Categories: Development Process | Quality

This page was last modified 08:17, 21 November 2007.

From Forum Nokia Wiki

The mobile market’s development cycles are shorter, the target user groups are varied and it is necessary to differentiate from the competition. In addition to The Six Characteristics of Quality, the following aspects of quality are emphasized in the mobile world:

• Business: In the emerging mobile environment, the traditional business models may not apply as such, and the target groups may be different. Check that the application has a valid business case, there is an existing market need or you can create new business cases, and the application has the potential to become a commercial success.
• Concept: The application is based on an innovative new concept that utilizes the special characteristics of the mobile environment.
• Technical accuracy: It should be checked that the application is implemented according to proper conventions, the mobile environment requirements are considered, and the application is properly tested. The final application is polished, with no bugs, and will not create problems in the user's device.
• End-user needs: You should consider the different user needs early in the process, prioritize and select the needs or tasks your application aims to fulfill and take them into account during the requirement specification phase. The final application enables the user to perform the tasks for which the application is designed.
• User experience: Restrictions in the mobile environment (for example, limited display size, input options, and limited data connections to the network) demand that user experience issues are considered more carefully than in the PC world.
• Security: The user can reasonably expect that a high-quality application does not lose or corrupt the user's data in the device or does not contain malicious features. It is also fair to expect that the application performs only those tasks, which it is designed and understood to perform. The application must not allow others to exploit it for malicious purposes. Even if the application fails, it must not compromise security. The user should also be sure that when s/he installs an application from a trusted source, the application meets at least some quality requirements defined for mobile applications. All these issues have been considered when defining security models for mobile applications.
• Power management: Power consumption is one of the main challenges of mobile devices. Individual applications should be designed to save as much power as possible.

Reference link and Useful documents

• S60 Platform: Development and Quality Process Guideline v1.3

• More can be found from http://www.forum.nokia.com/quality