UNIT IV MOBILE HCI

Mobile Ecosystem: Platforms, Application frameworks- Types of Mobile Applications:

Widgets, Applications, Games- Mobile Information Architecture, Mobile 2.0, Mobile Design:
Elements of Mobile Design, Tools.
MOBILE
ECOSYSTEM
• The Internet is actually a complex ecosystem
made up of many parts that must all work
together seamlessly.
• Mobile is an entirely unique ecosystem and,
like the Internet, it is made up of many different
parts that must all work seamlessly together.
MOBILE ECOSYSTEM -
LAYERS
MOBILE ECOSYSTEM -
LAYERS
• Operators
▫ The base layer in the mobile ecosystem is the
operator.
▫ Operators can be referred to as Mobile Network
Operators (MNOs); mobile service providers,
wireless carriers, or simply carriers; mobile phone
operators; or cellular companies
▫ Operators are what essentially make the entire
mobile ecosystem work. They are the gatekeepers
to the kingdom
MOBILE ECOSYSTEM -
LAYERS
▫ They install cellular towers, operate the cellular
network, make services (such as the Internet)
available for mobile subscribers, and they often
maintain relationships with the subscribers,
handling billing and support, and offering
subsidized device sales and a network of retail
stores.
▫ The operator’s role in the ecosystem is to create
and maintain a specific set of wireless services
over a reliable cellular network
MOBILE ECOSYSTEM -
LAYERS
• Networks
▫ Operators operate wireless networks. Remember
that cellular technology is just a radio that receives
a signal from an antenna. The type of radio and
antenna determines the capability of the network
and the services you can enable on it.
MOBILE ECOSYSTEM -
LAYERS
Mobile devices around the world Breakdown of devices
Platfor
ms
• A mobile platform’s primary duty is to provide
access to the devices
• To run software and services on each of these
devices, you need a platform, or a core
programming language in which all of your
software is written.
• Like all software platforms, these are split into
three categories: licensed, proprietary, and open
source
Platforms -
Licensed
• Licensed platforms are sold to device makers for
nonexclusive distribution on devices.
• The goal is to create a common platform of
development Application Programming Interfaces
(APIs)
• Following are the licensed platforms:
▫ Java Micro Edition (Java ME)
▫ Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless
(BREW)
▫ Windows Mobile
▫ LiMo
Platforms -
Proprietary
• Proprietary platforms are designed and developed
by device makers for use on their devices
• They are not available for use by competing device
makers
• They include
▫ Palm
▫ BlackBerry
▫ iPhone

.
Platforms - Open
Source
• Open source platforms are mobile platforms that
are freely available for users to download, alter,
and edit.
• Open source mobile platforms are newer and
slightly controversial, but they are increasingly
gaining traction with device makers and
developers
• Android is one of these platforms. It is
developed by the Open Handset Alliance, which
is spearheaded by Google
Application
Frameworks
• Application frameworks often run on top of
operating systems, sharing core services such as
communications, messaging, graphics,
location, security, authentication, and many
others.
• They are
▫ Java, S60, BREW, Flash Lite, Windows Mobile,
▫ Cocoa Touch, Android SDK, Web Runtimes
(WRTs), WebKit, The Web
Application
Frameworks
• Application frameworks are used to create
applications, such as a game, a web browser, a
camera, or media player.
• Although the frameworks are well
standardized.
• The largest challenge of deploying applications is
knowing the specific device attributes and
capabilities.
Application
Frameworks
• A common alternative these days is creating
applications for only one platform, such as the
iPhone or Android
• By minimizing the number of platforms the
developer has to support and utilizing modern
application frameworks.
• The time and cost of creation go down
significantly
Types of Mobile
Applications
• Mobile Application Medium Types
▫ SMS
▫ Mobile Websites
▫ Mobile Web Widgets
▫ Mobile Web Applications
▫ Native Applications
▫ Games
▫ Mobile Application Media Matrix
▫ Application Context
▫ Utility Context
▫ Locale Context
▫ Informative Applications
▫ Productivity Application Context
▫ Immersive Full-Screen
Applications
▫ Application Context Matrix
MOBILE WEB WIDGETS
 Mobile Web Widgets
▫ Largely in response to the poor experience
provided by the mobile web over the years, there
has been a growing movement to establish mobile
widget frameworks and platforms.
▫ A mobile web widget is a standalone chunk of
HTML-based code that is executed by the end user
in a particular way.
Mobile Web
Widgets

