Designing Mapping Apps for Mobile

A talk given at the Geo-DC meetup about Fulcrum (http://fulcrumapp.com) and how we go about the design process for building highly functional apps for mapping on mobile devices.

Transcript

1. design for mobile mapping @colemanm. spatial networks, inc.
2. Coleman McCormick Geographer
3. field data collection geography + local knowledge software we do {
4. field survey mobile forms GPS integration geotagged photos
5. challenges?
6. you can’t have everything constrained design space often disconnected
7. design approach
8. focus start with the mobile experience what does the field user need to be able to do? reduce the end-user’s learning space the web component of the software isn’t the most important remove “nice-to-haves” and gimmicks less to learn = faster training, better data, happier users iOS and Android platforms have established design patterns stick to established conventions
10. field testing
11. build features that empower the end-user
12. imagery + basemaps
13. users can build their own basemaps, or download offline map tiles
15. make collection as seamless as possible
17. localization users can build field survey forms in any device-supported language removes even more friction between user + input
18. roll end-user feedback into design reviews fast iteration + continuous improvements no substitution for true “field trials” lessons from the dev cycle put on your user’s shoes!
19. Thanks! Coleman McCormick @colemanm fulcrumapp.com @fulcrumapp