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.
   

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2. Coleman McCormick
   Geographer
   

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3. field data collection
   geography + local knowledge
   software
   we do
   {
   

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4. field survey
   mobile forms
   GPS integration
   geotagged photos
   

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5. challenges?
   

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6. you can’t have everything
   constrained design space
   often disconnected
   

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7. design approach
   

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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
   

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10. field testing
    

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11. build features that
    empower the end-user
    

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12. imagery + basemaps
    

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13. users can build their own basemaps,
    or download offline map tiles
    

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15. make collection as
    seamless as possible
    

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17. localization
    users can build field
    survey forms in any
    device-supported
    language
    removes even more
    friction between
    user + input
    

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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!
    

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19. Thanks!
    Coleman McCormick
    @colemanm
    fulcrumapp.com
    @fulcrumapp
    

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