Six tips for mobile internet startups

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At the mobilize 2011 conference there are many senior mobile internet companies that discuss their products and share what they have learned in development applications and services. Gigaom picked out six good suggestions for start-up mobile internet companies, from Pandora, Flipboard, Instagram, Hipmunk, Formspring, Grey area and other famous companies.

1. There is no need to choose HTML5 or native applications, both of which have to be done

Pandora is using a hybrid approach to meet its growing music-streaming service sites and applications, and this is not a single method. Pandora launched a website based on HTML5 last week, and its chief technology officer, Tom Conrad, said he could understand the company's development of a hybrid HTML5 native application. Conrad says this is the best way to get both worlds through existing technologies, "which allows you to combine OS systems with very high performance and very fluent user experience." However, it is the first time that a combination of HTML5 content with the development of a unified platform and rapid start user interface. ”

2. Small steps to run, quick iterations

Instagram (the user grew from zero to 10 million in a year) took a while to publish their photo apps and last week's first major update. But its CEO, Kevin Systrom, will not flaunt that achievement. He said: "Compared to Instagram in the release of important updates between a long time, you can choose to spend less time doing relatively little things." It's not a mistake that we just spent a lot of time doing the 2.0 version. But I think we can do a couple of smaller things more quickly, because I think if you have a fast-paced release, you'll end up with a lot more progress. ”

3. Early Design application prototype

Danilo Campos, president of Mobile travel search start-up Hipmunk, has proposed his best advice on how to not waste developer time: "The prototype of the design application can save you from the release of the garbage application." The prototype allows you to touch the application in front of you without investing a lot of resources. It allows you to develop applications in one afternoon instead of taking weeks to realize that the application is not good. ”

4. Human intervention is important

Pandora teaches you that not everything can be done automatically. Conrad said: "One of the important observations that founder Tim Westergren has just started running the company is that part of the reason we love music is because it sounds like it." So the best way to do a service that really introduces a new singer to you is to have a list of pop music or priority music attributes. The current level of computer listening to songs is not enough to distinguish hundreds of details, so we use artificial entry into the room to wear headphones to classify the 400 attributes. ”

5. Say what you want

When Formspring's team announced earlier this month that they had figured out how to convert their Q&a sites into mobile apps, they came to understand that. At first they felt it was stressful to redesign the site, but they realised it was unrealistic for a small screen. Formspring's product manager, Tom Wang, said: "You have some expectations you need to speak out." You really need to rethink what you're going to show and how you're going to present it. "Your site may not look like your app at all, but it will work if the application brings the best user experience."

A successful multiplayer online game based on mobile location Shadow cities's back office, grey area, also subverted their expectations of user behavior in the early days. CEO and co-founder Ville Vesterinen says they assume that those who play mobile games are random players, which means they will play games for a short time on the way. In practice, Vesterinen says, users will play mobile games in a fixed place, which means they will play longer. This insight makes grey area rethink the experience of participation and gaming.

6. Compete with Yourself

"A great company often considers competing with itself," said Flipboard's editor-in-chief, Josh Quittner. You are the ultimate competitor. They don't think about what other people are doing, because once you start thinking about what others are doing, you stop chasing them. ”

Keith Rabois of the mobile payment start-up, Square, also responded to the idea: "We look at ourselves every day, and what others are doing is really less important." We really believe that. One of the things I have to worry about is that a lot of companies in the industry start running companies on this premise: they send e-mails around and ask ' are we competitive? '. We should try to avoid doing the same thing ourselves. Our job is to develop stunning products and we will not succeed or fail because of their experience. ”

This article is from the "Application state"