Planning a mobile business for your case study (Lecture 8)
Written by: Jonathan Briggs
March 22, 2007 [3709 views]
This week’s session is based on your answers and questions to the last couple of activities.
Some comments on your ideas
- Make sure that you have chosen a named client and not “any university” or “a high street retailer”
- Make sure that your idea does not require a new type of phone or handset to be developed – changing the vibrate/ringtone depending on type of message is either already there or not
- Avoid the obvious such as allowing SMS to be sent from the web
- Don’t tell me general things about internet access or the importance of keeping in contact – dig deeper
- Think hard about the usabilityof the system you are proposing. Texting a store to see if an item is in stock is only possible if the customer knows the item number
- Will the customer or intended user really use (and pay to use) the system? Reporting potholes might be useful but how many people will remember to do it
- Will the customers (such as students) have sufficiently powerful devices to access the services you are proposing?
- When asked to describe what a system is for don’t tell me how it works and vice versa. You were asked to describe an application, don’t tell me how SMS works
- Telling me where something is, is not useful unless I know where I am and how to get from where I am to where I am supposed to be going
- Topping up mobiles might work but why require intervention, why not automate completely?
- Be clear about what you are writing: “it can go through the phone and get the services you like” is not clear
- Location based SMS: how would that work? Consider Bluetooth instead
- How would an application “provide information from an RFID tag into a mobile phone”?
- Avoid boiler plating: “the next generation of WAP provides a richer customer experience” – this sentence has not been processed by your mind – explain what you mean in the context of your case study
- Check to see whether the application you are describing already exists. If it does show how your client would improve/adapt it to fit their needs exactly
- I liked the one about the bus!
- Work out how your application will really work: “tell the user when a book they want is nearby”? What’s wrong with Amazon?
- GPS to locate vehicles – take care to include the full technology involved remembering the limitations of GPS
- Remember that people tracking requires consent
- Consider identity issues. Allowing people to vote by SMS is interesting but how do you prove that the person voting is entitled to vote and stop them voting twice
- Think about whether your application is really useful and whether it would save time, make money or help solve a real problem
Answers to questions you have raised
- What sort of server architecture is needed for these applications?
Most mobile applications use standard web servers linked to XML web services. Some WAP 1.0 services require a specialist gateway to compress the data being sent but these are not needed by modern version.
- How do I find out the “key technologies” for my application?
This is where all the real work is. I have provided pointers to the technologies and you need to research more. The key technologies are those that MUST be used to provide the service or application you are proposing. Think about how information flows between the service provider and the user. Think about how payment is made and how messages are sent. Think about how the information is updated.
- Do I need an agreement with the operator or network?
This depends on your application. If it is a deeply embedded service then probably yes. If the user simply accesses the service via a browser or J2ME application then perhaps not.
- What LBS technologies are available apart from “follow me” type mobile tracking services?
These are the main services available right now with standard phones but GPS and Google Maps type systems will be available soon. It is up to the operator and handset manufacturers whether the location of the phone is available to an application
- Can I use a computer to send a Bluetooth message?
Yes, if the computer is 10-15 meters from the phone. Bluetooth needs a Bluetooth device to send and receive.
- What do you mean by “consider partners”?
Most mobile businesses are facilitated in partnership with companies such as news providers, network operators, payment gateways and messaging partners (such as AQL). Consider the help you will need to deliver your application
- How do we know whether our proposal is worthwhile?
Will the end user pay? Will it save the organization money? Does the customer really want the service? Will it be easy to remember and use?
- How could I target a certain age group?
Think this through carefully. You would have to collect this information before you could launch this service. You need to build a profile of your customers and link this to their mobile identity.
- What if our application spans more than one of your areas?
Focus on one so that you have time to go into sufficient detail.
- How is information sent from a company into the mobile networks?
Information is either pulled by the mobile user (very similar to requesting a website) or pushed (messaging, WAP push) from the company. Push sends a message via a gateway (see AQL) to the phone via a network.
- How would I link a SQL database to a mobile phone application?
Strip this problem down. Think how you would connect a SQL database to a web server and then how you would connect a web server via a messaging gateway to the mobile networks.
- How can we charge for the service we deliver?
Subscription, advertising, reverse billing, sale of application and web based accounts are all mechanisms that could be used depending on the application involved. Think carefully about the one that is right for your service.
Raised by the “build a mobile site” activity
- Could Dreamweaver or Frontpage be used to create a mobile site? What tools do professional mobile designers use?
Take a look at the demo version of Abobe GoLive which has special tools for building mobile sites.
- How quickly will companies have mobile sites?
Some will move very quickly others more slowly. Mobile internet is just starting to take off but expect it to become important.
- Isn’t this just pointless until screens get bigger?
Experimentation is not pointless but some mobile sites and services will not be useful. Design some that are!
- Is there a better site to make mobile sites for free rather than mobisitegalore?
I have not found one. Keep looking.
- How would I send a text message from a mobile site?
This needs some thought. Separate the idea into pieces. Can you think about how to send SMS from a PC site? In what ways is a mobile site different?
- How would I add PHP, forms or interactivity to my mobile site?
You can’t do this with mobisitegalore but would need to build your own site. But forms and database links work in a very similar way to how they work on a normal web site.
- When is a mobile site worthwhile?
What it fulfils the needs of a mobile user. Think about extending the relationship with a customer or user. Mobile sites are rarely replacements for sites.
- What sort of information should be added to a mobile website?
The information that a user needs WHILE MOBILE
- How could you integrate the mobile site with other areas of a business?
Take a proper look at Amazon.co.uk and see how they have created a continuous experience between mobile and the web.
What do you think?
