Understanding context: mobile application development

Context is usually derived, and not manually fed into the application by the user. It could be based on the data collected over a period of time such as search queries, or can be instantaneous information such as geo-location. Adding location to search is a perfect example of context. Sensors within mobile devices significantly augment the possibilities with real time data that can be used to derive contextual information.

What’s unique with mobile applications?

The expectations from a mobile application user is slightly different. Users want quick access to information that is relevant and augmented to the current situation (time or location). Developers can use the additional hardware sensors available on the device to understand the environment in which the user is, and adapt the application behaviour automatically to the needs of the user.

[do action=”inside-quote”]Context is usually derived, and not manually fed into the application by the user[/do]

The environment in which mobile applications are used is full of distractions and the attention span of the user is much shorter. Most of the time when people are using mobile applications ,unlike desktop software, are trying to multitask and the task in the real world ( eg driving ) usually takes priority.