This topic is of huge interest to me, because sadly, I will confess now that ... I ... am ... a ... mobile information addict.
There, I said it! I'm not ashamed to make such an admission, but part of me wishes I could turn back time to a period of my earlier life where I was able to blissfully wander this earth without having access of all kinds of useful and useless information at my fingertips, where ever I was. Life was so much simpler back then!
Ask just about anyone these days to produce their phone on the spot, and you'll gather that most people will have a smart phone, which is essentially a small computer with internet connectivity, with, oh yeah! ... a phone built in. You can surf the WWW, check your emails, download music, movies, ringtones and install all kind of useful software applications which in some way aim to improve your life, or find ways to distract you from it!
Speaking from experience, I use this device more for the smart (capabilities) than the phone (function), although I carry with me and use that latter function more as a security which I value above my superficial needs to check what all my friends are up to on Facebook.
The main issue faced by the (hardware) architects of these devices, and subsequently by the software programmers presently, is the hurdle of providing access to services and programmes on mobile devices that were initially designed as desktop applications for larger computers and laptops, which have larger memory, more processing power and bigger displays than their new, smaller relatives.
Mobile devices are also context sensitive (i.e. they know where they are) and the integration of GPS technology in them is now standard. It allows for interactivity through applications that utilise measurements of longitude and latitude to provide localised information relevant to the user on the move, orientation of the device itself to translate the mobile user's kinetic movement of the device and camera/imaging recognition through the use of a built-in camera. They also utilise Bluetooth technology to communicate with other mobile devices by sharing small amounts of data.
An excellent example of a mobile application that I use which demonstrates all these capabilities is 'Nearest Tube' on the iPhone. It is an 'augmented reality' app which uses the camera to give you a view of your surroundings through the device's screen. Transposed on top of that real time image is layered data indicating your position relative to that of the nearest tube station. By holding the phone and rotating the angle of the lens, the position of the fixed location markers change to indicate whether you are moving closer or further away to them. This is functional to the user as it acts an interactive visual compass that they can follow to reach a destination providing only the information that need to know in order to achieve that objective (i.e. their position, the position of the tube station, the distance and the direction between the two places.)
In order to facilitate the mobility of information from static workstations (desktop PCs) to 'on-the-go' devices (smart phones), a preliminary evaluation of user information needs has to take place. We need to assess what information is available to the users, determine is the most valuable or desired information the user will want to know or access (the core data) and keep it, putting to the one side the less valued information or be disposing of it altogether. Finally we take the core data and build functionality around it in order to display it to the user using the most effective means. All subsidiary information is concertinaed to make it less visible and prominent but still accessible should the user wish to use it.
This is where we can revisit the idea of APIs and mash-ups, as a workable solution to this information-reducing conundrum. The idea is to extract only the core data and build an interface around it on the platform which optimises the visibility and prominence of that information, all the while being aware of the limits or constraints of that platform. For example, software plug-ins such as Flash, Javascript or Shockwave which embed interactive moving animations into web pages consume computing resources and are therefore not suitable, or compatible, with smaller processors. Access such a web page from your smart phone, for example, and an 'error/incompatibility' message appears in place of the plug-in. Access denied. Website owners, be it the press, business or even individuals without commercial intent, are wise to this, and at the risk of alienating a large market of mobile internet users who will visit their sites to read information, have developed mobile versions of their sites. The objective of such sites is go back to the basics in providing key information with no thrills - a diluted version of their full site which places accessibility over content in terms of assessing the user's needs. Functionality is used as the tool to bridge the gap between the two, as in essence you can have the best of both worlds.
A good mobile site, for example, provides clear navigation to the heavily used functions of that site, such as news stories, images or maps, timetables or calculators which all provide some practical immediate use to the user. The data involved here should be anything considered so important that the user should not have to spend any time searching for its location. It should be prominent and grab the reader's attention within a matter of seconds. Anything that is exploratory (i.e. information which is supplementary in nature, requires more time to digest or is too large to condense) can be hidden away under a concertinaed menu, or in a smaller font, off to the side for example. This allows for access, but the user will have to specifically search for it if they want to access it. The underlying focus here is on conveying content using a minimalist design.
A good mobile application takes the data from a website and imports it for use on the mobile device platform, accessed through an interface designed to harness the power and limitations of that platform, in order to present the data in the more relevant and consumable form. The approach is remove any white space or any unessential features of the website/information, and make the available (limited) screen space as functional as possible by filling it with large clear buttons and fonts that present the data as information which is spoon-fed to the user. The use of virtual, context sensitive keyboards which understand what type of data-input is required in order to access or manipulate the information is an intuitive step forward (such as months and years to select a date, figures for inputting a telephone number, or a special symbols such as @ or [.com] when typing an email). Touch screen 'gestures' such as swipe to move between documents, pinch bigger or smaller to zoom in and out also aid navigation on a small screen by reducing the need to scroll further along or down a page in order to access the pre-existing navigation functions of the site.
The practical exercise for this topic asked us to design a mobile application to support our learning in this subject. This is already available as a web resource (Moodle) which, admittedly, has been very well designed as a learning portal. The task therefore seems to ask how we could effectively make Moodle mobile ... a Moobile application :-)
The user is a student, and their information need is that they want to find out the basic amount of information to see them through a day at University. They want to know what lectures they have to attend, what subject or topic will be covered in the lecture, what reading to do in conjunction with the lecture, receive messages about their course that are relevant, such as changes to the timetable, coursework submission deadlines etc.
A mobile application would take into account all of these needs - by presenting a clear, simple interface that provides the user localised information on that particular day: an upcoming events box with three events, be it their lectures or social club activities that they have booked into, that updates over time and is therefore fresh and dynamic. A window to the Moodle subject area should also be prominent, that is context and time sensitive thus presenting a link to read the next lecture notes before and during its allotted time. A portal displaying the last 5 emails received on their University accounts, and a separate portal linked into their library account showing the number of books they have taken out, when the next loan is due to be returned and when loan requests that available to collect, together with fines that have been incurred. All other user account information is concertinaed under drop down menus at the bottom of the screen, that links to the full website version of the relevant web pages.
These are just a few ideas, but ones that this user will happily consume on the move. I just need to remember the necessity to switch-off the desire to access information in my pocket when there is not a social or immediate need for it!
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