Great Advice on App Building

What Mobile App Developers Should Avoid

Dan Woods, 10.26.10, 06:00 AM EDT

An experienced developer of mobile applications on 10 mistakes to avoid.

Last week I fired a warning shot aimed at anyone who was seeking to rush into mobilizing applications ("Heed This About Your Mobility Strategy.") My advice was simple: Mobility is exciting. Go slow. Assume you really don't understand what you need. Do experiments to find out.

This week, with the help of John Barnes, chief technology officer of Model Metrics, I will show exactly how you can avoid wasting money when you sit down to bring applications to your mobile workforce. Chicago-based Model Metrics focuses on deploying Salesforce.com ( CRM - news - people ) and related cloud-based technologies. Increasingly the company has found customers seeking to mobilize their applications. I asked Barnes to codify what he has learned in creating mobile applications in a top 10 list of most common mistakes:

1. Developing an application without keeping the end user in mind. Many times an app is developed based on what we think should work, not how the end user (field rep, etc.) will use it in the real world. It is not a mystery to find out how the end user feels. Ask him or her, or better yet, do a simple app and let users try it out.

2. Developing only for a specific form factor. Developing apps that are specific only to a touch-screen device, for example, means you miss some advantages that may not be offered in a platform like navigation controls or text entry. Try to think about how an app will perform across multiple devices, and make sure your design leaves room to accommodate different form factors.

3. Developing for a specific screen size. We've seen the periscope-like presentation of iPhone apps on the iPad. The same is true of Android Apps that haven't been developed properly to scale beyond one screen size. Mobility is no longer only about a phone. Make sure to think through how your apps will grow or shrink as the device changes.

4. Making color choices without careful consideration.Remember when Wired magazine first launched, and illegibility was a design trend? Those days are over. Design should include color choices that work in environments with different light and displays: sunlight, nighttime, dark room, etc. Clarity first. Beauty second.

5. Ignoring scalability and integration needs.Apps should be easily scalable and able to integrate with other systems as well as native APIs. Often apps must be created quickly to meet a need, but when new functionality is required, it can mean a lot of re-work if extensibility wasn't given attention in the original design.

6. Confusing the development environment with the real world. When apps are not tested on the devices sufficiently, surprise memory and performance issues arise when an app is launched. One big issue: development still happens on the PC, where memory (RAM) is cheap. But on the mobile device, where the app lives, memory is a precious commodity. In addition, users expect performance to mirror the desktop or laptop, and if an app doesn't work smoothly, it's often abandoned.

7. Doing too much. A mobile app shouldn't do everything. Better to be focused on very specific uses with an intuitive user interface to match. Mobile app stories are full of applications that have a narrow focus. They succeed because they do one thing well. Before planning a massive integration, launch each thing as a separate app and wait and see if integration into one app makes sense.

8. Poor design. Many apps look different across screens and even mobile platforms. For enterprise use the experience must be consistent, whether it's on RIM ( RIMM - news - people ), Android, iPhone or a tablet. For example, an app for signature capture needs to work on both small and large screens. Using native graphical user interface elements in design also helps with consistent performance, look and feel.

9. Different experience across devices. If you use Skype on a PC and then switch to the Mac client, you are in a different world. It is downright annoying to have to suffer through multiple user experiences. If functionality is not consistent across devices--Windows Mobile, iPhone, BlackBerry and so on--it can cause confusion and even frustration for end users or companies who choose a device and find functionality different or less than "as advertised."

10. Not taking advantage of available mobile functionality.Sometimes apps are built just for the sake of claiming they're mobile, without taking real advantage of mobile capabilities like GPS for route planning or calendar integration, critical features for the B2B space. Mobile access is a good first step, but don't forget true mobile enablement, which means extending the application to do more than it can on the desktop.

These tips come from the real world of mobile development. I suspect keeping them in mind will save you time and money as you begin your journey toward mobility for your business applications.