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About This PaperMobile has become the ‘go to’ content consumption channel

Mobile, once touted as an emerging technology, has since become a significant component of almost every consumer’s way of life. Businesses, too, have begun including mobile in their go-to-market strategies. For newspapers, magazines and publishing houses, this inclusion is even more apparent – mobile is now a significant content consumption channel.

As more consumers embrace digital content, the prominence of the channel has reached unprecedented levels. Content consumption on mobile devices has revolutionised how content businesses are now reaching out to their respective target audiences.

• Consumers now are actively accessing and viewing content through mobile and tablet devices.

• The way consumers interact with content on these channels have also changed.• Consumers now expect a significant presence for their preferred content on

mobile and tablet devices through a contemporary experience. • Consumers are also more engaged with content – interacting with through social

mechanisms such as sharing and commenting.

For content businesses, staying ahead of consumer expectations and providing a unique content experience for mobile and tablet devices remains a challenge. Managing these expectations, while catering to the dynamic mobile/tablet platform environment, implies a need for a robust framework based approach that can be readily used, consumed and released.

In this white paper, we evaluate the use of a readily re-usable mobile app framework that can help businesses address and successfully mitigate the above challenges.

This white paper is intended for businesses that are content driven and manage multiple consumer facing mobile/tablet native applications. Industries where such a framework can/has been successfully used include newspapers, magazines and web publishing.

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The Mobile ChallengeAddressing evolving consumer challenges and mobile ecosystems

CHANGING CONSUMER EXPECTATIONS

Consumers are maturing rapidly when it comes to mobile content consumption, and this maturity translates as higher expectations - especially for mobile native applications. With an immersive user experience at the crux of these expectations, platform integrated functionality and features are also critical. Such expectations have meant that the content treatment has to be adapted and re-purposed for mobile devices.

With more businesses now catering to this channel, the implications of doing so includes business process re-engineering while ensuring faster turnaround on mobile native and web enhancements. For businesses that manage multiple titles, this is especially daunting considering:

• Multiple native applications that needs to be managed and maintained• Updating each native application and its respective user interface• Adopting platform guidelines and optimizing performance of the application for each

new release• Incorporating new platform features into the application

MOBILE ECOSYSTEMS

The average release and update cycles of mobile platforms such as Android, iOS and Windows Phone have decreased dramatically. With pressure to release new features and platform functionality, mobile app development requires to follow a development and release cycle that:

• Is highly adaptive and scalable to include new feature additions• Has a MVC architecture• Separates business logic and user interface to allow reusability of either

To successfully address both sets of challenges, Cybage recommends the use of a mobile native application framework. The following section details how we propose the use of such a framework to successfully manage consumer expectations while ensuring optimal app development turnaround.

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Leveraging App FrameworksOptimizing development with quicker turnarounds

Using app frameworks range from using cross-platform frameworks such as Phonegap, Xamarin or Titanium or developing a bespoke native mobile framework. While cross-platform frameworks tend to offer relatively lesser efforts when adopting a multi-platform, multi-device strategy, they tend to be bound by performance and feature constraints. Mobile native frameworks, on the other hand, tend to be platform specific and can be developed in line with business requirements.

Cybage has already developed and leveraged such a kind of framework for its clientele. By doing so, we have reduced implementation times for our clients, allowing for a quicker time to market. In addition, reusing this framework has led to lesser costs to our clientele.

Typically, such mobile frameworks need to incorporate features and ‘modularize’ them as reusable components. Such components can then be readily reused for other applications. This reusability ensures development of a single code base that is reused multiple times, resulting in lesser development efforts and higher turnaround. It also implies lesser maintainability of code and easier up gradation or enhancements. In the context of the media and publishing industry, these are the features that can typically be modularized.

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Feature DescriptionPlatform support Incorporate multi-platform, multi-device and multi-orientation support for the app.

User activity

Include typical use cases• Save favourites• Offline mode for viewing content• Store content locally• Social logins

Social media integration Sharing content to social channels is a very typical use case. Social sharing buttons can be reused extensively.

Notifications A critical functionality provided by mobile apps are to do with push notifications. This can in turn be modularized as most apps would require it in some form or the other.• Support push notifications for various events and triggers• Notifications for subscribed content feeds (ex: breaking news, updates to feeds, etc.)

Content display Contemporary user interface to display and view content. Content types supported could include the breadth of the multi-media experience.

Listing pages Allow users to navigate content listing pages effectively.

Gesture based controls Supported platform specific gesture controls for unique content viewing and reading experience.

Advertising integration Ad integration with mobile networks such as Admob and iAds through SDKs. Scalable to include ads.

Search Allow users to search content via the app.

Content feed integration Allow integration of content feeds easily with the app.

Institutionalizing such frameworks will help businesses manage changing platform dynamics and consumer expectations. In addition, businesses can also derive the following benefits:

• Quick time to market applications for mobile and tablet devices – across all leading operating systems

• Proven framework, with industry leading features• Customizable skins and branding• Easy adoption to various feeds• Lower cost of implementation on account of code reusability

Cybage Fast Facts• SEI CMMI Level 5 version 1.3 and ISO 27001 certified company• Workforce of more than 5,000 IT professionals• Multiple industry verticals under a global delivery framework• Five state-of-the-art software development facilities globally• Broad software services portfolio with more than 200 global offshore software

engagements• Preferred transformation and technology vendor to leading clients

- Ranked in IAOP Global Outsourcing 100 List for the last six years consecutively- Featured in the 2013 Global Services 100 List for the 5th consecutive year