Suzanne Ginsburg discusses strategies for addressing the fragmentation in smartphone app development, distinguishing between web and native apps. She outlines considerations for designers, such as the need for device access, multitasking, and monetization strategies, and presents three approaches: the 'one trick pony', 'o.k. corral', and 'trojan horse'. The talk emphasizes the importance of understanding user needs and platform differences while considering both native and web app options.

1. © 2010 Ginsburg Design
Wrangling apps in the Smartphone
Wild West
@suzanneginsburg

2. © 2010 Ginsburg Design
About the speaker:
Suzanne Ginsburg is a user experience
consultant and author of Designing the
iPhone User Experience. Visit her company
web site to learn more:
www.ginsburg-design.com

3. © 2010 Ginsburg Design
Why this talk:
The goal of this talk is to present
alternative ways to address the growing
fragmentation in the smartphone app
world.

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Structure of talk:
We’ll start out discussing “web” apps
then dive into “native” apps.

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Differences between “native” & “web”
apps :
- Web apps are accessed via the browser &
updated automatically (from user’s perspective)
- Native apps are downloaded & updates must
also be downloaded.
- Native apps have greater access to the device
hardware & content (as is stands today.)

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Now let’s get started…

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In July 2008, Apple released an API that
enabled iPhone developers to create
“native” apps. Along with this API
came the App Store.

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For a short time, Apple was the only
major smartphone app store in town.

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Innovation was
off the charts.
Hundreds of apps
were approved
each day.

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Soon enough, others joined the app game.
Android Market (October 2008)
Blackberry App World (April 2009)
Windows 7 (October 2010)
More exist & more are coming…

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Designers started to fret. Would they
have to design their apps twice, three
times, four times, or more?

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What’s a smartphone app designer
to do?

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First of all, figure out if you really need
to create a “native” app. Here are some
questions to help you out…

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#1. What problem are you trying to
solve?
(Let’s assume you’ve conducted upfront user research—
shadowing, diary studies, field interviews, etc.—to help
answer this question.)

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Unless your solution requires OpenGL
(Graphics Library), hardware access (e.g.,
sensors), or device content (e.g., photos)
you may not need a native app.
Web apps can store data offline, access
GPS info & more enhancements are
coming.

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Offline access (Gmail) GPS (prop.erti.es) Game (BeatTouch)
Web App Examples:

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You may be thinking, “But my app won’t
be discoverable if it’s on the web!”
There are more than 300K apps in
Apple’s App Store. It ain’t easy to stand
out anymore.

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Cornell University Disney Web Radio
Improving Web App Access (post discovery phase):

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#2. Does your app require multi-tasking
support?

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Listen to music (Pandora) Upload photos (Flickr) Take calls (Skype)
Multi-Tasking Examples:

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If you’d like to take advantage of multi-
tasking, as it stands today, you’ll need to
create a native app (iOS or Android).

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#3. What is your monetization strategy?

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If you’re planning to
offer subscriptions
or one-time
payments, it may be
more profitable to
sell a native app.
Drop-off rates tend
to be higher for web
app purchases.

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To summarize, if you need device access,
multi-tasking, or micropayments, in most
cases you’ll want to create a native app.

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So what now?

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You have at least 3 options to consider:
1. The One Trick Pony
2. The O.K. Corral
3. The Trojan Horse

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# 1. The One Trick Pony

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With the One Trick Pony, you
may decide to design your app
for just one native platform.
This may make sense if your user
base is primarily on one platform,
or must-have features are only on
that platform.

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Convertbot Voices Smule
One Trick Pony Examples:

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What you need to do:
- Learn the UI guidelines for the OS.
- Read the device’s technical specs.
- Explore related apps in depth.
- Sketch, prototype & test, lots!

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UI Guidelines:
http://docs.blackberry.com/en/developers/deliverables/17965/
Designing_applications_for_BlackBerry_devices_1017063_11.jsp
http://create.msdn.com/en-US/http://create.msdn.com/en-US/
http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/#documentation/userexperience/
conceptual/mobilehig/Introduction/Introduction.html
http://developer.android.com/guide/practices/ui_guidelines/index.html
http://www.slideshare.net/AndroidDev/android-ui-design-tips

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Sketching for different smartphone
platforms is essentially the same except
some may incorporate the device more
than others (e.g., Android & Windows).

