The Importance of Platform Selection in Mobile App Design and Development for Pharma

Connected Healthcare Experiences

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The Importance of Platform Selection in Mobile App Design

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and Development for Pharma

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Pharma eMarketing Congress 2011, Lisbon, Portugal
14 September 2011
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Presented by
Seth Perlman
President, The Lathe

©2011 The Lathe, Inc. Proprietary and confidential. {www.thelathe.com}

By 2015,
500 million people

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will use a
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healthcare app
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Will it be one of yours?

Source: Global Mobile Health Market Report 2010-2012 .

©2011 The Lathe, Inc. Proprietary and confidential. {www.thelathe.com} 14 Sep 2011

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It might be, if you select the right platform.

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The landscape is complex.
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There are several players in the mobile platform game

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3.1 3.2 4.0 4.1 2.1 2.2 2.3 3.0

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4.2 4.3 5.0 3.1 3.2 4.0

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7 7.5
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1.4 2.0 2.1 3.0

6.0 7.0

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And you thought it was a pain to support IE6.

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(It is.) se e
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Apple and Google are the leaders in smartphone OS market
share, totaling nearly 70%

RIM continues its slide — IDC shows 8 consecutive quarters of

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decline to below 20%

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Nokia has abandoned Symbian and Meego but embraced

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Windows Phone
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HP dumped webOS just a month after the release of the
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TouchPad tablet and webOS 3.0
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Microsoft is the dark horse — will Windows Phone 7.5 (Mango)
make a difference?


Apple and Google dominate the app market

>800K apps

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Number of Apps

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Source: Distimo Publication, April 2011.


Devices are even more diverse than platforms — let’s just look
at screen sizes and aspect ratios as examples

6.6cm 11.4cm 25.7cm

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HP Palm Motorola HTC Samsung Apple Motorola
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Veer Pre 2 Droid 2 EVO 4G Galaxy Tab iPad 2 Xoom
BlackBerry Apple Samsung Samsung
Torch iPhone 4 Captivate Infuse 4G


Devices are even more diverse than platforms — let’s just look
at screen sizes and aspect ratios as examples

Samsung
Infuse 4G

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HP
Veer


There are also a few other ways in which devices differ:

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CPU speed

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Memory

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Availability of front-facing camera
NFC rty
Fingerprint reader
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And so on...
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So how do we select the right platform for a pharma app?

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Like every decision we make, this one starts with
understanding the audience.
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Does the audience use smartphones?
What platforms have users embraced?

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How does usage deviate from the general population?

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How about tablets?

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Is there cognitive, visual, or motor impairment?

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Are they homebound?
Are they wheelchair-bound?
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Are their phones on the nightstand while they sleep and on the
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couch while they watch TV?
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If they are patients, do they rely on caregivers?


Sometimes, however, answering those questions isn’t so easy.

Too few users in population

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Multiple platforms preferred

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Data unavailable

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Immovable deadline precludes research

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Research was inconclusive
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Research was leading
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Research budget allocated to vis aids and belly bands
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VP’s kid likes Android, let’s just go with Android
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Don’t really care, stop waving your hands and build me an app


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If research or data doesn’t lead you to a specific platform, it

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might be appropriate to consider a mobile web app.
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Native apps Mobile web apps
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are downloaded are accessed from
and installed on a remote web
the user’s device server


How does a mobile web app address the platform question?

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Similar to a website that works with IE, Firefox, and Chrome on

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Windows and OS X on the desktop, a mobile web app works

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with multiple mobile browsers across platforms
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This is made possible by a technology called WebKit and the
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use of open standards
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WebKit is a layout engine on which all* of the modern mobile
browsers are built: iOS, Android, BlackBerry OS, and webOS

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The standards supported by this underlying technology are

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HTML5 and CSS3, plus WebKit-specific extensions

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With some careful planning, a mobile web app written using
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these standards can support a huge cross-section of the market
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* As usual, Microsoft is doing its best to be last to the party


Broad platform coverage isn’t the only consideration.

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Data security and patient privacy

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Deployment

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Internationalization and localization

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Maintenance and updatesrty
Metrics and measurement
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Usability and user experience
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Connectivity
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Patient privacy is not inherently platform-dependent

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vs.

