14 million creative minds and counting!  In North America, according to Evans Data Corporation in 2009, a developer is born every 8 minutes.  Not physically, of course, but where more and more and more of our lives are spent… in the digital world.  That means that there are nearly 2,500 APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) on ProgrammableWeb.com, comprising over 5,000 mashups, and an estimated 14 million developers worldwide in various disciplines, with over 6 million involved in mobile development.

On April 3, 2010, Apple debuted its latest “it” device, the iPad.  With a 9.7 inch touchscreen and multiple wireless connectivity options, the iPad set the new benchmark for the connected appliance category.  And, consumers responded in droves, the way they had to the iPhone, but with even greater vigor.  In its first month of launch, Apple sold one million iPads at an average purchase price exceeding $500.

So, what does this mean to developers?  Many of us have grown up in a time where reaching critical mass for a particular device meant considerable marketing muscle over several years (for example, it took the mobile phone 20 years to reach 10% penetration of U. S. households).  In today’s world, years have been replaced with months.  As consumers migrate to these mobile devices, willingness to pay for applications increases.  You could argue that this is a function of a more early adopter profile for tablet devices combined with a larger form factor that provides fertile ground for higher priced mobile gaming, entertainment, social, and business applications.

So, sophisticated device creation attracts end users with appetites for increasingly engaging and immersive applications.  Escalating demand also creates a new army of talented developers ready to create their next mobile masterpiece for fame, fortune or both.

The holiday season is quickly approaching and retailers are already beginning to prepare for the busy shopping season.  For the first time ever, mobile commerce will be a top priority for retailers—and for good reason.  According to Canalysis, more than 90 million smartphones are to ship in 2011 in North America.  A recent Mobile Access 2010 report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project states that nine in ten young adults aged 18 to 29 own a cell phone and that these young cell owners are the most likely to engage in mobile data applications.  The study also found that 20 percent of 18 to 29 year olds make purchases on their mobile phones.

As consumers begin to contemplate gift shopping for the holidays, mobile commerce will likely have a significant impact on their decisions on where and how to make their purchases.  Retailers should adapt to their customers’ behavior and begin to prepare for this increasingly popular new channel—if they haven’t already.  If you are a retailer, and have not considered going mobile yet before the holidays or for 2011, perhaps the following trends might sway your decision:

• Smartphones are becoming the norm.  Studies show that these types of devices are rapidly growing while others are declining in market share.
• Mobile web launches and mobile commerce sales are growing, and fast.  Make no mistake about it, the numbers are growing rapidly.  By 2015, it is estimated that shoppers from around the world will spend about $119 billion on goods and services bought via their mobile phones.
• In the United States alone, mobile shopping rose from $396 million in 2008 to $1.2 billion in 2009.  ABI Research forecasts U.S. sales to reach about $4.2 billion in 2011.
• Mobile promotions bump purchase rates.  Many retailers find that offering promotions unique to their mobile website significantly increase purchase rates.  For example, if a consumer electronics store launches a promotion that offers a special discount for computer games purchased through their mobile site, more customers will make the transition from viewing the games on their mobile phones to purchasing those games via their mobile phones.
• Mobile is the 4th channel.  Increasingly, retailers are integrating mobile commerce into their businesses as a strategic 4th channel that can help bring more value to their desktop/laptop website, in-store and catalog channels.
• Using rich applications, customers are more loyal, buy more often and at a higher average purchase price than with mobile web.  Rich applications for iPhone and Android devices provide a seamless and simple method to browsing and purchasing products on mobile phones.  Imagine that customer Greg is a frequent patron of an outdoors and recreation retailer.  Greg is far from home when he realizes he needs a new tent for his upcoming camping trip.  He has already downloaded the retailer’s mobile app on his iPhone, so he uses it to find and purchase the tent which he’ll pick up when he is back in town.  By providing Greg with a simple and convenient method of shopping, the retailer has cemented Greg’s loyalty to the brand.  Now, Greg is more likely to shop here because he doesn’t have to search around online… he just opens the app, purchases his items and he’s finished.

This holiday season and beyond, mobile commerce will have an unprecedented presence in the shopping channel.

