How's your mobile experience?

Are you satisfied with the experience of accessing your most used apps across multiple devices?

I'm not sure I am.

eMarketer estimates there will be over 2 billion smartphone users by 2016. If developers aren't focusing on device neutrality when creating apps for those devices then users are going to go elsewhere.  An effective mobile experience delivers content smoothly and synchronises across devices seamlessly.

On a typical day, I check content across a variety of platforms: desktop, laptop, tablet, mobile phone and increasingly, a smartwatch.  What I expect from each of those platforms is the same ease of use, legibility, interaction and smooth functionality. And yet, many of my most commonly used apps deliver anything but:

I have a persistent DM in my Twitter account which pops up every single time I turn my tablet on. I dismissed the message weeks ago when using my laptop, it never appears there or on any of my other devices. But in the notification bar of my tablet it glares defiantly at me.

I check my Facebook notifications on my mobile phone and automatically my laptop, desktop and tablet interfaces keep up. But if I read my notifications on any of those devices first, my mobile does not. Old messages are flagged as new on my phone's screen.  Even more annoyingly, those same notifications now appear in the main Facebook client as well as in the standalone (or at least not-particularly-well integrated) FB Groups, Pages and Messaging apps.

I keep up to date with industry news via an RSS feeder, but no matter how many times I tell it I've read all the content it bundled for me before my morning commute, it insists I have to read it all again when I arrive at my desk.

We should be able to move from one device to another and the iterations of the same software that we use across those devices ought to be able to keep up with our activity. Isn't that the whole point? To get the information we need in a convenient, up to date way, irrespective of where we access it from?

In its white paper "Creating a Compelling User Experience", IBM highlights three fundamental tenets that should underlie all system interactions:

• First impression – the instinctive reaction to the design; its aesthetics, touch and general feel
• Usage of the functional solution; the ease of understanding, conducting and completing the application corresponding to its intended purpose
• Enduring impact; the users continuing feelings and perceptions of the solution.

Seems obvious, right? How it looks, how it works and how it makes you feel. But if I look at many of the apps on my desktop, I tempted to believe that the coders have approached the problem from the point of view of "We've got to get this thing mobilised, what's the easiest way to do it".

If apps aren't built with the user experience at their heart, then users are simply going to look elsewhere.

Connected devices demand data here and now.

The evolution of mobile technology has enabled us to access our digital world, be it personal or enterprise, whenever we want and, increasingly with the advent of wearables and other connected devices, wherever we want.

Retro-cool

Smartphones and tablets have been with us for a surprisingly short time.  I bought my first smartphone a little over 5 years ago; before that I had a succession of PDAs going back to the first generation Palm Pilot back in the mid-1990s. But while the PDA experience was largely a disconnected one. The smartphone as we now know it has been with us for barely a decade and in that time our expectations for what such devices can deliver have grown.

Now we each have in our pockets a device which enables us to access everything from last night's television to the most sensitive of corporate data.  All available on one screen via a few swipes and taps.

I'm old enough to remember the 14.4k modem which came with my old Palm Pilot (which, by the way, still works perfectly). It was perfectly normal to wait minutes for emails to find their way over the landline connection, and beyond that there wasn't really a great deal of data to ship around. But today's generation smart devices bring with them an expectation. If I can't pull up what I want instantaneously, I lose patience and then, rapidly, interest.

Being "always on" brings an expectation that data be instantly accessible. The end-user cares not that the content our apps have to manage comes from a variety of sources, enterprise, cloud and device-sourced. The key is to enable our systems to seamlessly manage every one of those sources to deliver a real-time experience. And that's a challenge of significant proportions.

Today's apps must source the data required from multiple sources, process and analyse it and deliver the required content or insight. And they need to do it seamlessly and instantaneously. Database as a Service (DBaaS) offerings like Cloudant are already delivering on that promise, DBaaS enables instant provisioning of the data layer, together with guaranteed levels of data layer performance and up time.

“A good data layer is one that you barely notice is there, and working with the big data experts at Cloudant has made that a reality for all our Big Win Sports titles.”

Joel DeYoung, Director of Technology, Hothead Games

In a world where we want data wherever, whenever mobile devices and every layer therein increasingly have to respond with HERE and NOW. Can your systems do that? With DBaaS, they could.

Wearables: evolution not revolution

The smart watch is fast becoming the must-have gadget for the tech-savvy and with it comes a new age of computing: wearables.  Analysts estimate that almost 20% of the current market for smart device development is accounted for by wearable technology.

