Adapting Expectations to Fit a Mobile Workflow

Adapting Expectations to Fit a Mobile Workflow Presented by Joseph Labrecque D2W Conference – July 15th 2011 – Kansas City, MO

Introduction Joseph Labrecque, MA Senior Interactive Software Engineer University of Denver – CTL Fractured Vision Media, LLC Adobe Community Professional Adobe Education Leader Flash Development for Android Cookbook

What we’ll be talking about• Background – Platforms – Tooling• Expectations – Adjust them• Workflow – Planning – Design – Development – Testing• Publication

Starting out…• Mobile can be a pain!• Mobile is also addictive and FUN!

A plethora of devicesMobile Devices!• Smartphone OS – iOS – Android – Windows Phone 7 – WebOS• Tablet OS – iOS – Android – Tablet OS (QNX) – WebOS

Advancements in platforms• Web Browsers• JavaScript Engines• JavaScript Frameworks• Flash Player• Adobe AIR• Native (Obj-C, C#, Java)

Advancements in Flash / AIR• Open Screen Project• Adobe AIR – AIR for Android – AIR for iOS – AIR for Tablet OS – AIR for ???• Flash Player – Android and QNX

Advancements in tooling• Flash Professional CS5.5 – iOS – Android – Project linkages• Flash Builder 4.5 – Mobile Flex Projects!!! – iOS – Android – Tablet OS

Web apps are lacking (on mobile)• Tiny controls on 160-320 PPI screens• Video generally not optimized for mobile• No Flash Player on iOS – (thanks, Steve)• Need a directed cross- platform app solution

Let’s have a look… (desktop)

Expectations• Existing content – Let’s get it on mobile – Hmmm…• New content – What does it need to do – How do we do it – Hmmm…

Adapting expectations• Fingers… and touch… – We need big buttons – New interactions• Small screens – This won’t fit – Will it fit now?• Slow processors – Think 7 years ago• Time to change your thinking

Let’s have a look… (mobile)

Workflow matters!• Decisions and Planning around restrictions• Distill your Ideas!• Designing for Touch• Designing for Gestures• Designing for Movement• Develop for Directness• Release and Test often and everywhere

Planning• Realistic• Directed• Tear-Down• Usability

Design: How?• Fingers• Gestures• Obviousness• Platform-awareness

Design: What?• Flash Catalyst• Fireworks• Illustrator• Photoshop• Flash Builder (really)

Development• Multiplatform – Simulators – Media Queries – Flex Libraries• Lots of new concepts when dealing with mobile

Simulators• Take advantage of Flash Builder simulator• Stay away from the Android emulator• Device Central can also be useful

Application Scaling• applicationDPI can be set in the app root tag – 160 x1 – 240 x1.5 – 320 x2• Dependent upon the correct DPI report from the device on runtime to function correctly…

Media Queries@media (os-platform: “Android”) {} CSS@media (os-platform: “QNX”) {}@media (os-platform: “IOS”) {}@media (application-dpi: 160) {}@media (application-dpi: 240) {}@media (application-dpi: 320) {}Just like “standard” CSS ;)

Flex Libraries• Share “core” project code across Flex Libraries• Use targeted application logic which wraps the core• Export release builds specific to each target platform

Let’s have a look… (code)

Testing!!!• Android is an excellent test platform I can help!• Test on device• Test a lot• Get friends to test• Get your parents to test

Releases• Android Market• Amazon AppStore• BlackBerry AppWorld• iTunes App Store• Who’s next??? – Hi, Sony!!!

In conclusion• Mobile requires a certain directed approach that is not required with desktop application development.• Mobile takes a lot more planning than what you may be used to…• Mobile takes a lot more testing than what you may be used to…• Mobile users still expect everything to work flawlessly on whatever random device they may be using.• A good workflow can help in all these areas!

Contact me Email: Joseph.Labrecque@du.edu Web: http://josephlabrecque.com/ Twitter: @JosephLabrecque

Thanks!• Catch me at these upcoming events… – Adobe Summer Institute ”Building a Functional Flex Mobile Application for Android in Less Than an Hour” – COLTT “Mobile computing in a ‘Post-PC’ era… right?” + Café Pédagogique “Does your institution need a mobile app? Probably not.” – Adobe MAX “From Desktop to Mobile: Application Functionality for Small Screens” + FITC Unconference @ MAX “UX Concerns across Mobile Platforms”

Adapting Expectations to Fit a Mobile Workflow

by Joseph Labrecque on Jul 15, 2011

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Adapting Expectations to Fit a Mobile Workflow — Presentation Transcript