Every time we kick off working with a new client, even before the ink is dry on the Engagement Specification, we begin by asking the client to ask themselves a few very important questions to begin their app development process:

1. What is my business mission?
2. What business need will an app serve app?
3. Should I even attempt to build a mobile app, or should I work on our mobile web site?
4. What is the best delivery platform?  iOS?  Android?  Which one should I prioritize first?
5. How will I measure the effectiveness of my app?
6. Could my app be perceived as “fire and forget?”
7. Can my infrastructure handle a successful app?
8. What does my target user really want in an app?

But, what do you think?  Any we’ve missed?

Here at Bottle Rocket Apps, we are ALL about the user when we begin our Strategy, Creative and Design process for our clients’ iOS and Android mobile apps.  With that in mind, we offer a peek under the hood at our inner workings with a random collection of UEX, Marketing, and Brand terminology.  To us, it is important we all have a similar understanding when using these terms.

Audience Segmentation is used to for more specific targeting and providing the user greater relevance.  As an example, Pizza Hut segments it’s consumers into three audiences. The Eating Machine (college age males that view food as fuel, eating pizza multiple times a week), the Families (family consumers that consider the pizza meal a family event once a month) and the Adventurist (not loyal to any pizza brand, eating pizza only a couple times a quarter).  In this case, a mobile app for the Pizza Hut Eating Machine might be designed very differently than an app for the Adventurist.

Brand Equities are the brand characteristics that positively set the brand apart from their competition and is partially responsible for their financial successes. mBrand equities for Apple would be beautiful design, usability, and different.  The apps we develop should exploit, extend and reinforce existing brand equities.

Exception Path is used to refer to a user story or screen flow that identifies an error path or paths outside of the Happy Path (see below).

Happy Path is used to refer to a user story or screen flow that identifies the path the majority of users will experience.  It does not include all the alternative paths, exceptions or alerts.  Usually a Happy Path is fleshed out and then a second iteration of the experience fleshes out the alternative paths, exceptions and alerts.

Key User Tasks are the actions the user is most likely to take.  Usually for an app, there are only a few.  Greater emphasis of experience design should be put on these tasks over other less likely user tasks.  Having only a few key user tasks also helps to keep the app focused and of value for the user.

Lo-Fi is short for Low Fidelity.  Low Fidelity techniques can be used to move design along quickly.  Pencils would be considered a Lo-Fi technique.  Photographing white board ideas and texting them to a client would also be a Lo-Fi technique.

Marketing-Centered Design is an approach to design that emphasizes business goals and marketing strategy.  It is more about the messaging being pushed to the consumer than what the consumer might truly desire.  Marketing-centered design in a casino forces you walk past hundreds of slot machines on your way to the bathroom.  A user-centered design would have put the bathroom in a convenient and easily accessible location.  Marketing-centered design is more common in heavily branded apps.  User-centered design is more common in more utilitarian apps.  Usually, we design for a delicate balance of both to satisfy both our clients and their users.

Production Value is used to describe the level of craftsmanship and polish put on something.  For example, one might claim Star Wars had a higher production value than Plan 9 From Outer Space.  It is usually in reference to aesthetics, it does not refer to how something works or if it is “buggy.”  For purposes of a common understanding across the Bottle Rocket team before designing something, we discuss the production level for which we will be designing.  The production level is influenced by time available, budget, and client expectations.

Reason to Believe is a branding term referring to the end consumer’s belief that a company can deliver on its brand promises.  This belief is often related to brand equity.  If I hear that Apple will be releasing an automobile, my reason to believe that it will be a good automobile is that they have a exceptional track record for beautiful design, usability and thinking different about the products they produce.  If our client puts an app in the app store and is asking me to pay $5 for it, as a consumer I will reflect upon my reasons to believe that company will put out an app worthy of the $5.

User-Centered Design is an approach to design that puts the user’s desires and actions above all other design considerations.  It is an approach that greatly values user input and user testing.  Key user tasks are defined and heavily influence the design.  The chief difference from other product design philosophies is that user-centered design tries to optimize the product around how users can, want, or need to use the product, rather than forcing the users to change their behavior to accommodate the product.