Low Effort, High Impact Mobile Web Development

Chad Haefele Reference Librarian for Emerging Technologies UNC Chapel Hill – Davis Library [email_address] 7/23/09

Mobile use stats
32% of all Americans have gone online with a mobile device at some point in their lives
19% of Americans said they had yesterday accessed the internet on their mobile device

Mobile use stats
44% of Americans do one or more of these tasks on their mobile phone in an average day:
Up from 32% in 2007
Source: “Wireless Internet Use”, Pew Internet & American Life Project, 7/22/09 (data gathered 4/09): http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2009/12-Wireless-Internet-Use.aspx
Watching Video Getting Directions Playing Music Instant Messaging Recording Video Accessing the web Checking e-mail Playing a game Taking a picture Text messaging

Mobile stats
Informal survey on the UNC Davis Library website:
Plus 44 ‘other’ responses

Device differences
iPhone/Smartphone/Featurephone/Other
?

Device differences
Plain old phone

Device differences
Plain old phones have browsers too!

Development approaches 1. Full iPhone application http://www.screencast.com/t/yzFoclXdq7M

Development approaches 1. Full iPhone application

Development approaches 2. Web app - HTML

Development approaches
Third-party development
Worldcat mobile, developed and hosted by Boopsie.com http://www.worldcat.org/m

UNC Mobile
Developed University-wide:

UNC library project http:// www.screencast.com/t/qrlHjGhnF

iUI
http://code.google.com/p/iui/
HTML development
Intro how-to article: http://www.k10design.net/articles/iui/

iUI - files

iUI – sample code Main page: <ul id="home" title="Home" selected="true"> <center><img src="header.jpg" width="320px" /></center> <li><a href="#hours">Library Hours</a></li> <li><a href=“#contact">Contact & Find Us</a></li> <li><a href="#catalog">Catalog</a></li> … </ul>

iUI – sample code Secondary page: <ul id="hours" title="Davis Hours"> <center><img src="header.jpg" width="320px" /></center> CONTENT HERE </ul>

Which would you rather write?

UNC Library project
Plain old phone:

Other examples: NCSU University of Virginia

Other considerations
Local population
Branding – what URL?
Redirection – check user agents
Promotion, or serendipity?
Coolness factor

Our future plans
Adapting DCPL app
Mobile catalog
Test more widely
Launch for fall
Explore other platforms
Palm Pre
Android

Lessons learned
Test, test, test!
Develop partnerships on campus
Get a device in your hands, and the hands of stakeholders
Piggyback off the work of others
Iterate
Use User-Agent switcher in development
Pull in outside systems

Links
UNC Library iPhone page (beta):
www.HiddenPeanuts.com/iPhoneTest3
UNC Library Plain Phone page (beta):
www.HiddenPeanuts.com/plain
UNC Mobile:
m.unc.edu
NCSU Library mobile page:
www.lib.ncsu.edu/m/
Duke Mobile:
m.duke.edu
DCPL iPhone application:
www.dclibrarylabs.org/projects/iphone /
University of VA iPhone page:
m.lib.virginia.edu

Questions?
Photo credits:
Phones: www.flickr.com/photos/27048731@N03/3506681531 /
Plain phones: www.flickr.com/photos/joshb/27437522 /
Plain phone browser: www.flickr.com/photos/kevincollins/1415091562 /
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Low Effort, High Impact Mobile Web Development

by chaefele on Jul 23, 2009

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Low Effort, High Impact Mobile Web Development — Presentation Transcript