The Mobile 2.0 experience is predicated on three essential elements:

1. Simplicity – Ease of use
2. Ubiquity – Anywhere, anytime access
3. Continuity – Business processes must be maintained, if not enhanced

Continuity is critical because the most basic design goal is to extend existing applications to existing devices using existing business processes. It is not acceptable for mobile applications to dictate how businesses operate. In fact, the opposite must be true.

The Zen philosophical riddle about the sound of one hand clapping loosely parallels the need for mobile applications to interoperate. One hand alone implies the sound two clapping together would make. But while intent exists, it is useless without the complement of a second hand. Add many more hands clapping together and you get thunderous applause.

So it is with mobile applications. They are powerful alone but only make noise together. For example, integrate […]

Device operating systems, features, and formats continue to proliferate as handhelds take on increasingly specialized functions. For example, despite the proliferation of smartphones and tablets, media-optimized devices often provide the poorest email solutions, and entertainment-optimized devices are often the heaviest and have the weakest battery life. This problem is compounded in business settings where CIOs are notoriously reluctant, and often unable, to commit to a single device model company-wide.

Law 3 addresses this: mobile […]

Over the years, enterprise software applications, including IT service management systems, have become bloated with unnecessary features and now invariably follow the 90-10 rule: 90 percent of users rely on 10 percent of the features. This unfortunate reality has had limited impact on PC application usage because it is relatively easy for users to ignore the 90 percent of an application they don’t need. Mobile applications, however, don’t work that way. In fact, if an […]

Unlike the simple, flat, tethered PC experience, mobile devices are always at your side and participate, actively or passively, in all your activities. They are always connected to the Internet, store vital details about you, including your schedule and personal network, and have surprising amounts of idle computing power. Mobile devices become smarter than PCs when that information is used in the context of where you are and what you’re doing. For example, by understanding […]