Comments on: 7 Habits of Highly Effective Apps

By: Chandan Sharma

Chandan Sharma — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 13:30:16 +0000

I have not been to this blog for a long time, however it was a joy to find it again. It is such an important topic and ignored by so many, even professionals! I thank you for helping to make people more aware of these issues.

By: Dean Coclin

Dean Coclin — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 20:33:41 +0000

Being that I’m a Symantec employee, it probably comes as no surprise that after I read this post, my first thought was, “What about security?” The most common category of mobile malware we’re seeing today is Trojanized legitimate apps. In other words, legitimate apps that have been cracked by hackers – adding malicious code in the process – then re-released. Usually, the original functionality of the app is left intact while the new malicious functionality goes completely unnoticed by users. Directly related to the problems this creates for users, the developer of the original app can take a serious hit to their reputation if one of their apps is hijacked. So, my suggestion, along with all of the other great tips in this blog post, is to keep security in mind when designing apps as well. Doing things like utilizing code-signing from a trusted source can help prevent apps from being hijacked.

Dean Coclin
Symantec Corp.

By: Michael

Michael — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 18:25:18 +0000

Excellent point. The above list is great for general platforms and being social but thinking mobile is an essential step. The medium is different than online virtual communities and should be treated as such. Great insight.

By: Rachel Youens

Rachel Youens — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 20:14:36 +0000

It’s a frustrating point when you’re doing client work sometimes that a lot of these projects aren’t really “done” for a long time. To get any sort of long term investment out of an app especially, it means you also have to give it long term attention. It’s one thing if it’s a short-lived marketing app, but if your app is an extension of your company’s service or products, you’ve got to actually support it.

By: Rache Youens

Rache Youens — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 20:11:21 +0000

Our full white paper explores this a little bit more, but yes, it’s sad to see a company that tries to cram every bit of functionality into their mobile product and keeps the same design paradigms of a desktop website. They have the right intentions, trying to go where their audience, they just don’t execute properly.

By: hephail

hephail — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 09:08:22 +0000

Build the mobile application for your mobile application user. Develop a web component of this, for your customer, the person who actually pays you for all the metrics garnered from the application user.

By: Flavius Saracut

Flavius Saracut — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 07:58:59 +0000

I believe #3 is very important, and when setting an objective, we should always have in mind the strengths of mobile like instant communication, geolocation and focused activity.

By: Stephen

Stephen — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 18:35:04 +0000

I especially like point #3. Often times a mobile application’s initial expectation is of a mini version of a main desktop site. Deciding a specific objective and delivering that in the best manner is crucial to the success of the mobile app.
#6 is magical. The last sentence nails it, “Think of the app’s release to market as the first step in an ongoing development evolution, not the completion of a product.” This is so entirely true. Let everyone involved in the project be aware of that perspective at the beginning of the project.

By: sri

sri — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 00:39:42 +0000

Hit the point perfectly. All the others hold good for a general web app. Thinking mobile is the key.

By: jnthibeaultw

jnthibeaultw — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 20:09:06 +0000

I would actually add one more: think mobile. Too many software developers, engineers, and designers try to cram the user experience of Web and desktop applications into the mobile framework. That just doesn’t work. Building for mobile is a different mindset. But limited screen real-estate isn’t the only issue. Mobile users have both a different usability behavior (they are often on-the-go and working one-handed) as well as different modalities (touch/swipe vs type/click). Keeping this in mind will help you design a mobile application that is focused on the mobile experience.