BYOD or employer provided mobiles. Chapter 4 examines the design and deployment of mobile apps by understanding users requirements and applying a userexperience centred design approach. Examples are provided to demonstrate the value of the concepts presented. Chapter 5 extends the concepts from Chapter 4 and provides guidelines for the use case development framework. It also discusses styles and types of mobile apps, including mobile app interface design considerations. Chapter 6 brings together all the concepts and outlines a roadmap for implementation, including consideration of issues such as architecture, governance, and prototyping and testing. Chapter 7 features detailed case studies from three organisations: leading Asian law firm, King & Wood Mallesons; international financial services company, Zurich; and global architectural design studio, Woods Bagot. The case studies outline the design approach, the benefits and outcomes, and learning and opportunities reported from the implementation. This report provides essential information to help with decision making that will set your organisation on the road with the right approach and methods for designing successful mobile apps. VI