Figure 6-4. An example mobile web widget

Mobile Web
Widgets
▫ Basically, mobile web widgets are small web
applications that can’t run by themselves;
▫ They need to be executed on top of
something else
▫ Opera Widgets, Nokia Web RunTime (WRT),
Yahoo! Blueprint, and Adobe Flash Lite are all
examples of widget platforms that work on a
number of mobile handsets
Mobile Web
Widgets
• Pros
▫ The pros of mobile web widgets are:
▫ They are easy to create, using basic HTML, CSS,
and JavaScript knowledge.
▫ They can be simple to deploy across multiple
handsets.
▫ They offer an improved user experience and a richer design,
tapping into device features and offline use.
• Cons
▫ The cons of mobile web widgets are:
▫ They typically require a compatible widget platform to be
installed on the device.
▫ They cannot run in any mobile web browser.
▫ They require learning additional proprietary, non-web-
standard technique
Game
s
• The final mobile medium is games, the most
popular of all media available to mobile devices.
• Technically games are really just native
applications that use the similar platform SDKs
to create immersive experiences
• The reason games are relatively easy to port
(“relatively” being the key word), is that the bulk
of the gaming experience is in the graphics and
actually uses very little of the device APIs.
Game
s
 Pros
▫ The pros of game applications are:
▫ They provide a simple and easy way to create an
immersive experience.
▫ They can be ported to multiple devices
relatively easily.
 Cons
▫ The cons of game applications are:
▫ They can be costly to develop as an original game
title.
▫ They cannot easily be ported to the mobile web
Mobile Information
Architecture
• What Is Information Architecture?
▫ The structural design of shared information
environments
▫ The combination of organizations,
labeling, search,
and navigation systems within websites and
intranets
▫ The art and science of shaping information products
and experiences to support usability and findability
▫ An emerging discipline and community of practice
focused on bringing principles of design and
architecture to the digital landscape
Mobile Information
Architecture
• Facets of information architecture
▫ Information architecture
▫ Interaction design
▫ Information design
▫ Navigation design
▫ Interface design
Mobile Information
Architecture
• Characteristics of Mobile Information
Architecture
▫ Keeping It Simple
▫ Site Maps
▫ Clickstreams
▫ Wireframes
▫ Prototyping
▫ Different Information Architecture for Different
Devices
Mobile
2.0
• Mobile 2.0,” borrowing from many of the same
principles behind Web 2.0.
• Each of these principles serves to transform the
Web into a more agile and user-centered
medium for delivering information to the
masses.
• Mobile development, under the bottlenecks of
device fragmentation and operator control, is
sorely in need of a little reinvention as well.
Mobile
2.0
• Following is a recap of the original seven
principles of Web 2.0:
▫ The Web as a platform
▫ Harnessing collective intelligence
▫ Data is the next Intel inside
▫ End of the software release cycle
▫ Lightweight programming models
▫ Software above the level of a single
device
▫ Rich user experiences
Mobile
2.0
• Characteristics of Mobile 2.0
▫ The Convergence of the Web and Mobile
▫ The Mobile Web Browser As the Next Killer
App
▫ Mobile Web Applications Are the Future
▫ JavaScript Is the Next Frontier
▫ The Mobile User Experience Is Awful
▫ Mobile Widgets Are the Next Big Thing
▫ Carrier Is the New “C” Word
▫ Mobile Needs to Check Its Ego
▫ We Are Creators, Not Consumers
Mobile Design: Elements of Mobile Design, Tools

• Interpreting Design
▫ The Mobile Design Tent-Pole
▫ Designing for the Best Possible
Experience
The Elements of Mobile Design
• Context
• Message
• Look and Feel
• Layout
• Color
• Typography
• Graphics
Mobile Design
Tools
• Mobile design requires understanding the design
elements and specific tools
• The closest thing to a common design tool is
Adobe Photoshop, though each framework has a
different method of implementing the design
into the application.
• Some frameworks provide a complete interface
toolkit, allowing designers or developers to
simply piece together the interface
Mobile Design
Tools
• Designing for the Right Device
▫ Now is the time to ask
▫ What device suits this design best?
▫ What market niche would appreciate it
most?
▫ What devices are the most popular within that
niche?
Mobile Design
Tools
• Designing for Different Screen Sizes
▫ Mobile devices come in all shapes and sizes
▫ It can be incredibly difficult to create that best
possible experience for a plethora of different
screen sizes.
▫ How you design each screen of content depends
on the scope of devices you look to support
▫ The good news is that the vast majority of mobile
device screens share the same vertical or
Portrait orientation
Designing for Different Screen Sizes