Smartphone App Strategies for Multi-Platform Design

Wrangling apps in the Smartphone
Wild West
@suzanneginsburg

© 2011 Ginsburg Design

About me:


Motivations & definitions…


“Native” vs. “web” vs. “hybrid” apps?
-  Web apps are accessed via the browser &
updated automatically (from user’s perspective)
-  Native apps are downloaded & updates must
also be downloaded (unless they are “hybrids.”)
-  Native apps have greater access to the device
hardware & content (though that’s changing.)


Now let’s get started…


In July 2008, Apple released an API that
enabled iPhone developers to create
“native” apps. Along with this API
came the App Store.


For a short time, Apple was the only
major smartphone app store in town.


Innovation was
off the charts.
Hundreds of apps
were approved
each day.


Soon enough, others joined the app game.
Android Market (October 2008)
Blackberry App World (April 2009)
Windows 7 (October 2010)
More exist & more are coming…


Designers started to fret. Would they
have to design their apps twice, three
times, four times, or more?


What’s a smartphone app designer
to do?


First of all, figure out if you really need
to create a “native” app. Here are some
questions to help you out…


#1. What problem are you trying to
solve?
(Let’s assume you’ve conducted upfront user research—
shadowing, diary studies, field interviews, etc.—to help
answer this question.)


Unless your solution requires OpenGL
(Graphics Library), hardware access (e.g.,
sensors), or device content (e.g., photos)
you may not need a native app.
Web apps can store data offline, access
GPS info & more enhancements are
coming.


Web App Examples:

Offline access (Gmail) Gyroscope (Occipital) Game (BeatTouch)


You may be thinking, “But my app won’t
be discoverable if it’s on the web!”

There are more than 300K apps in
Apple’s App Store. It ain’t easy to stand
out anymore.


Improving Web App Access (post-discovery phase):

Cornell University


#2. Does your app require multi-tasking
support?


Multi-Tasking Examples:

Listen to music (Pandora) Upload photos (Flickr) Take calls (Skype)


If you’d like to take advantage of multi-
tasking, as it stands today, you’ll need to
create a native app (iOS or Android).


#3. What is your monetization strategy?


If you’re planning to
offer subscriptions
or a one-time
payment, it may be
more profitable to
sell a native app.

Drop-off rates tend
to be higher for web
app purchases.

To summarize, if you need device access,
multi-tasking, or micropayments, in most
cases you’ll want to create a native app.


So what now?


You have at least 3 options to consider:

1. The One Trick Pony
2. The O.K. Corral
3. The Trojan Horse


# 1. The One Trick Pony


With the One Trick Pony, you
may decide to design your app
for just one native platform.
This may make sense if your user
base is primarily on one platform,
or must-have features are only on
that platform.


One Trick Pony Examples:

Convertbot by tapbots Voices by tap tap tap Ocarina by Smule


What you need to do:

- Learn the UI guidelines for the OS.
- Read the device’s technical specs.
- Explore related apps in depth.
- Sketch, prototype & test, lots!


UI Guidelines:

http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/#documentation/userexperience/ http://developer.android.com/guide/practices/ui_guidelines/index.html
conceptual/mobilehig/Introduction/Introduction.html http://www.slideshare.net/AndroidDev/android-ui-design-tips

http://docs.blackberry.com/en/developers/deliverables/17965/ http://create.msdn.com/en-us/home/getting_started
Designing_applications_for_BlackBerry_devices_1017063_11.jsp © 2011 Ginsburg Design

Sketching for different smartphone
platforms is essentially the same except
some may incorporate the device more
than others (e.g., Android & Windows).


Sketching:

Dane Petersen Daniel Chang

Marcin Ignac © 2011 Ginsburg Design

Prototyping, on the other hand, can be
quite different between platforms since
there are many platform-specific
solutions.


First, let’s look at some platform
agnostic solutions…


Prototyping: Platform Agnostic

Paper (Braman, Lau, Nomikos) HTML (Marcin Ignac)

Keynotopia with GoodReader Flash (Alfresco)

Prototyping: Windows 7 on paper

Courtesy Sara Summers

Prototyping: Video

http://johnnyholland.tv/post/1257269180/prototyping-for-elmos-monster-maker-iphone-app-
ideo


And now some platform specific
solutions…


Prototyping: Microsoft Expression Blend

http://www.microsoft.com/showcase/en/us/details/61ed7e86-0b1c-432e-a1fb-a882f95ec250


Prototyping: iOS

http://www.zambetti.com/projects/liveview/

Apple’s iOS Interface Builder

http://giveabrief.com/


Prototyping: Android App Creator

http://appinventor.googlelabs.com/about/index.html


Go with the One Trick Pony approach if your
user base is primarily on one platform, or must-
have features are only on that platform.


# 2. The O.K. Corral


With the O.K. Corral
approach, you may design
your app for 2-3 flagship
platforms.

This makes sense if your users are
concentrated on a small set of
platforms (tip: look at your traffic data).



- Try to make initial sketches device agnostic.
- Then compare device & OS differences to
assess impact on the user experience.


Potential differences to keep in mind:

- Display size & resolution
- Device interaction with display
-  Supported gestures
-  UI Controls
-  Animations
-  Landscape vs. Portrait


Device Differences: Droid S vs. iPhone 4

4-inch display 3.5-inch retina display
480 x 800 resolution 640 x 960 resolution
4 buttons on front 1 button on front


Navigation Differences


Navigation Differences

Tab Bar
Pivots
Quick Actions


Information Hierarchy


Widgets


Gesture Differences may also be critical:

http://www.lukew.com/ff/entry.asp?1071


Go with the O.K. Corral if your users are
on a small set of platforms & you want
to provide “pure” native experiences.


# 3. The Trojan Horse


With the Trojan Horse approach, you
can create web apps with native app
capabilities.
They are essentially web apps
wrapped in native code (aka
“hybrid” apps.) Trade-off is
less customization.



- Determine level of device/OS customization.
- Choose tool to support your cross-platform
solution (could be in-house solution).


Device/OS customization depends on:
- App genre
- Device capabilities
- Design strategy (philosophy?)


There are a variety of “Trojan Horse”
tools. They all use HTML for layout,
JavaScript for device access, and CSS
for look & feel.


Trojan Tools:

http://www.phonegap.com http://www.appcelerator.com/

http://www.rhomobile.com/

Trojan Examples:

KeyPoint (PhoneGap) Jimmy Fallon (Titanium) Koombea (RhoMobile)


And, finally, another option to keep in
mind is to create a web app that can be
accessed via the browser.


Web App Tools:


Web App Example:


You have at least 3 (4!) options to consider:

1.  The One Trick Pony
2.  The O.K. Corral
3.  The Trojan Horse

(4. Create a web app!)


“Courage is being
scared to death but
saddling up anyway.”

John Wayne


A special thanks to Linda Olafsdottir for her
beautiful illustrations.

And thanks to Jason Grigsby, Sara Summers,
David Kaneda, Jesse MacFayden, Jonathan
Stark, Marty Picco, & Michael Mayo for
technical advice.


How to stay in touch:
@suzanneginsburg

My book on Amazon:
http://amzn.to/9NH4RC


Thanks for coming!
Questions?


Smartphone App Strategies for Multi-Platform Design

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