‘Mobi’ is becoming a techie keyword in software development industry. Mobi means Mobile Development. It can be applications or websites primarily for mobile devices. Many software development companies started their initiatives in this market, and I can see many success stories too. This post is a small ‘must do’ list for all those mobi development teams and project managers.

1. Select your users.

a. For whom you are developing this application or website. If it is a mobile based social networking website – it targets mostly students and young people. If it is a expenses tracking application – it is useful for a business person who always do travel. If it is a music player – it targets young and adults but need to plan for more options – because there are many music players for mobile available for free. If you want to target techie and managers, try some application which links with existing systems – for example, twitter. Selecting a user or community plays a major role in mobile development, because your scope is fully depended based on the users.

2. Devices selection

a. Iphones are different from Nokia feature phones. HTC or Palm devices are having more capabilities as smart phones. There are different operating systems for Nokia, Palm, IPhone, Samsung, etc. Every device is different from other, based on the screen size, depth of pixels, capacity to handle media content, useragents, browser resolutions, and memory management. The Graphic part of the application or website should be designed and developed – based on these points. I suggest going for a mock up design or simple prototype model before entering into actual coding process. Browse the mockup or prototype in mobile and see where you need adjustments, how it actually looks in device – mostly all the screens. There are device detection systems available to automatically modify the screen content based on the devices. But this works only for Mobi Websites – for example Opera mini browser and it’s architecture.

3. Development tools Selection

a. you can use .Net, J2ME, Python or PHP. Based on a recent survey PHP is selected a best programming language for mobi website development. For mobile applications J2ME is powerful, but for Windows based Smart Phones I suggest to go with .NET mobile framework. Try to have images with less size. Validate your .css and XHTML with online validation systems to avoid performance issues. The best content management systems are Wordpress and Joomla – try them. Collect required J2ME or .NET controls and packages before you start programming and read the attached support documents for compatibilities. Try to get register in Mobile development based forums and keep in touch with book authors.

4. Development model

a. If you have a clear scope signoff and agreed prototype (calendar or email app) – go for water fall.

b. If your application is a innovative concept (for example: widget) – go for agile model – because you have to revisit and update your requirements at every phase.

c. If you have detail scope and functional samples (for example mobi site) - try iterative model – so that the application can be developed by adding functionalities in each build

5. Testing Pad

a. Very important phase in Mobile application development. I suggest testing your application / mobi site with real devices. Thus, you can find the realtime issues like layout arrangement, image loading performance, link switching performance and media play level easily. There are many online emulator applications available, including device anywhere and mobi forge. Iphone, blackberry, nokia, palm, android simulators are also available– they are fine for a quick check. One simple online emulator for mobile websites is here [http://mtld.mobi/emulator.php]. But you get 100% results only with realtime devices.

6. BETA

a. Release only BETA first. Let the application of website be used by other users, and have a forum or postbox to receive their queries, suggestions and support. This is basically to understand the realtime performance with realtime date and to understand the expected future requirements.

I hope the above listed rules will help you in developing quality mobile applications and mobile websites. Let’s discuss online or offline for all your queries and clarifications.

All the best.