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Sketching:
Dane Petersen
Marcin Ignac
Daniel Chang

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Prototyping, on the other hand, can be
quite different between platforms since
there are many platform-specific
solutions.

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First, let’s look at some platform
agnostic solutions…

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Prototyping—Platform Agnostic:
HTML (Marcin Ignac)
Keynotopia + GoodReader
Paper (Braman, Lau, Nomikos)

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Prototyping—Windows 7 Paper Prototype:
Courtesy Sara Summers

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http://johnnyholland.tv/post/1257269180/prototyping-for-elmos-monster-maker-iphone-app-
ideo
Prototyping—Video:

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And now some platform specific
solutions…

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Prototyping—Microsoft Expression Blend:
http://www.microsoft.com/showcase/en/us/details/61ed7e86-0b1c-432e-a1fb-a882f95ec250

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Prototyping—iOS:
http://www.getreviewapp.com/
http://liveview.sourceforge.net/
http://giveabrief.com/

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Prototyping—Android App Creator:
http://appinventor.googlelabs.com/about/index.html

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Go with the One Trick Pony approach if your
user base is primarily on one platform, or must-
have features are only on that platform.

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# 2. The O.K. Corral

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With the O.K. Corral
approach, you may design
your app for 2-3 flagship
platforms.
This makes sense if your users are
concentrated on a small set of
platforms (tip: look at your traffic data).

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What you need to do:
- Try to make initial sketches device agnostic.
- Then compare device & OS differences to
assess impact on user experience.

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Potential differences to keep in mind:
- Display size & resolution
- Device interaction with display
- Supported gestures
- UI Controls
- Animations
- Landscape vs. Portrait

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Device Differences: Droid X vs. iPhone 4:
3.5-inch retina display
640 x 960 resolution
1 button on front
4.3-inch display
480 x 854 resolution
4 buttons on front

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Navigation Differences

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Navigation Differences
Pivots
Tab Bar
Quick Actions

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Information Hierarchy

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Widgets

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Widgets

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Gesture Differences are also critical:
http://www.lukew.com/ff/entry.asp?1071

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Go with the O.K. Corral if your users are
on a small set of platforms & you want
to provide “pure” native experiences.

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# 3. The Trojan Horse

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With the Trojan Horse approach, you
can create web apps with native app
capabilities.
They are essentially web
apps wrapped in native
code. Also known as
“hybrid” apps.

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What you need to do:
- Determine device/OS customization.
- Choose tool to support your cross-platform
solution (could be in-house solution).

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Device/OS customization depends on:
- App genre
- Device capabilities
- Design strategy (philosophy?)

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There are a variety of “Trojan Horse”
tools. They all use HTML for layout,
JavaScript for device access, and CSS
for look & feel.

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Trojan Tools:
http://www.phonegap.com http://www.appcelerator.com/
http://www.rhomobile.com/

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Trojan Examples:
Koombea with RhoMobileJimmy Fallon with TitaniumKeyPoint with PhoneGap

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And, finally, another option to keep in
mind is to create a web app that can be
accessed via the browser.

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Web App Tools:

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Web App Example:

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You have at least 3 (4!) options to consider:
1. The One Trick Pony
2. The O.K. Corral
3. The Trojan Horse
(4. Create a web app!)

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“Courage is being
scared to death but
saddling up anyway.”
John Wayne

68. © 2010 Ginsburg Design
A special thanks to Linda Olafsdottir for her
beautiful illustrations.
And thanks to Jason Grigsby, Sara Summers,
David Kaneda, Jesse MacFayden, Jonathan
Stark, Marty Picco, & Michael Mayo for
technical advice.

69. © 2010 Ginsburg Design
How to stay in touch:
@suzanneginsburg
www.ginsburg-design.com
My book on Amazon:
http://amzn.to/9NH4RC

70. © 2010 Ginsburg Design
Thanks for coming!
Questions?