Ken Dezio - IData Incorporated

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Mobile Access for Banner

• Ken Dezio - IData Incorporated
• Marc Carrion - IData Incorporated
• Justin Webb University of Mary Washington
• October 6-7, 2008

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Introduction

• Mobile broadband listed as key emerging
  technology in 2008 EDUCAUSE Horizon report w/ 2-3
  year time-to-adoption horizon
• Mobile devices are ubiquitous and mobile web
  access is increasing rapidly
• Explore the feasibility, demand, and potential
  for mobile broadband connectivity with higher
  education administrative systems

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Agenda

• Examine a project where custom SSB forms were
  created for mobile access to Banner
• Discuss methodology used in creating the mobile
  web forms
• Hear UMWs perspective on the mobile web project
• Analyze demand and potential for a Banner mobile
  web interface

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About IData Incorporated

• Technology consulting for higher education
• Increase the productivity of colleges,
  universities, and institutional research
  professionals through better use of
  administrative and data systems
• Focus on three primary areas
• Technical services (programming analysis)
• Implementation services
• Institutional research services

Mid-Atlantic Banner Users Group
Hosted By The University of Mary Washington
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Topic 1

• UMW Banner Mobile Access
• Project Overview

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BMA Project Overview

• Created a suite of custom SSB forms accessible
  via web-enabled mobile devices
• Criteria used to chose forms
• Provide Banner functionality most desired by
  students, faculty, and staff
• Readily translate to mobile environment

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BMA Project Overview

• Implemented 5 custom processes
• People Search (student, faculty, staff directory)
• Course Search
• Student Schedule
• Class Roster
• Emergency Contact
• Custom menu
• Custom user authentication

Mid-Atlantic Banner Users Group
Hosted By The University of Mary Washington
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BMA Demo

• People Search
• Course Search
• Student Schedule
• Class Roster
• Emergency Contact

Mid-Atlantic Banner Users Group
Hosted By The University of Mary Washington
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BMA Project Statistics

• 8 weeks elapsed design / development time
• 6 days / component (including menu
  authentication)
• Team members had never created mobile web forms
  prior to project

Mid-Atlantic Banner Users Group
Hosted By The University of Mary Washington
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Topic 2

• Development Methodology for Banner Mobile Web
  Forms

Mid-Atlantic Banner Users Group
Hosted By The University of Mary Washington
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Technology

• Custom Self Service Banner (SSB) forms
• Packages in Oracle DB serving up web forms via
  OWA
• XHTML instead of HTML
• Supported on most mobile devices
• Variety of cell phone simulators available for
  designing and testing forms

Mid-Atlantic Banner Users Group
Hosted By The University of Mary Washington
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Forms Look Different on Different Cell Phones
Mid-Atlantic Banner Users Group
Hosted By The University of Mary Washington
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Design Considerations

• Keep forms simple
• Design for small format
• Leverage existing SSB framework and Banner APIs
• Separate UI from business logic using
  Model-View-Controller (MVC) approach
• Build modular reusable components

Mid-Atlantic Banner Users Group
Hosted By The University of Mary Washington
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Mobile Web Best Practices

• Follow web standards
• Validate pages (W3C page validation)
• Keep pages small, simple, and clear
• Avoid pop-ups and frames
• Do not rely on cookies
• Do not rely on tables, fonts, or style sheets for
  page layout
• Reduce bandwidth limit page size data
• Minimize user keystrokes
• Source W3C Mobile Web Best Practices

Mid-Atlantic Banner Users Group
Hosted By The University of Mary Washington
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Development Methodology

• Detailed whitepaper available
• at IData vendor booth

Mid-Atlantic Banner Users Group
Hosted By The University of Mary Washington
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Topic 3
Justin Webb Director, Applications
Programming University of Mary Washington

• UMW Perspective on Banner Mobile Access Project

Mid-Atlantic Banner Users Group
Hosted By The University of Mary Washington
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Topic 4

• Mobile Web Interfaces Analysis of Demand
  Potential

Mid-Atlantic Banner Users Group
Hosted By The University of Mary Washington
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Survey of UMW Students

• About UMW
• 100 year old co-educational, public institution
• Approximately 4,000 undergraduate students and
  over 1,000 graduate students
• Survey Population
• Total of 107 students surveyed
• Age of respondents Median 20 / Average 23.1
• 57 female / 43 male
• 87 undergraduate / 13 graduate

Mid-Atlantic Banner Users Group
Hosted By The University of Mary Washington
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How likely would you be to use the following
on-line services using your mobile device if they
were available at UMW?
Mid-Atlantic Banner Users Group
Hosted By The University of Mary Washington
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In addition to the listed services, what other
on-line services at UMW would you like to be
available on your cell phone?

• Access email (6)
• View campus activities / calendar (4)
• Blackboard (3)
• One Card System (2)

Mid-Atlantic Banner Users Group
Hosted By The University of Mary Washington
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How often do you do the following on-line
activities on your mobile device?
Mid-Atlantic Banner Users Group
Hosted By The University of Mary Washington
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What type of mobile device do you currently own?
Do you currently have web service enabled on your
mobile device?
Mid-Atlantic Banner Users Group
Hosted By The University of Mary Washington
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How frequently do you access web sites through
your mobile device?
Mid-Atlantic Banner Users Group
Hosted By The University of Mary Washington
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Market Analysis iPhone Web Usage
0.32 Sep 08
0.07 Oct 07
iPhone 3G released July 11, 2008
Data Source Net Applications (www.netapplications
.com)
Mid-Atlantic Banner Users Group
Hosted By The University of Mary Washington
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Market Analysis

• iPhone popularity proved the market exists or has
  created its own market
• New smartphones competing w/ Apple
• Google Android w/ Chrome-Lite will be released
  soon
• LiMo (Linux Mobile) consortium working on Linux
  for mobile platforms
• Mozilla Firefox (project Fennec) Going to alpha
  testing soon

Mid-Atlantic Banner Users Group
Hosted By The University of Mary Washington
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Market Analysis

• Phone software options increasing
• Wireless providers bundling web access with other
  features
• Number of mobile sites increasing (banks, Amazon,
  eBay, Orbitz, Google, Facebook)
• Full-function browsers available on phones now or
  soon (Safari, Opera, Chrome, Firefox)

Mid-Atlantic Banner Users Group
Hosted By The University of Mary Washington
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Mobile Web has Just Crossed the Chasm
Crossing the Chasm Marketing and Selling
High-Tech Products to Mainstream Customers,
Geoffrey Moore
Mid-Atlantic Banner Users Group
Hosted By The University of Mary Washington
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Summary

• Mobile web usage is still sparse but is growing
  rapidly
• In 2-3 years students may start expecting or
  demanding mobile web services
• Building custom SSB forms for mobile access is
  relatively easy, technology-wise
• Study follow best practices when building
  mobile web forms

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Additional Resources

• W3C Mobile Web Best Practices
• http//www.w3.org/TR/mobile-bp/
• dotMobi Mobile Web Developers Guide
• http//mobiforge.com/
• IData - Banner Mobile Mockup Pages
• http//m.idatainc.com/bma

Mid-Atlantic Banner Users Group
Hosted By The University of Mary Washington
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Questions Answers

• Questions?

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Thank You!

• www.idatainc.com
• Ken Dezio (IData) kdezio_at_idatainc.com
• Marc Carrion (IData) mcarrion_at_idatainc.com
• Justin Webb (UMW) jwebb_at_umw.edu