Software Testing Blog

Need to find a nearby restaurant? There’s an app for that. Want to track your workout progress? There’s an app for that. Want to play a game to kill the time? There’s an app for that. Your kids want to play a game? There’s an app for that. Want to check the score? There’s an app for that. Want the latest headlines/facebook status updates/tweets? There’s an app for that. Want to access that document or program you use at work on the go? Maybe there’s an app for that, kind of.

Many consumer apps have figured out how to cater to the specific limitations of mobile devices (screen size variance, touch screen usability, the range of OS options) but professional apps are still largely lagging behind.

Quinton Alsbury (who owns a company – MeLLmo – that develops apps for businesses) highlighted where many business-minded apps are going wrong in this guest post on CNet:

We’ve all been there–squinting at a spreadsheet on a mobile device, zooming in and out in attempt to make sense of the information. Each swipe of the finger triggers a blank screen as the data renders and slowly reappears and our frustration builds. …

Why do apps aimed at business users continue to cram features and functionalities designed for the PC into a mobile phone, ignoring all the things that make consumer apps successful–namely, design, speed, and interactivity?

Many business app developers are fundamentally misunderstanding the mobile user experience by producing “shrink to fit” versions of solutions designed for the PC. The mobile experience isn’t about accessing several gigabytes of data; it’s about quickly accessing the information you need, when you need it.

By “shrinking” existing PC tools, they’re essentially jamming a large, complicated, and bulky system onto a smaller screen. What results are apps that contain too many features, respond too slowly and ultimately result in low user adoption and usage.

Information Week also recently featured a commentary piece on the bulky state of business apps. Maribel Lopez, the author, agreed that professional apps do not preform as well as most consumer apps. But she was careful to highlight some additional challenges to creating a professional app.

First, what should the company mobilize? Companies have dozens, if not hundreds, of apps, many of them custom built. … Also, the company needs to mobilize a whole process, not just an app. Mobilizing one app may allow an employee to complete only a portion of a process–finalizing a sale, for example, is often composed of transactions from multiple apps, such as CRM, inventory, and purchasing.

Second, how should I mobilize these apps? Does IT build apps that are native to the device, embrace an HTML5 mobile Web experience, or build a hybrid of native and Web? If it selects native app development, it also has to choose which mobile operating system platforms. … What companies are learning is that there’s no single software development model that works for every mobile scenario. Most businesses will use a mix of native, hybrid, and mobile Web. The decision will depend on the depth of functionality the app requires.

Third, what are the top priorities for mobile development? … Just taking an app that was created for desktop use and making it accessible on a mobile device won’t work. IT must understand what functions of the app should be accessible on a mobile device, and how much they need to be revised for mobile work.

Maribel is taking the angle of companies developing their own specialized, customized apps, but her points also apply to outside groups looking to develop a good general business-facing app. You can’t fit all the features of a desktop app into a successful mobile app – and honestly, you probably don’t need to. Maribel recommends taking a step back and starting simple:

Many businesses try to replicate the entire desktop app for a mobile device. For an initial mobile rollout, it is perfectly acceptable to pick one or two functions of the application and deliver those well. … And once the mobile app is live, be prepared to listen to employees, hear what’s missing, and quickly add new features.

That last sentence is really the key – figure out what the employees want and need, and forget everything else. A successful app is only successful because users decided to actually use it. And on that note, here’s a list from Entrepreneur of the “10 Must-Have Business Apps for 2011“:

• Square (payment)
• Evernote (task management)
• Scanner Pro (document scanning)
• Flight Tracker Pro (travel)
• MightyMeeting (presentation management)
• Gist (contact management)
• LinkedIn (contact management/networking)
• Print n Share (wireless printing)
• Jump Desktop (remote desktop)
• OmniFocus (task management suite)

These apps are fairly basic business/business person apps – nothing too specialized or intricate – but still important and useful to business in general. Interestingly, three of Entrepreneur’s top apps were also on a PCWorld top 10 business apps list in 2009 while others fulfill the same need but replaced the earlier top performers.

As the two lists prove, there’s been a fair amount of turnover in the business app market over the past few years, and that’s bound to continue. But with the use of smartphones growing and the new trend of companies allowing their employees to use their own phone, 2012 might be the year business apps catch up to the success of their consumer counterparts.