In mobile business intelligence (BI) design, two elements are always in play. I refer to them as “utility” (not to be confused with utility in economics) and “impact.” At the micro level, they influence directly how we develop our mobile assets (reports, dashboards) in order to effectively deliver actionable insight through the mobile user interface and experience. At the macro level, they influence how we designand execute our mobile BI strategy.
Unified information architecture, data governance, and standard enterprise BI platforms are all but a journey via a long and winding road. Even if one deploys the “latest and greatest” BI tools and best practices, the organization may not be getting any closer to the light at the end of the tunnel because:
In the last installment of this series, I described the three key steps that everyday business intelligence (BI) users typically go through when they consume data: Observation, Perspective, and Insight. These steps often take place in an ad-hoc manner without the same degree of precision and requirements that one expects in corporate BI environments. Nevertheless, everyday BI users follow a similar process to achieve the same end goal—insight through data for better-informeddecisions.
In mobile business intelligence (BI) design, performance is one of the most critical elements of the mobile BI success formula. High quality content, reliable data, andmobile purpose are a must. However, none of that matters if the performance is poor—mobile users tend to be less patient about performance. Think about it for a moment. Unlike a PC users who may be chained to a desk, mobile BI users typically access mobile BI assets on the go and with less time to spare.
When it comes to mobile innovation, your users (customers) will be the key to your success whether we’re talking about mobile app development, mobile web sites, enterprise mobility, or mobile business intelligence (BI). Moreover, it doesn’t matter if your customers are internal or external to your team or your organization.
In mobile business intelligence (BI) design, the “consistency principle” is the most powerful tool to effectively deliver a mobile user experience. Developing components that are both consistent and repeatable greatly accelerates the “mobile learning curve,” leading to higher user adoption.
We apply the consistency principle at two levels:
The macro level occurs at-the-project or engagement level and covers all resources or artifacts that are used to deliver and support implementation of mobile assets (like user guides, communication, online stores, and support).
The micro level deals with the design of each individual mobile BI asset (like a report or dashboard).
Here are three key design fundamentals of the consistency principle.
The use of mobile business intelligence (BI) as a framework to enable faster, better-informed decision making continues to expand as the technology advances and more users become mobile ready. Whether you’re planning a project for a business app or developing a strategy, it’s critical to gauge your mobile BI app’s readiness for a complete mobile user experience.
Here are five must-have features that are critical to delivering a complete mobile BI experience.
Just as the saying goes “There are three things that matter in property: location, location, location,” the screen on a mobile device is the most valuable design property. The limited amount of space still remains as one of the biggest challenges in designing for mobile devices. Maximizing the user interface for both consumption and interaction is critical to the design of an effective mobile business intelligence (BI) asset.
Here are several pointers that will help you make the best use of this valuable mobile property.
There are many benefits included in the “value proposition” for cloud computing models, but there are some hidden gems in terms of how these outsourced IT models can specifically and directly address one of the biggest problems facing many smaller nonprofit organizations: they have to use old, outdated, and often just pretty crummy equipment. But now it’s OK, because even crummy old PCs can work just fine when the applications are hosted in the cloud.
Business intelligence (BI) is everywhere. It’s more accessible. It’s mobile. It’s in the cloud. It runs in real time. It’s part of “Big Data” and small data. Simply put, BI surfaces, in one shape or another, in a tangled, twisted, and integrated way everywhere in our everyday lives. In this new series, I want to take a…