1. Randy Scovil
Cuesta College
SLOCAMA Monthly Meeting – Feb. 2011
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2. The Hit List
ď‚ž Why me?
 What’s an app?
ď‚ž Why an app?
ď‚ž What can an app do for me, and more
importantly what can it do for my users?
 Where’s the money?
ď‚ž What devices to target?
ď‚ž How can I get involved?
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3. So who is this guy anyway?
ď‚ž Developer for 30+ years
ď‚— Primarily for Education and Broadcasting
ď‚— M.S. Computer Science, Cal Poly
ď‚— 12 yrs teaching CompSci - Cuesta/Cal Poly
â—‹ Core + Mobile courses in iOS and Android
ď‚— 25 yrs Broadcast Media Experience
â—‹ Primarily programming/marketing
management for large-market radio
â—‹ On-air talent, mainly play-by-play and music
â—‹ Co-instigator of Cuesta TV project
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4. We’ll assume that…
 We’ll talk mobile development in
general, focusing on iOS and Android
 We’re looking at it from a business
perspective
ď‚— As a marketing arm
ď‚— As a source of revenue
ď‚— As a means of partnership/community
 Cuz it’s cool and the (our) kids dig it
ď‚ž We may occasionally wake the obvious
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5. So what is an app?
 It’s a focused program custom designed
to run a specific platform
ď‚— Relatively small in scope
ď‚— Native to the platform, and looks it
ď‚— Fully leverages the device
ď‚— Fast and efficient
ď‚— Utilizes connectivity but is not necessarily
dependent on it
ď‚— Limited by what the platform supports
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6. What can an app do for me?
ď‚ž Engage your customer
 It’s always with them, so connect with them
â—‹ Build passion within your community
 Advance notices – reward their passion
ď‚— Provide a purchase avenue
ď‚— Help them do what they want/need to do
ď‚ž Provide strong partnership opportunities
ď‚— Cross-promotion with business partners
ď‚— Event-oriented apps
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7. Why get yourself into this?
 Yes, it’s custom software, but on a more
manageable scale
ď‚— Easily done by an experienced mobile
developer/team in weeks depending on the
scope, bells, whistles
 Easy to iterate – updates go live in about a
week (iOS) or instantaneously (Android)
ď‚— Distribution (and billing, hosting, copy
protection, etc.) is handled by the platform
ď‚ž Will not take 103s of years and 106s of $
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8. Iterative Development
ď‚ž Flexibility in how much how soon
ď‚— Waves of releases, or one big bang?
ď‚— Update process is seamless for the user
ď‚— Single-feature updates are not a bother
ď‚— Easy to update supporting info
ď‚— Encourages experimentation and evolution
ď‚ž Makes it manageable
ď‚— Can ship at reasonable junctures
ď‚— Fewer things to stop the show
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9. What to do, or not
ď‚ž Keep it simple, stay focused
 Screen size is limited – one task per page
â—‹ We can always pull up more info
 Don’t overwhelm with choices
○ It’s personal and the app is the user’s focus of
that moment, so make it easy if not fun
ď‚— Consider likely behavior
â—‹ Allow for customization/history
ď‚— Using your app
ď‚— Using the Settings app
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10. Optimize User Experience
ď‚ž Keep your friends close and keep your
data closer
ď‚— Look for static (unchanging) data that can be
part of the app
â—‹ Less dependence on connectivity, faster
ď‚— Depending on the amount of info, you can
consider embedding smaller media items
(photos, short audio/video) in the app for
maximum responsiveness
ď‚ž Be resource-aware (esp. battery)
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11. Can I get there from here?
ď‚ž Location, location, location
 Where are they now…but also, where can
they find you?
ď‚— Are you close?
ď‚— How accurate do you need to be?
â—‹ A fixed location, or finding within a location?
ď‚— Ensure you are opt-in on using their
location, especially when sharing with others
â—‹ Opt-in %s are low, especially with older (29+)
demographics*
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12. Encourage communication
ď‚ž Hotlinks
ď‚— Phone, Email, Web, Text, Social
ď‚ž Custom messaging
 Push notifications – opt-in, no cost,
exclusive
â—‹ News updates
â—‹ Special offers
 Local notifications – reminders generated by
an app for that device
â—‹ User-driven appointments
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13. What’s the financial model?
ď‚ž Is the app the product?
ď‚— Selling the app means a cut for
store/market-keeper
ď‚— Free app with a subscription model - you
deal with customer directly, keep the
revenue and keep it flowing
ď‚ž Does it support your primary products?
ď‚— App serves as a means stay in touch with
the customer and market the product(s)
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14. Other forms of revenue
ď‚ž In-App Ads
 Those you’ve sold (incl. couponing)
ď‚— Location-based
â—‹ 50% of phone users that use location-based
services have clicked on a location-based ad*
â—‹ 17% made a purchase over their phone after
seeing a location-based ad**
ď‚— Partnership agreements
ď‚— Third-party through platform owner
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15. Yet More Revenue
ď‚ž In-App Purchase
ď‚— Beware of limitations of:
â—‹ The platform owner (e.g. Apple/Sony)
â—‹ E-commerce site (e.g. Amazon)
ď‚ž Remember anything third-party will cost
you a piece (is it worth the sale?)
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17. Check the trend as of today
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18. So now what?
 You can’t ignore either one
ď‚ž They are two:
ď‚— Very different constituencies
ď‚— Distinct user interfaces
ď‚— Platform strategies
ď‚— App distribution philosophies
ď‚— Different development environments
ď‚ž Cross-platform deployment has become
“mandatory” for businesses*
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19. It’s not which, but both…
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20. …and in other news…
 …things just got a whole lot more
interesting, which means an opportunity:
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22. Ok so what can you do?
 It’s another medium to work in
ď‚— Leverage your skills in:
â—‹ Marketing Strategy
â—‹ Customer Management
â—‹ Visual Design
â—‹ Content Creation
ď‚— Design it - think of it as a storyboard
â—‹ Each page will do something for your
customer or guide them to a page that will
○ Don’t clutter, but get to the point soon
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23. Which technologies?
ď‚ž Communication
ď‚ž Media consumption
ď‚ž Location awareness
ď‚ž Database access
ď‚ž E-Marketing
ď‚ž E-Commerce
ď‚ž Is it one app, or a series of apps?
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24. Create screenshots
ď‚ž User-interface tools can be used to
create mock-ups without code
ď‚— iOS: Interface Builder
â—‹ Free with OS X
ď‚— Android: XML Layouts with Eclipse
â—‹ Open source, free, for any desktop platform
ď‚— WP7: Visual Studio 2010 Express for
Windows Phone
â—‹ Not-so-open source, but free
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25. Thanks!
• Randy Scovil
• CIS (Computer Science)
• Cuesta College
• rscovil@cuesta.edu
• Yes We Do Apps, Inc.
• randy@yeswedoapps.com
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