The growth in wearable technology is the natural next step in the evolution of computing.  We've gone from shared computing, through personal, portable and mobile to devices which perform a particular function or set of functions specifically for the individual and which are based on the particular preferences of that individual; intimate computing.  So, while some gadget freaks want the world accessible from their wrist or their glasses, others may choose to manage or monitor certain functions via discrete devices like the Fitbit or smart meters to monitor bodily functions or environmental hazards. The wearable is a new paradigm for computing and we are already starting to see as many types of wearable as their are perceived uses for them.

The move towards intimacy in technology is, of course, nothing new.  Early forms of mass transportation led us to the motor car, the motorcycle and initiatives (which, let's be honest, weren't the resounding success they could have been) like the Sinclair C5 and Segway.  The public clock in the town square led us to clocks in our homes, then later the pocket- and wristwatch.  The same model of falling costs, increasing sophistication, mass production and personalisation applies to almost every device we rely on in our everyday lives.

But what makes an effective wearable?  It all boils down to three factors: Context, Insight and Action:

Context: What is my situation?
  - Where I am, how I am, what data is specific to my current situation.

Insight: How can that data be applied?
 - What the data gathered from my situation means and what can be extrapolated from that meaning.

Action: How can I act on the insights derived from my data?
- If I understand the specifics of my situation then what interventions are available to me?

We're already seeing wearables which effectively address these three factors, even if the current trend in smartwatches - the devices helping to push wearables into the mainstream - is as much a fashion statement as a desire to improve quality of life.  As wearables become less about "look what I've got" and more about "look what I can do better" then we will see much greater specialism in the devices themselves.

Why, for example, push buttons on my phone to control my television, or advance my powerpoint slide when the Myo smartband can interpret my gestures?  Why bother with remote control when you can run Siri or Google Now on a smart device ? Why even look at my satnav when my wrist gives me turn by turn directions through a series of vibrations?  All these applications are commonly available now and while they may offer only the most basic of functions they have tremendous potential.

But what's really exciting is if we look beyond the consumer to enterprise applications.  IBM's Watson Health takes the kind of data you're already tracking via your phone or smartwatch and infuses it with analytics and cognitive computing to generate a personalised view of one's health. Aggregating and analysing data from users in the cloud enables new insights to be unlocked  - disease markers can be tracked, trends in diet or exercise can be extrapolated and our understanding of how our bodies work becomes vastly enhanced.  The wearable is not just the point of data capture it also delivers personal insights and guidance to the individual; Big Data becomes personal insight.

There are similar applications in other industries; insurance companies are able to deliver personalised services based on each user's individual habits, rather than broad demographics.  In relief efforts around the world, hazardous environments can be monitored and the movements of relief workers co-ordinated to ensure maximum safety and impact.  Scanning technology is giving way to devices as small as Motorola's ring scanner; a highly portable solution which boosts productivity by enabling workers to scan paperwork or materials on the go.

The era of intimate computing connects man to machine whenever and wherever is required.   Wearable tech should be intuitive, rather than intrusive; it should enhance one's journey through life, making things a easier, safer, more controllable - smarter.

The cost of a bad app

Revisiting my earlier, "How's your mobile experience," Forrester's "Good Apps, Bad Apps: The Cost Of Creating Exceptional Mobile Moments Through Mobile Apps" give a clear insight into the apps market and the lessons being learned by developers - often hard lessons. There's much in that report that is worth digesting, but while I'm still on my hobby horse about apps that have annoyed or impressed me of late (there are many), I'm just going to look at five areas that Forrester call out.

1. When it comes to apps, it's a user's market.
If an app doesn't give a user what they want, they'll look elsewhere for one that does.  Or, from personal experience, they won't bother at all.  I tried using my bank's mobile app some time ago and frustrated by the experience of having to continually re-input and re-select data from one screen to the next, I reverted to their website interface. Entering text on a mobile is not an exact science, particularly when you've got clumsy great digits like I have.  The interface and requirement for user interaction should be simple and intuitive.

2. Successful apps give users "mobile moments".
The experience of using an app should combine functionality and performance at the right time. So, if I decide to give my bank another try at getting it right (which won't be anytime soon, but let's go with that for now), their app should deliver the information I want in such a way that is tailored to my mobile experience. The mobile interface and the way content is delivered to and presented through will decide whether users come back for more.

Another example of this was when I tried to book tickets via my mobile.  The pop-up keyboard completely obscured the box I was trying to fill out, so I was left blindly trying to input my credit card number. All the while, the number of available tickets was shrinking fast. I got there in the end but my mobile moment in using that app was one of frustration and just maybe a little bit shouty.

On the other hand, consider something like National Rail's app, which is tailored beautifully for the smaller screen. Data can be input simply, responses are delivered in a quick, fun and friendly way and the experience of discovering my train has just been cancelled is improved considerably.

