Mobile development is not just about development but creating a larger structure and strategy coined as “omni channel” experience. Companies like Google, Netflix, Amazon.com, and Instagram are all groups of developers using modern application infrastructure to fuel the omni channel experience — the ability to work any across all channels, platforms and devices. A Facebook post that one person uploaded from an iPhone can be viewed by other users on an Android tablet or in a Windows XP browser. As part of the omni channel experience you need to deliver a consistent brand experience across all of the channels.
When developing mobile applications, it is not about securing or provisioning infrastructure in advance. It is the era of ‘on demand’ and the ability to scale up the time and capital real time. Developers invest in open source because it can be modified and customized and can be replaced easily if necessary. This helps to design application frameworks to get to the market quickly. So no more buying hardware and development tools, it is the age of pay-per-use cloud services. Good quality code with elastic licensing flexibility and rapid deployment without infrastructure and operation delays.
The age of middlemen is gone. It is the age of real time ratings and instantaneous feedback to optimize and speed development cycles. In-app analytics is in and everyone is watching the ratings on Apple App Store and Google Play.
Application arrive faster, scale up and down as needed and create value quicker than traditional applications.
The Context Driven World
The future of mobile development is driven by the experiences of the customer at the moment of mobile engagement. So it is creating compelling systems of engagement that needs to link with systems of record and systems of operation. Mobile services must be — immediate, simple and contextual. Tap into your customers psychographics — where in the world are they? What else are they doing that can add a significant contextual value to?
Types of context
Situational: The current time, location, altitude, environmental conditions, and travel speeds
the customer is experiencing.
Preferential: Historical personal decisions that the customer has shared with the application or
with social networks.
Attitudinal: The feelings or emotions implied by the customer’s actions and logistics.
Application Architecture in the Context Driven World
So how does context affect the Omni channel application? The architecture of mobile application will be different from a traditional web application.
- It will take advantage of all the sensors and information on the customer’s device
- Application will use load balancing techniques to scale and add additional processing capability
- Server infrastructure will be tuned and optimized, performing tasks as capacity allows
- Application architecture design will use pipes and filters to power content-oriented workload
- Developers stage data using a combination of in-memory databases to ensure last mile connectivity
Enabling Technology in the Context Driven World
- High end features like GPS, accelerometers, gyroscopes, magnetometers, NFC and high resolutions displays will be ubiquitous
- The phones will also act as de facto routers, relaying or interpreting information from other
- machines or from attachments with sensors.
- There will be a shift from touch to motion and voice, speed, pressure, presence and absence of light
- Mightier microprocessors, faster graphic accelerators and increased memory will continue to improve the performance of mobile devices
- UI interfaces will need to adapt to heads-up interfaces – think Google Glass. Bigger and smaller touch input devices will require adaptive UIs
- Standalone mobile apps will evolve into pluggable mobile services
- Wearables and connectables will herald a fast-changing local network of customer context.
Infrastructure Revolution in a Context Driven World
- Omnichannel experiences will include more cross-channel and unique capabilities — multiple devices will be used to provide a superior experience
- Predictive analytics will make their way
- Cross channel context sharing will become prominent
- Real time collaboration services will be common