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The protection of patient data is accomplished through software
architecture and implementation decisions

Let’s look at a few patient privacy considerations

Data typically stored on the Data typically stored on a

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user’s device remote server

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Personally identifiable Encryption required during

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information inaccessible except transmission and storage

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to device owner
A lost or stolen device has no
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A lost or stolen device can effect on privacy
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compromise privacy without
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adequate safeguards Additional safeguards required if
data is accessed by a HIPAA
covered entity


Mobile web apps have a distinct advantage in ease of deployment

Distribution channel controlled Distribution channel controlled

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by platform manufacturer by app manufacturer

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Distribution channel is well App is accessed directly to users

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known and understood by users with no app store required

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App store features — such as Native wrappers can provide app
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user comments — are store presence if desired
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immutable
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App store review processes can
be time-consuming


Global rollouts can be a headache

The typical structure of pharma companies’ legal entities poses
problems for the distribution of native apps

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Global rollouts can be a headache

Mobile web apps may offer a remedy

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Let’s look at some global rollout considerations

Requires separate app store Single app instance can treat

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account for each local operating i18n and l10n like traditional

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entity web approach

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Each market is a distinct app Users can seamlessly move from

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one market to another
Issues with users who move from
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one market to another Unified reporting and analytics
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with direct market comparisons
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Without a sophisticated build
process, updates across markets
are time-consuming


Maintenance and updates can have legal and regulatory
implications

Update Submit Wait Approval Listing

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Optional download
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Maintenance and updates can have legal and regulatory
implications

Update Deploy

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User accesses latest

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Maintenance and updates

Even minor updates require a Updates immediately available

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new build, app store submission, when user accesses app

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and review

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User is guaranteed to access

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Emergency updates mandated latest version

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by regulatory are beholden to
the app store process Updates do not require
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significant advance planning
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No guarantee that user will
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download the updated version Updates applicable to multiple
locales are automatically
Becomes even more difficult available
with apps in multiple markets


Metrics and measurement

Requires the use of custom tools Tagged using similar methods to

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to collect usage data from apps websites

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Events and anonymous data to Aggregate reports based on user

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be collected must be planned in data can be defined any time

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advance
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Can a mobile web app approximate the native app experience?

Native apps — particularly iOS No specific interface standards

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apps — are known for their

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smooth, consistent use of Mobile web apps can look and

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interface elements feel just like native apps

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In other words, iOS apps always Public libraries such as Sencha
look like iOS apps Touch and jQuery Mobile
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Android apps often look like Agency libraries
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Android apps (and getting
better) Custom development

BlackBerry apps... let’s not talk
about BlackBerry apps


How does availability of connectivity impact the decision?

Can be developed to be Require connectivity at least for

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completely disconnected (with a initial access

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few exceptions)

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Generally work better when

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Connectivity still required for connectivity is available

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measurement
Can use features of HTML5 to
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Connectivity may be desired to handle disconnection
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always load most recent ISI and transparently
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PI


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There are circumstances that point strongly towards either a

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native app or a mobile web app
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Select with certainty

Choose a native app when...
You need access to the device hardware, such as the camera(s) or the

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accelerometer

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You need to interface with external hardware, such as a blood pressure cuff

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or a blood glucose monitor or an autoinjector

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Your features must work without connectivity at all times, such as an app
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that provides information in an emergency scenario
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Select with certainty

Choose a mobile web app when...
You need the broadest platform support possible

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You need to control the distribution channel

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Your users must have the latest content and features available for

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regulatory and/or legal reasons
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Platform selection is just one element of a mobile app design

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and development approach

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Thank you!

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For more about our mobile solutions, please visit us at

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thelathe.com

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Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @thelathe
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The Lathe

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The Lathe helps companies utilize web and

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mobile technologies to connect patients,
caregivers, and professionals to support improved
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outcomes.
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Bio

Seth Perlman, President

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sperlman@thelathe.com

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+1 646-291-6490 / +1 646-528-5755 m

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http://www.linkedin.com/in/sperlman

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Seth has more than 17 years of web development experience

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for hundreds of clients, from design and implementation to
technical leadership to executive management. He has spent
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the past 8 years focused on healthcare and pharmaceuticals
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since founding The Lathe in 2003.
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Most recently Seth has focused on mHealth and the
,
application of mobile technology (apps, web apps) to the
needs of patients, caregivers, and healthcare professionals.


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