3. Mobile development is maturing, with both investment and use still subject to experimentation.
With over 1.5 billion smartphones in operation, enterprises know that if they want to reach customers, they need to have an app.  It's important to invest the time and money required to develop an app which engages the user, delivers what they want and helps them to do whatever it is the app helps them do, better.  But of course they don't always get it right first time. Few rarely do.  What matters though, is giving the user a worthwhile experience from the first iteration. It doesn't have to offer everything the enterprise aspires to do via its app, but it must at least perform a core set of functions and do it well.

I'm a staunch supporter of the Pebble smartwatch. Now Pebble were a small start-up who found themselves overwhelmed with orders thanks to two hugely successful Kickstarter campaigns. They came close to becoming a victim of their own success on several fronts, not least with the phone-based app they developed to manage the data to and from the watch. The first generation watch didn't even have an app for many months after it was launched. And when it did finally come along, it was iOS only - the Android version was some months behind.  A couple of years and many versions later they still haven't got it 100% right - the app is sometimes slow to respond, not always as intuitive as it should be and updated functionality seems slow to arrive at times.

But every iteration of the app has delivered what was promised. It works, it manages the watch effectively and it's a useful front-end to the bewildering variety of watchfaces and apps that the watch can run.  And it did all of those things from day one.

Pepsi's Amp Up app

4. There are significant benefits to getting an app right and they're not just the ones you might think of.  When a customer is happy with their mobile experience they will come back for more. An app that works, that delivers a good experience engages the user. And an engaged user has the potential to become an advocate for the enterprise as well as improving their productivity.  The two most popular app stores, Apple's and Google's, enable purchasers to leave instant and public feedback on the software they download - and that feedback affects the brand of the app developer.  But

Pepsi's Amp Up Before you Score app, released in the distant past that is now 2009, was a game aimed at men designed to help them pick up one of 24 in-game female stereotypes.

I know, right? Needless to say there was an entirely justified outcry from consumers and media, alike, and the app was quietly pulled.  Read The Guardian's article on that whole sorry affair.

5. Understand your cost drivers and how to manage them
A comprehensive understanding of the cost drivers behind your app can mean the difference between saving up to 10% on development costs or doubling them.  How does the app fit into the enterprise's overall strategy; what does the enterprise hope to gain from the app, how will it simplify customer or employee interactions, what is its planned impact on productivity, what resources are available

It all comes down to the question of why the app is being created and how it fits into your business model.  And when bearing those elements in mind, the prime concern is how all of this makes the life of your user or your employee just that little bit better.

A side effect of the mobile, always-on experience is that our attention spans have shrunk. The app user needs to be able to get what they want quickly and with no fuss.  Therefore, an effective app must balance form against function. Complex data and processing must be represented in a highly simplistic, intuitive way. That's a challenge, but it's one the enterprise must face up to.  A bad experience on the part of the user means they will be reluctant to go back for a second try.

Pebble Time - A very smart watch

Wearable tech is very much in its infancy but it's a market that looks set to explode over the next few years. Gartner estimates that the market for wearables will be worth in excess of $12bn by 2020 and presently most of the growth in that market is spearheaded by the smart watch. Attracted as I am by shiny things, I became a smart watch early adopter when, a couple of years ago I was given for Christmas a Pebble smartwatch.

The bright red, shiny plastic bezel and rubber strap looked anything other than smart, I'll freely admit, but the Pebble quickly became an essential part of my everyday life. So, when Pebble announced earlier this year that they were aiming to launch a new, colour version with enhanced features, I quickly became one of the 78,000 backers who funded Kickstarter's biggest ever project, raising over $20M.

My Pebble Time was delivered a little over a month ago, and it's everything I hoped for and more. Like its predecessor, the Time is no flashy, attention-seeking miniaturised mobile phone with a strap glued to its back. It is, first and foremost, a watch. It looks pretty unremarkable and it tells the time. But its benefits are subtle and numerous. Press a button and the Timeline pops up with a friendly animation, displaying information essential to my day - upcoming appointments, weather updates, news headlines and which of my favourite TV shows are on tonight are just a few of the delights to be found there. The Time also runs apps, of course - I can control my music player, my PC, my TV with it. I can see exactly how late my train home is going to be, how quickly I can get a cab instead, how much I'm likely to pay for it and then book it via the watch. I can decide which restaurants to take the family to and then discover which of my choices has offended the least amount of customers in recent months. I can play games, send messages, update my fitness record (or not, given my current state). I can do all this and more.

But, and it is a crucial "but" for me when using mobile technology, I can do all of that on my terms.

