Smartphones began reshaping how the world connects to the internet a decade ago. Early adopters made up about 35% of the U.S. adult population, according to Pew Research Center. Last year, 90% of U.S. adults had smartphones in hand. Pew Research Center also found that 95% of U.S. teens use smartphones to play games, cruise social media and keep themselves entertained, while 65% connect on tablets.
The near-universal adoption of mobile internet access has changed the way enterprises develop their websites and applications. At the beginning of the growth curve, designers and coders built desktop websites and scaled them (responsive design) to render properly on smaller mobile screens. Now, builders develop websites and apps for mobile first, then scale them for desktop use.
Thinking small-to-big prioritizes the mobile user experience (UX) through user interface (UI) features such as tap, swipe and zoom functionality and advanced software. The driver behind mobile-first development is reflected in data published by Net Solutions: Mobile-first drives search engine results.
Mobile users account for half of all internet traffic, so search algorithms rank mobile-first sites higher to make it easier for people to find what they are looking for. “Want to rank higher? Make sure your website is mobile-optimized, and understand that one of the best ways to do that is to take a mobile-first approach,” Net Solutions explains.
How Do Professionals Prepare for a Career in the Mobile-first Future?
The Texas A&M International University (TAMIU) STEM-certified online Master of Science (M.S.) in Information Science program equips graduates with the skills and insights to take on specific technological challenges of optimizing websites and applications for mobile use.
Graduates are prepared for key roles with distinct but collaborative responsibilities in mobile-first design. Those roles include:
- Information systems managers develop IT strategies that support mobile app development, allocate human and financial resources and manage risk to ensure projects are finished and deployed on time.
- Software developers code apps to perform for optimum, intuitive UI/UX and document processes for updating and maintaining performance.
- Database administrators ensure the digital storage, retrieval and migration processes enable webpages to load and populate quickly.
“Successful mobile design is always somewhat invisible. Users feel as though their interactions are guided by instinct. The intent behind design features and components is apparent. Everything ‘just works,'” Toptal Designers notes about a successful mobile app.
What Are Examples of Best Practices in Mobile App Development?
Apple, Google, Microsoft and other tech giants all publish lengthy how-to guidelines for mobile app development. In its best practices, IBM notes that developing social media, productivity, gaming, health and fitness and e-commerce apps for mobile platforms can be challenging. Among other factors, app developers must grapple with the limitations of the devices they will run on. To beat that challenge, IBM recommends the following:
- Choose a platform: Design for Android first. Nearly three-quarters of cell phones run on Android, and getting an app on Google Play is easier than making it available through the Apple App Store.
- Design for limited processing power: Smartphones and tablets do not have the processing and memory resources found on desktops and laptops. Consider a less feature-dense UI and simpler UX. Keep in mind that mobile users value simplicity over bells and whistles.
- Migrate to the cloud: The cloud boosts app performance by leveraging application programming interfaces (API), which are rules and protocols that facilitate communication among various software applications that would bog down a mobile operating system.
In a mobile-first world, enterprises must be where the internet is: in users’ hands. “To stay relevant, responsive and successful, organizations need to develop the mobile applications that their customers, partners and employees demand,” IBM notes.
Where Does Information Science Intersect With Mobile Development?
Students in TAMIU’s online M.S. in Information Science program get a hands-on education in programming sophisticated, data-intensive applications. The curriculum’s approach to problem-solving through software development and advanced data manipulation provides graduates with skills to lead efforts in mobile web and app development.
For instance, information science involves mining large, complex data sets to support behavior and preference analysis and insights. That expertise directly translates into creating highly personalized UX. One example of this personalization is a mobile music streaming platform that recommends new songs based on users’ previous selections.
Information science professionals also specialize in the planning, development, execution and optimization of computer and data systems. Continuous improvement and problem detection skills enable mobile developers to optimize apps to keep pace with changing user expectations and market demands. Every update to a mobile operating system or application begins with analyses of user data and software performance.
Learn more about TAMIU’s online M.S. in Information Science program.
