9 tips for building an effective mobile tracking application

1. Think about, or imagine the user of the mobile application: its working environment, ergonomics, perceived added value, simplicity (it is easy to do complicated, simplicity is more difficult to imagine);
2. A screen = a function : a professional terminal screen is small in the end, we can not put what we put on a PC screen; moreover the precision of the finger is not that of the mouse: so few fields per session or use tabs;
3. it is important that actions, data fields, buttons are always of a similar form between screens, intuitive colors for understanding, as well as terms chosen without ambiguity of context - it will be useless to have to read any documentation to use this mobile application - it is also illusory to think that the user will read a page of documentation, but think of putting help included on request (it is therefore useless to plan time to make a user documentation: replace it with researching more ergonomic features);
4. The speed of data entry or acquisition:
   The primary return on investment of a barcode or Rfid terminal is based on speed. It is therefore essential that the cursor is placed in the right place when scanning the codes, or that any scan is automatically directed to a specific field depending on the type of barcode, other criteria such as the first characters read, that the keys of the terminal are adapted to the input of the moment: numeric for quantities, alphanumeric for names, touchpad, etc. ...
5. Adapt to any system: it is necessary to be able to attract a maximum of users of this mobile application of seizure and collection of data; thus the application must be able to function on several operating systems: Windows classic, Windows mobile: CE, Mobile, Phone, Android: there still our generators in only one development enable you to generate the same application for any system without changing anything;
6. Adapt to any screen size: it is good to plan an application for a mobile base screen, but it is good to be able to use the same collection application on a tablet or a PC without redoing all the development: there too our generators have functions of adaptation to the screen sizes automatically;
7. The offline function: the network is not necessarily present at all the places of use of the terminal, it is thus useful to envisage an asynchronous operation of the application of mobile collection, named "offline" by opposition to "online" which is easily realizable by a Web page - The offline operation must integrate the synchronization of departure towards the place of work and that of return of the place of the operations, its frequency, its randomness of connections to the network;
8. Remote updates: as an offline use of the data entry screens is foreseen, it is important to foresee an update of the terminals without having to reprogram them all and one by one: the update function must be integrated and achievable on a connection spot (3G or Wifi) by the user himself and in the heat of the moment: no stopping of the machine and of the data entry process (just a pause);
9. The mobile application must be perfect to be accepted and recognized by the users: test it under all positions and situations, first described in a test plan, completed during the real tests, continuously: you would be surprised how many situations not imagined but encountered!

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