Your intranet on the go - developing QUT Virtual Mobile

Your intranet on the goCase Study: Developing QUT Virtual Mobile
Andy McBride (@andymac7)Intranet Services Team

What I will be talking about today?
Overview of QUT and my team
What is QUT Virtual?
Changing face of the mobile space
Choosing a mobile strategy
QUT Virtual Mobile:
How it all began
Quick demo
Lessons we learned along the way

Queensland University of Technology (QUT)
Gardens Point Campus

Queensland University of Technology (QUT)
Based in Brisbane with three campuses:
Gardens Point
Kelvin Grove
Caboolture
Over 40,500 students
Over 4,000 full-time staff:
Professional
Academic
Research

My team – Intranet Services
Responsible for development & maintenance of QUT Virtual
Also develop web applications & online web functions
13 staff:
Managers
Business analysts
Application developers
Web developer / user experience designer (me!!)

Staff screen

Personalised& secure web portal
Available to students, staff & alumni
Launched in 2001
Contains over 100 unique applications
Integrates with many QUT systems (e.g. Finance, HR, Enrolment)
17,000 sessions a day (average)
6 million sessions a year (average)

Changing face of the mobile space
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cristiano_betta/

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5.3 billon people with mobile devices (77% of world population)Source: ITU via mobithinking

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By 2011, over 85% of mobile devices will be web enabled.Source: Gartner
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By 2013, mobile devices will replace PC’sas the most common device to access the internet.Source: ITU vismobithinking

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Approximately 60% of organisations have NO mobile intranet access strategySource: NetJMC

Choosing the correct mobile access strategy
Choosing a mobile access strategy
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bas-boerman/

Mobile access strategies
Native application, or
Web-based application
Combination of both, or
Do nothing at all

What are native applications?
Applications designed to run on a specific mobile device’s operating system & firmware.
Downloaded & updated via an application store.
Facebook
Camera+

Advantages of native applications
Run quicker
Access to native API’s (e.g. camera, GPS)
Offline access
‘Push’ capabilities
Animation & graphic effects
Quality developer frameworks
Integration with other native applications
Simple purchasing process
Large marketing potential via the App Stores / Marketplaces

What are web-based applications?
Applications or websites designed to run via amobile device’s web browser.
YouTube
Westpac Bank

Advantages of web-based applications
Device independent
Quicker & cheaper to develop
Open development platform
Immediate release of updates, bug fixes & new features (e.g. No store approval process)
Content accessible to search engines
Control over hosted content
No 3rd party fees (Apple = 30%)
+ HTML5 = faster & more functional:
Location aware (GPS, maps)
Multimedia support (video, images)
Offline storage

Which strategy is best?
…it depends

Depends on what???
Time:
Development, testing, support & maintenance
Budget:
Small vs. large
Startup vs. ongoing
Expertise:
In-house vs. need to hire
Geographical location:
Single country vs. multinational
Users:
What devices do they have access to?
Do you provide your users a particular brand of phone?
Competitors
Product or service

Considerations when choosing mobile strategy…
Latest & greatest mobile device will always change
Look beyond device & form factor
Your business & user requirements will guide suitable mobile access strategy
If developing a native app, maintain digital consistency across all channels (e.g. web, other mobile operating systems)

Developing QUT Virtual Mobile

Where it all began…
Feedback from students & staff
Decided to develop web-based application
Started late 2010, officially launched February 2011
Took 2 developers, 3 months
Staff View
Student View

Why a web-based application?
Large & technologically diverse user base:
Provide access to largest number of students & staff
Domestic & international students & staff
Range of mobile devices
Limited time & budget:
Developed in spare time, no dedicated project time or budget
No time or budget to develop & maintain on other mobile operating systems
In-house expertise:
HTML, CSS & JavaScript developers already in team

QUT Virtual Mobileat a glance

Screens: Student & Staff Home
Student View
Staff View

Screens: Class Enrolment & Unit Results
Class Enrolment
Unit Results

Screen: Campus Shuttle Bus Timetable

Screens: Student Messages & I.T. Service Status
StudentMessages
I.T. Service Status

Screen: Student Calendar

Screens: Staff Search
Staff SearchForm
Staff SearchDetails

Screens: ‘Lite’ Version & Bookmark Reminder
‘Lite’ or
text-based
version
Dynamic
bookmark reminder

How has QUT Virtual Mobile performed so far?

How has QUT Virtual Mobile performed so far?
Performance since February 2010:
90,000page views in total
25,500unique sessions in total
Average 300 unique sessions a day (Mon to Fri),
Over 93% returning visitors
Device OS Breakdown

Lessons we learned along the way…

Lesson #1: Know your users

Lesson #1: Know your users
Helps create personal user experience & identify what functions to expose
Develop thorough understanding of your users:
What devices do they use? (e.g. personal, company supplied)
How do they use their mobile device? (e.g. frequently, rarely)
What do they access on your intranet via a mobile device?
What mobile intranet functionality could make their job easier?
Research methods:
Contextual interviews
Focus groups
Creating personas
Web statistics

Lesson #2: Research best practice

Lesson #2: Research best practice
Helps:
Learn from good mobile intranet designs
Avoid repeating common mistakes
Find best practice in:
Competitors, industry & mobile design leaders
Intranet publications
Web development podcasts
Mobile design websites

Lesson #3: Mobile is not the desktop but smaller

Lesson #3: Mobile is not the desktop but smaller
A mobile user is:
“…typically on the go in an unpredictable environment, interested in quick glanceable information, focused on discrete individual tasks, is quite often distracted.” (Joe Marini @ MIX 2010)
Release functionality your users want and can use ‘on the go’
Different design considerations & requirements:
Succinct & purpose written content
Simple & linear navigation
Larger interactive elements (e.g. pressed not clicked)
Simple forms
Fluid content layouts (e.g. various screen sizes & orientations)

Lesson #4: Progressive enhancement, not initial perfection

Lesson #4: Progressive enhancement, not initial perfection
“Build half a product, not a half-ass product.” (37 Signals)
Start with a few key functions, release new functions progressively
Resist temptation to release too many functions (< 10)
Progressive enhancement allows you to:
release your mobile intranet earlier
fix bugs / problems based on feedback
kill unwanted or unused functions
maintain the ‘hype’ of your mobile intranet

Lesson #5: Test early, test often, test always

Lesson #5: Test early, test often, test always
Test continuously & regularly:
e.g. Pull aside a colleague in the hall & test on their phone
Test different:
device firmware
screen sizes
browsers (if web-based application)
environments (e.g. 3G connection, no connection)
If budget permits, purchase a store of mobile devices to test on

Our testing for QUT Virtual Mobile

Lesson #6: Utilise native functionality where possible (and necessary)

Lesson #6: Utilise native functionality where possible (and necessary)
Native functionality can enhance user experience:
e.g. Field officer using camera to take photos of a fault & logging it in a incident database
Must have purpose, not because ‘it’s cool’
Native functionality:
Gestures (Pinch, swipe, pull, zoom)
Camera
Video
GPS (Location based services)
Gyroscope & accelerometer

Want to chat? Want more information?
Email:a.mcbride@qut.edu.au
Twitter: @andymac7
Or catch me during the conference…

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