The Pebble Time is a masterpiece of functionality. It doesn't constantly demand attention; I don't spend most of my day pushing buttons, squinting at the screen or shouting into the microphone. Better still, I don't spend every waking hour worrying how much battery life it has left. A single charge gives me a week of normal use. Yes, that's right - a week. While I religiously plug in my phone and tablet every night, I don't bother with the Pebble until it tells me to with another cute animation. Even then, it has a magical ability to keep on running for days even when the battery reads 0%. The good people at Pebble watched Kramer in Seinfeld's "The Dealership" and thought "Yep".

I use the Pebble Time when I have reason to and I know that when I need to use it, it's not going to conk out on me through lack of power. That's exactly what I want out of a smart watch. It's an addition, an enhancement to my lifestyle and an extension to my phone, rather than a replacement.

For those reasons it's the classiest gadget I own.

Smile for the camera

My wife asked me the other day whether I could print out a particular picture of our eldest child that she could use in her end of term project at school.

"No problem," I thought - I've been diligently saving all our pictures over the years.  Three days later and I'm no closer to finding it than I was when I started.

Every two minutes, we take more photographs than were taken in total during the 1800s.  Indeed, it is estimated that in 2015, the human race will take one trillion photographs.

Our generation has become the most documented in history. We are more instrumented and interconnected than ever and as the power and ease of use of mobile technology grows, the amount of thought we invest in how we use it diminishes.  There's probably an offshoot of Moore's Law to describe that.

Photography is one of the most important means of documenting our history but is the proliferation of photography in the digital age helping us to document our lives better than ever before or are we devaluing them through sheer volume? How will future generations look upon us based on our digital footprint? Will they see a species in thrall to mildly amusing cats? Earlier this year, Google's Vint Cerf, pointed towards a more disturbing scenario.

As the simplicity with which we preserve our memories evolves, Cerf maintains that there's a real danger our generation is rushing towards a dark age, as the software and systems we rely on to preserve our lives become obsolete, taking our treasured data with them.

"We stand to lose a lot of our history. If you think about the quantity of documentation from our daily lives which is captured in digital form, like our interactions by email, people's tweets, all of the world wide web, then if you wanted to see what was on the web in 1994 you'd have trouble doing that. A lot of the stuff disappears."

I recall my first digital camera, sometime in the mid-1990s. Back then, CDROMs were the preferred way of archiving and I diligently saved and backed up all those early, now laughably low-res images to disc. Inevitably, many of those discs have degenerated and, along with them, the backups I made, just to be sure.

As time progressed, I began uploading to photo-sharing sites - sites whose names I can no longer recall, let alone remember the last password I used or the email address my account was registered to.

It seems unimaginable that social networks like Facebook or Twitter will fade into obscurity, but didn't we think the same about Friends Reunited or myspace back when they were the latest thing? Come to think of it, I'm sure I've got material uploaded to both of those. Inevitably, a quick check to see if they're still around (they are, but they're in a sorry state) is accompanied by the sinking feeling that my accounts on both were registered to a domain name I no longer own.

The solution? Cerf says we should print out the photos and documents we deem most valuable, just like we used to. In a digital world, it seems good old analogue is the safest way of future-proofing that we hold dear.

So that's what I'll do. Once I've waded through the thousands upon thousands of images I have backed up to my Facebook, Twitter, Dropbox, Google+ and Amazon Prime accounts. There appears to be some level of synching between all of those but how can I be sure I'm not missing out on important private memories that I chose not to share online? No problem; I have archived those on an array of hard drives...in their thousands.

If I want to preserve my most precious memories I'm going to have to invest a considerable amount of time organising and prioritising them. And all the while I'm generating more images every day.  The photo gallery on my mobile currently contains 418 photographs. Now, I'm relatively disciplined when it comes to housekeeping on my phone and a quick check reveals that I last wiped my camera gallery 23 days ago.

Of the 418 photos, then, that I've taken in the last 23 days, which would I consider worth keeping? And what criteria would I apply to make that decision? I'm renovating my house at the moment, so the pictures I'm planning to construct into a time-lapse are certainly of value for the moment. I could probably lose most of the photos of my cat - as amusing as they are in the moment, I don't really need 50+ pictures of her, mostly taken as I await that supposedly spontaneous silliness. Pictures of friends and family are naturally more important but do I really need every moment of that party the other weekend captured for posterity?  How can I be sure that the pictures I hold dear now are truly important or simply being kept because it's easier than it is to spend the time to categorise and validate them?

In the 30 minutes it's taken to write this blog, 7.5 million photographs have been uploaded to Instagram.  And I'm certain that none of those are the one I'm looking for, either.