7 Practical tips to make your mobile solution work.

by Guest Posting on 2010-09-01

Major research predicts that more than 1 billion workers will be using mobile enterprise tools of some sort of another by 2011. Investing in mobility has the potential to raise productivity and quality of output.

As we’ve seen over the years putting together a mobile solution is a complex task and is beset by pitfalls that could bring your project (and career) to a grinding halt.

Here are some common mistakes and tips on how to avoid them:

1. Being Technology Pioneers
Computer technologies are here today and gone tomorrow. Stick with the tried and tested, no matter how compelling the arguments. The fact is that a good mobile solution does not need all the latest and greatest technologies. It should include the technologies that fit the business needs, and therefore should be evaluated based on requirements.

Tip: Try and avoid being the first reference of a new technology.

2. Overlooking the users.
In all the excitement of setting up and then getting caught up in the complexity of the project, often the most important element in the whole thing – the users – are overlooked.  Particularly the field workers, as they are mostly out of the office and "out of sight is out of mind."

In many cases, the field users, the ones that will eventually be most affected by the mobile computing solution, are often left out of the team that is responsible for putting together the mobile project.  Field workers are the people who know all the details and can give the most constructive feedback on what is actually happening in the field.

Tip: When setting up the team, include a strong element of field staff.  If possible, include a mixture of age, experience and people from different departments, not just the high fliers.  Workers who aren’t particularly keen on technology would be a good choice.

3. Settling on software that cannot be changed
Many older mobile solutions (or ones that were built in-house) have been designed specifically for a client.  Modern solutions however follow the platform approach where clients can take control of the system, tune it when needed, change the processes and even build new ones.

There are many mobile solutions built around development tools that allow the mobile solution to grow and change (we featured one such platform approach last month – NX Framework) , just as your organisation grows and changes.  After all, change is what competition is all about – and being competitive is the reason you’re looking at a mobile solution.

Tip: When selecting mobile software, make sure you get a solution that not only includes the end user portion, but look carefully at the configuration tools, how the administrative tools work and how flexible the integration modules are.

4. Selecting the wrong mobile device
Mobile devices are a more critical component to the success or failure of your project than desk tops are with a static solution.  They need to fit precisely into the workplace because they affect the way employees will use the system.  Often the hardware is a balance between capability and convenience.  For example: handheld terminals are much more portable than laptops and more likely to be closer to the user and constantly connected. However, laptops will allow more flexibility when using advanced applications.
Consider these factors:

   1. The working environment,
   2. The business and
   3. The mobile software.

Tip:  First consider what you want the system to do, decide the software then decide upon the hardware.  Don’t be afraid to test out different hardware.  Quality suppliers like Barcode Products Ltd can arrange for you to test a range of different hardware options.


5. Compromising on usability
Usability is probably the most important factor in any mobile solution.  Mobile devices are quite different to desktop computers.  Workers using a mobile device face a smaller keyboard (or no keyboard at all), smaller screen, no mouse and so on. Often the working environment will make using the device difficult - wet rainy weather or bright sunshine can mean the difference between a worker using the solution or not.

If the software is not working properly, or if the device is not easy to use the workers simply won’t use it.  End of project.
Filling out forms, reporting work statuses, and logging hours are considered burdensome tasks.  Minimise the amount of time and effort it takes and your project will be a success.

Tip:  Test usability, refine usability and do not compromise on it.

6. Forgetting the feedback loop
If you’ve chosen software development tools that don’t enable you to change your mobile solution, you’re missing one of the biggest opportunities out there.  Also, you’re project needs to be flexible enough to take into account lessons learned in testing.  You won’t be able to easily fix things and no scheduled time to evaluate real user feedback, will harm the success of the project.  A carefully and deliberately implemented project, which incorporates evaluation and modification to your solution may take longer – but isn’t that better than a fast implementation that doesn’t work?

Tip: Plan a project with a few phases and test with enough users in early phases to ensure you get the most feedback.

7. Expecting too much from the technologies
Looking at the humble iPhone, it’s incredible what is packed into it’s tiny case.  It's true also with it’s more industrial competitors.  GPS, multi touch screens, 3G networks, multi-GB memory, multi tasking, high def screens and super efficient battery management. Mobile technology has changed dramatically even over just a few months.

Still, there are weak areas in mobility (battery life quite often), which are yet to be solved, and sometimes it's better to lower expectations and requirements in one part of the system for the success of the entire project.

Tip: It will not be a disaster if one feature is dropped from the requirements in favour of simplicity.

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Miles Green
miles@barcodeproducts.co.nz
www.barcodeproducts.co.nz