Lessons in Being Wireless

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Lessons in Being Wireless

• Developing for AvantGo

Jonathan M. Bell
E.W. Scripps Co.
June 20, 2000
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Overview

• Topics of discussion
• User Expectations
• Design
• Implementation

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User Expectations

• Users want information that makes sense in a
  mobile environment
• Listings and calendars
• News, sports, business
• Weather

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User Expectations

• Small channel size
• Devices, particularly Palm, limited in memory
  size 2MB, 8MB
• Memory shared with other channels
• Memory shared with user contacts, calendar,
  databases, documents, e-mail

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User Expectations

• Fast, reliable download
• Allows other channels to download
• Allows complete sync to finish faster

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User Expectations

• Clean, consistent layout
• Uncluttered text
• Crisp graphics
• NO horizontal scrolling
• Avoid vertical scrolls for blocks of info

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Design

• Decide what information is most useful to your
  readership
• Think mobile
• Think local
• Think global
• Think fresh

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Design

• Keeping pages simple is key
• Start with AvantGo HTML style guide
• Cache most content
• Set cache headers on server
• Avoid server-side includes
• Use cached pages in dynamic publishing
• Use tables to organize content
• Use whitespace effectively

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Design

• Providing interactivity is smart
• Read the AvantGo Developer guide
• Provide fill-in forms
• Pre-fill information when available
• Keep text fields small
• Provide immediate feedback before sync
• Use cookies / login to customize

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Channel Knoxville News-Sentinel

• Design points
• Small, color site logo
• Date stamp on page
• Clean layout
• No scrollbar
• Room for advertising or special feature

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Channel Knoxville News-Sentinel

• Design points
• Link to top page
• Consistent navigation
• Date stamp on page
• Unique content high
• Page title unique

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Channel Knoxville News-Sentinel

• Design points
• Updated hourly
• Color graphics
• Table keeps grouped info on first screen
• Consistent navigation
• Page title unique

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Channel Knoxville News-Sentinel

• Design points
• Short headlines
• Limited scrolling
• Page title unique

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Channel GoVols.com

• Design points
• No poor line breaks
• Immediate access to individual articles
• Color logo works well in grayscale

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Implementation

• Test the channel
• Buy Palm OS or Windows CE handheld
• Get the Palm emulator from http//www.palmos.com/
• Ask real users for feedback

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Implementation

• Promote the channel
• Provide a clear, easy-to-find link
• Run house ads on website
• Provide handhelds in contests
• Provide unique features

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Resources

• AvantGo http//avantgo.com/
• Palm http//www.palmos.com/

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Close

• Jonathan M. Bell
• Programmer, Scripps New Media
• jbell_at_cnnt03.scripps.com
• 865 546-5833